Thread: Honing on the road

Originally Posted by Marshal

Well, at the end of the day results are more important than using a stone 'as recommended.' Such is my humble opinion. I've mentioned a few times that I use mine with oil. This seems to be sacrilege to some coticule users, but I've tried every water & shave lather method known to man it simply doesn't work. Almost makes me wonder what it would produce dry, but as they say - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

This is the first I've seen mention of them being used that way. Sounds like you got the perfect hard little stone for the purpose.

I must say Jarrod at The Superior Shave was very helpful. I did my homework reading here and his website. Then I called him to discuss what I wanted and he made recommendation.

The thing about doing something out of the ordinary is the clean up. If you use oil on the coticule, I'm sure you wash it clean to original state for next use, right?

Give dry a go and tell us what you think. I'm not recommending abandoning standard practices, but it's an option, a tool in the kit.

I use mineral oil mixed with mineral spirits. Usually it just gets wiped down with a paper towel, wrapped up in a new/dry paper towel, and stored that way. The new towel soaks up most of the oil that was left behind. And the mineral spirits in the mix will loosen up anything that the towel doesn't get the next time oil is applied to the stone.

It does stay fairly clean. Last time I unwrapped it, you'd never know oil had been applied to the stone even though it wasn't washed.

My only concern with using it dry is that my coticule is soft, and had to be meticulously burnished to become a usable finisher. I'd hate to loosen up those garnets dry honing, and have to start that process again. But, nothing ventured nothing gained...maybe I'll give it a shot the next time one of my edges is in need of a touch up.

I have to add this little bit. When I got home from my last load I took my Spartacus to my big Arkansas Black for about 300 laps refresh. I shaved with it tonight in my rotation after a good leather stropping. It was one of those OMG moments. So smooth. Thought I'd share.

BTW, I'm in Great Falls, MT tonight. Snowing outside.

Better that it's snowing in MT than eastern WA. We are sooo sick of the white stuff here. We reset the record for precipitation in Spokane for February.

Be safe out there, LHT.

VERY nice travel kit!! Great idea with the leather pouches

I cannot claim originality. Dan's Whetstone sells their small stones with the leather pouches. I just asked for a couple of extras, which they gladly accommodated.

Originally Posted by Longhaultanker

Here's something I was looking for last night from Dan's Whetstone website - their gravity chart.

https://www.danswhetstone.com/inform...ne-grades-101/

"Although there may be only a slight difference in grain size from one grade to another, the effective abrasiveness of each grade is related to the density, or compactness, of the individual, bladed quartz crystals that compose Novaculite. The U.S. government measures the specific gravity of Novaculite and assigns density ranges for the Soft and Hard classifications. Dan’s Whetstone Company, Inc., follows these standards for Soft and Hard stones. We also further define Hard grade Novaculite into the True Hard, Black, and Translucent categories.

Density Standards

Soft Arkansas 2.20-2.30
Hard Arkansas 2.30-2.45
True Hard Arkansas 2.50+
….Colored Translucent 2.50+
….Translucent 2.50+
….Black Arkansas 2.50+"
End quote

Seems to me to make distinctions between the last four grades is speculative and conjecture. Based on my experience with the Translucent and Black Arkansas (what I used to call Hard Black), there is indistinguishable difference.

I have a vintage translucent that came in a nice old wood coffin. It is my most loved stone. Then I got a hard black or surgical black (tomato/tomahto) from Dans and I can not tell the difference in the edges at all. Now maybe one is 2.68 SG and the other is 2.58 SG but in practice I don't notice a difference. I did notice a difference when I first got the black as it was pretty rough, for a surg. Black, but within a week or two of using it the edges matched the translucent that has been burnished by years of use.

Originally Posted by Steel

I have a vintage translucent that came in a nice old wood coffin. It is my most loved stone. Then I got a hard black or surgical black (tomato/tomahto) from Dans and I can not tell the difference in the edges at all. Now maybe one is 2.68 SG and the other is 2.58 SG but in practice I don't notice a difference. I did notice a difference when I first got the black as it was pretty rough, for a surg. Black, but within a week or two of using it the edges matched the translucent that has been burnished by years of use.

I wrote the above you quoted before going to Dan's Whetstone on my field trip. Due to some things being said in another thread, I had to go and stop by. Of course there might be slight differences, but all such differences are incidental and antidotal. But the point I wanted to drive a stake in the heart of is this: within the True Hard classification of Arkansas novaculite stone, there is no substantive diffence due to the fact they are the same relative density/gravity.

The difference should be minimal. And that's one of the reasons I'm cataloging where I'm at with the True Hard and Translucent stones.

Seems like just a few years back I was told Arkies were only good for pocket knives. A myth that needs a stake or 2 thrown in it. And of course there's the persistent quibble between whether a Translucent or Black creates the 'best' edge. Meanwhile generic True Hards seem somewhat 'forgotten.' Not maligned, just absent from the conversation - the stone that doesn't exist.

Marshall,

I'm happy for your recent emerald green acquisition. What a beautiful stone with its banding and coloration. I'm supposing it's a True Hard Colored Translucent, falling into Dan's classification of True Hard; not not pure Translucent, or pure Arkansas Black, obviously. I'm anxious to hear your reviews as you begin using it.

As much as I want a 8x3x1 pure Translucent, I think my next order will be such as yours, simply a True Hard, to test its comparability.