Thread: Hone of the Day

MrChick,
I think you and I are about the same skill level. Thanks to my friend Roy (cudarunner) I'll be trying my hand with a Zulu Grey tomorrow. I've never been past an 8K. Wish me luck.

Originally Posted by MisterClean

MrChick,
I think you and I are about the same skill level. Thanks to my friend Roy (cudarunner) I'll be trying my hand with a Zulu Grey tomorrow. I've never been past an 8K. Wish me luck.

Good luck. Learning to hone is both fun and a little frustrating. I wish there was somebody in my area that could mentor me. I'll figure it out using all of the wonderful video and pointers that are throughout this site. Have fun!

My hone of the day includes two razors, sorry no pics. First is my WM Bingham and the second my W&B wedge. Both are bigger blades than I am used to honing. Anyway the bingham took a better edge than the first time not sure if my stroke has improved or pressure but anyway test shave in a day or so and the W&B.... I tried to hone this thing about 3 times now and I honestly feel like I have it. I started with no tape the first time, huge bevel and no luck after quite some time. Second attempt was 2 pieces of tape things went better bevel never actually set tugs when test shaved. This time (3rd) 3 layers of tape bevel set quick on 15 micron lapping film on a piece of glass, then 4k , 8K Norton now to strop and test shave with this as well. This time got a nice even small bevel and as mentioned was achieved fairly fast. Feeling pretty good for amateur status.

Originally Posted by MisterClean

MrChick,
I think you and I are about the same skill level. Thanks to my friend Roy (cudarunner) I'll be trying my hand with a Zulu Grey tomorrow. I've never been past an 8K. Wish me luck.

In my humble opinion: 'Luck' has nothing to do with using a new rock.

Patience, Observation, more Patience, more Observations on and on so as the owner and the rock form a lasting relationship.

Sometimes a rock and it's owner just fall in love and walk down the lane of honing bliss hand in hand. Other times, they digress, walk away, rejoin and finally fall in love.

However (at least I've been told) there are some rocks and owners that can't come to terms and they go their separate ways. However I think this is only the exception and not the rule.

Freddie, I'm glad that I could be of some help so you could have a Zulu. I'm sure you and that rock will fall in love!

Thanks again Roy,

"Romancing the Stone" so to speak. Sorry Roy, I had to say it. My Dad was a Pun Miester and the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Today's honing session was awesome. Mainly because I was testing my new maruka kiita. I took a razor I'm very familiar with and started with a shave ready edge.

This stone is so amazing. I have yet to shave off of it, but I just know. The bevel is the closest to mirror polished I've ever had from a jnat. It silently and effortlessly sweeps through arm hair. To top it all off, my test shave will include my new shavemac I just finished making the other day.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Patience, Observation, more Patience, more Observations on and on so as the owner and the rock form a lasting relationship.

Sometimes a rock and it's owner just fall in love and walk down the lane of honing bliss hand in hand. Other times, they digress, walk away, rejoin and finally fall in love.

That's pretty much the story of MY life with natural stones...... Some I've set my mind to flog it off, but stopped by the fact I wouldn't wish such torment on anyone else, only to turn around, re-visit the hone and discover I love it after all!

I have a couple of those hones that just make me want to chuck them in the garbage.... and yet, sometimes they produce a wonderful edge. Clearly, I'm just not "one" with those hones yet, but I need to give them another chance. I first loved my coticule, then I thought it was too coarse, then too slow.... now, I still think it's slow, but dang... it gives me such a wonderful edge if I stick with it and just give the razor the number of laps it takes.

I got spoiled with the synthetics and the speed with which they work.... I've also fallen for others description of the speed with which some natural hones work, only to find out I need to spend a lot more time on them, before producing the same results. It could very well just be me and my style of honing.

I'm pretty fussy about my edges.... getting a good solid edge is easy, getting a great edge seems to take a lot more effort... perhaps more than some are willing to invest. I've recently retired so time is more available, thus my revisiting all my naturals. Maybe I should stop.... after all, I was going to sell all the ones I've revisited, and now they are not going anywhere..... I've got a couple more to try, and right now they are in the sales pile... but if I decide I like them.....<groan>.


Regards

Kaptain "I've got way too many hones already" Zero

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

That's pretty much the story of MY life with natural stones...... Some I've set my mind to flog it off, but stopped by the fact I wouldn't wish such torment on anyone else, only to turn around, re-visit the hone and discover I love it after all!

