Thread: Hone of the Day

This is a very hard, very thin razor. It required a lot of time due the thin grind and no stabilizer. It finally shaves great.

Did you final finish on the dark green Haida Gwaii stone Shaun? Extra hollow grinds can be very fragile at this level sir, congratulations.
MIke

Originally Posted by MODINE

Did you final finish on the dark green Haida Gwaii stone Shaun? Extra hollow grinds can be very fragile at this level sir, congratulations.
MIke

Yes, it is one of the hones that I shaped, but it is a rather new one. This one is different, I will pm some pictures. So far there has only been two of these shaped.

Nice. That is what I thought. Just a suggestion, these stones are so hard you may try oil, glycerine, Smiths, liquid soap etc. If a suction is experienced, you may try torquing the blade up and away from the stone.. you may even see the extra hollow blade flex while doing this. Which is kind of cool.
Mike

My first time honing my first kamisori! This is a NOS Tosuke that came in from Japan last week. I've been watching kami honing videos all week until I felt I was ready to dive in. Being NOS, I decided I didn't want to use tape. I'm also not sure that I like the idea of tape on this type of razor. I set the bevel on the Chosera 1k and I was surprised by how fast it Responded to the stone. I then went through the Naniwa progression using a 10:1 ratio. Again I was surprised by how fast this blade moved through each stone with little more then weight of the blade. I finished it on the 12k, stropped it up and it responded very well on the HHT. Unfortunately I already shaved earlier today so the shave test will have to wait until tomorrow.

I was really looking forward to learning something new here. The truth is though, this kamisori was very easy to hone. I'm sure I have more to learn, but in many ways this was easier then honing a western razor. I suspect that learning to shave with it will be a bit more challenging, but maybe not.

Today's honing was a good one I watched Dr. Matt's new video on how he corrects geometry problems. Since I go for function not looks 100% of the time I didn't care if I put hone wear on it if it would shave better. Performance > Appearance. A straight is just a tool to me. Others would disagree and that's ok too. For some they love their NOS $500 W&B with 0 hone wear. His technique is not for you fellows. To get back on topic his technique grinds the spine flat correcting warps and wobbles while taping the edge. Once the spine is straight the tape is taken off the edge and the razor is honed tape free to grind the edge and spine together.

I did that on a razor given to me by Collin (TrilliumLt) that I was having trouble getting an edge on. Well after using Matts geometry correction technique I easily honed it.

I did a fun progression of 1k king to my new hard coticule with water only for a couple hundred laps. I shave dangerously. Test shave to come later. What I like about this stage is I can refine on water to tweak the shave or take it to another stone to refine it further. The options from here are endless which is why I like to stop and test after 1k to coticule.

Anyways enough babbling on.

Smooth and close shave. Very comfortable. 2 pass and I was where I wanted to be. Best of all now I don't have to fuss with tape for a touch up.

Originally Posted by BeJay

My first time honing my first kamisori! This is a NOS Tosuke that came in from Japan last week. I've been watching kami honing videos all week until I felt I was ready to dive in. Being NOS, I decided I didn't want to use tape. I'm also not sure that I like the idea of tape on this type of razor. I set the bevel on the Chosera 1k and I was surprised by how fast it Responded to the stone. I then went through the Naniwa progression using a 10:1 ratio. Again I was surprised by how fast this blade moved through each stone with little more then weight of the blade. I finished it on the 12k, stropped it up and it responded very well on the HHT. Unfortunately I already shaved earlier today so the shave test will have to wait until tomorrow.

I was really looking forward to learning something new here. The truth is though, this kamisori was very easy to hone. I'm sure I have more to learn, but in many ways this was easier then honing a western razor. I suspect that learning to shave with it will be a bit more challenging, but maybe not.

Ive honed with and without tape on kamisoris, the reason why some might use tape is that the omote (non stamped side) which sees most of the hone wear is generally a softer metal and can wear down at a faster rate. Yours obviously to your findings had no issues. The two Tosukes that i have are a dream to hone.
Shaving the traditional way with kamisoris with only the non stamped side against your face can be a bit tricky but im sure you'll have fun.

Originally Posted by S0LITARYS0LDIER

Today's honing was a good one I watched Dr. Matt's new video on how he corrects geometry problems. Since I go for function not looks 100% of the time I didn't care if I put hone wear on it if it would shave better. Performance > Appearance. A straight is just a tool to me. Others would disagree and that's ok too. For some they love their NOS $500 W&B with 0 hone wear. His technique is not for you fellows. To get back on topic his technique grinds the spine flat correcting warps and wobbles while taping the edge. Once the spine is straight the tape is taken off the edge and the razor is honed tape free to grind the edge and spine together.

I did that on a razor given to me by Collin (TrilliumLt) that I was having trouble getting an edge on. Well after using Matts geometry correction technique I easily honed it.

I did a fun progression of 1k king to my new hard coticule with water only for a couple hundred laps. I shave dangerously. Test shave to come later. What I like about this stage is I can refine on water to tweak the shave or take it to another stone to refine it further. The options from here are endless which is why I like to stop and test after 1k to coticule.

Anyways enough babbling on.

Smooth and close shave. Very comfortable. 2 pass and I was where I wanted to be. Best of all now I don't have to fuss with tape for a touch up.

Solitary Soldier-Thanks for the tip. I have been watching and learning a lot lately from Dr. Matt's videos. As it seems nearly every razor I own has issues (hone wear, uneven, warps, etc.), I have been thinking about trying this method as I get tired of constant "rocking and rolling" and other acrobatics trying to get all of an edge on the hone, but it's obviously not for the faint of heart for those of us who like our near-mint vintage blades and their pretty spines as you mentioned!

One other thing I learned from him is the cherry tomato test-honestly, it's better than all the other hone tests in my book. Unconventional techniques, but they seem very effective.