Thread: crash course in japanese stones

well that would make sense since the first one is priced a little higher. but that could be cuz it's bigger too

i just can't let go of how much it looks like the stone from takeda's site, but of course looking the same and being the same are two different things

the website also says this "The grade ranking indicates the overall quality of the stone as determined by the probability of a flaw being present and by its size. An 'A' grade stone is the highest quality stone with both the lowest flaw probability and the largest size. 'B' and 'B1' grade stones are also high quality, but are smaller, 'B1' being the smallest. Minimum stone dimensions are stated in the price lines."

the first stone is rated B, the second is B1

I can't help you with the types of japanese stones but as far as honing the Tosuke I found that using the usual western style honing proceedure simply did not work on that razor. Once I used the proper proceedure it honed right up. You can use a pasted strop to put that final edge on it but there too you should use the same ratio of strokes. You have to realize the edge is asymetrical unlike western razors so if you start doing equal honing your going to mess up that symmetry and wind up with I don't know what. It seemed to me the key to honing was using the correct amount of equal downward pressure on the razor as you hone. You just need to experiment and check every few strokes and either increase or decrease the pressure as need be. At first it seems like the perfect honing task for a hamhanded honer but there really is finesse in it.

Hmmmm,

I used the traditional western style honing method for honing my new Tosuke, took it to the coticule then a pasted strop = Fantastic shave. I guess I got lucky

YMMV

Originally Posted by padron

Hmmmm,

I used the traditional western style honing method for honing my new Tosuke, took it to the coticule then a pasted strop = Fantastic shave. I guess I got lucky

YMMV

Do you use the Tosuke on both sides or only the concave side towards your face? The sharpening method should affect this. The western method will give you more of an equal two sided razor.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Do you use the Tosuke on both sides or only the concave side towards your face? The sharpening method should affect this. The western method will give you more of an equal two sided razor.

I shaved with it on both sides, I used western style honing and kept a close eye on the bevel. The Tosuke razor was popping arm hairs when I received it, it didn't take more than a few laps on the coticule and I finished with .5 Chromium, it worked great....one of the better shaves I've had in a while..