I have a couple of those hones that just make me want to chuck them in the garbage.... and yet, sometimes they produce a wonderful edge. Clearly, I'm just not "one" with those hones yet, but I need to give them another chance. I first loved my coticule, then I thought it was too coarse, then too slow.... now, I still think it's slow, but dang... it gives me such a wonderful edge if I stick with it and just give the razor the number of laps it takes.

I got spoiled with the synthetics and the speed with which they work.... I've also fallen for others description of the speed with which some natural hones work, only to find out I need to spend a lot more time on them, before producing the same results. It could very well just be me and my style of honing.

I'm pretty fussy about my edges.... getting a good solid edge is easy, getting a great edge seems to take a lot more effort... perhaps more than some are willing to invest. I've recently retired so time is more available, thus my revisiting all my naturals. Maybe I should stop.... after all, I was going to sell all the ones I've revisited, and now they are not going anywhere..... I've got a couple more to try, and right now they are in the sales pile... but if I decide I like them.....<groan>.


Regards

Kaptain "I've got way too many hones already" Zero

I can see your point but what if you had sold those before your retirement and then while honing away on the one perfect set that you chose began to second guess yourself.

Then you would have to try to buy back the ones you sold at probably a higher price than you sold them for......

What a conundrum!

Originally Posted by 32t

I can see your point but what if you had sold those before your retirement and then while honing away on the one perfect set that you chose began to second guess yourself.

Then you would have to try to buy back the ones you sold at probably a higher price than you sold them for......

What a conundrum!

Yes..... it's a conundrum for sure. It's not that I need the money, it's just that I'd rather not have these hones end up in a garage sale on the $1 table as the Mrs. has no interest in this sort of thing at all. So... I don't want to deny myself great shaves for the rest of my time, but I also don't want to keep more than I really need. I've already determined that I cannot use up all my soaps and creams before I check out!

While we are doing OK right now, pension wise, the Mrs. will only get 1/2 of my pension if I check out... I'd rather not have her loose out on the things I have and enjoy and that are actually worth a few $$$.... At the same time, if I tell her how much I spent on this stuff, I might be checking out sooner than I expected!

So.... I'm carefully going through what I have, and will try to distil it down to the minimum I need/want. The biggest problem I have right now is to convince myself that I only need ONE finishing hone.... I have 8 different ones... 2 are still suspect, one is cantankerous (or is it me?) and of the 5 left, they all do a great job for me. But unless I break one, I won't even get close to wearing ONE out, in the next 30+ years.

It's the same thing with my razors... thankfully I don't have a huge collection, but honestly.... 1/2 dozen would be more than enough with my again, never wearing any of them out.

In the end, there is nothing that makes me happier than making someone else happy. So.... I'll be putting some stuff up for sale, maybe not in the next few weeks... but eventually.


Regards

Kaptain "Psst.... whatever you do, don't tell the Mrs!" Zero

Well.... I did done it!

I've made peace with my cantankerous hone.... or more likely it was the cantankerous honer that made peace with the hone....

It is an Ozuku kiita I got from Garret. I could not seem to get a good edge on the below razor using slurry.... it was sharp, but not sharp enough for my tastes. 20 laps on a 16K Shapton brought the razor around and I had some great shaves with it. Then, when it needed a touch up, I gave it my usual treatment on my coticule and again, it rewarded me with my customary excellent shave.

I mulled it over and decided to go back to the Ozuku and this time, I just gave it lots and lots of pure water laps.... and when I was sure it was done, I took a page from Iwasaki's book and did just 6 laps on hard knit wool with Crox and then back to the Ozuku for another 10 very very light laps on pure water.... Yupp... it was smooooooth and oh so sharp.

So... now I have another finishing hone I want to keep........<sigh>.

i know.... pictures or it didn't happen... fine. Perhaps someone can help identify the razor... it's an odd razor to me... looks very cheaply made... butterscotch coloured scales, shoulderless, faux frameback grind, feels *cheap* when you shave with it.... stiff blade but rattles like a singing full hollow when shaving. On the tang two partial letters... look like C, G or S and the second letter is either an F or E (bottom parts of both letters ground off when shaping the spine/blade followed by BROTHERS. Second line again is missing the first part, but there is an EY then NY.

The blade looks nice on the side you see, but there some serious pitting on the backside up near the spine, however, there's 3/8" of good steel between the edge and those deep pits, so I'll be able to use it for shaving for a long time.

So, on with the crappy phone pictures....