Thread: Honing on the road

Pictured above: Arkansas Translucent, Arkansas Hard Black aka surgical black, Belgium Coticule, with Thiers Issard 6/8 Spartacus. All three stones measure 4x1.625.

Two nights ago I set up to shave at a truck stop shower. After a nice hot shower and prep, the Poraso lather richly applied, I raised my Spartacus to shave only to be met with unpleasant tugging. Some perturbed, but not to be denied, I splashed some lather on the Coticule and laid down a number of laps. The shave ended well enough with a reasonably smooth face.

Upon return to my sleeper cabbed truck I pulled out the stones and went to work. Some 200 laps on the coticule followed by an equal number on the Translucent. Last night's return to the shower room resulted in a smooth and satisfying shave.

I thought about doing a full honing job upon my return home. Now I'm not so sure. My small travel stones did a superb job refreshing my edge.

I pretty much consider the translucent and black to be interchangeable. Since you brought them both on the road, how do you compare the two?

Originally Posted by Utopian

I pretty much consider the translucent and black to be interchangeable. Since you brought them both on the road, how do you compare the two?

Thank you for saying you consider the two pretty much the same. I do too. I've had both for over a year and use them interchangeably with predictable results. I've read Dan's Whetstone website gravity chart several times where they rate the two with the same gravity. Would you agree the Translucent and Hard Black are virtually identical with no discernible difference? This is a point I'd like to drive home.

I have the larger ones at home for my "real" honing. The smaller travel stones are just a part of the hobby. During down time or evenings in the truck I'll do touch up work on blades needing such.

I saw what what you wrote elsewhere about using these a little rougher and let them take on a "natural" burnishing. I did pretty much the same. Any more when I use these, and the bigger ones at home, I use them dry. Yep. With good results.

I like that your three on the road hones are the same size. I bet that makes it easier to pack them securely.

I think that it of course can vary from hone to hone, but yes I do consider the two types to be very similar in performance.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I bet that makes it easier to pack them securely.

Dan's ships the small stones in nice leather pouches. I asked for extras and they threw in several. One for the coticule, one for my truck fuel card and truck stop rewards cards. Still got a couple left over. The stones in their pouches then go in my travel kit.

Interesting...do you use the coticule dry as well?

I've become rather spoiled by my full size bench stones. I've got a very nice translucent stones about that size but it almost never gets used because of the small profile. It does make a pretty sweet edge though. Maybe I ought to break it and my 6x1 Black out and do a little edge comparison. I haven't used that little fella in a long time, but I remember it putting a nice sharp edge on a blade. Like you and Utopian say, interchangeable with the translucent. Only reason I use a translucent stone more is because it's profile is more to my liking. 6 x 2 x 1 is easier to handle than a 6 x 1 with an uneven split that makes the thickness taper.

Edit: Also found this interesting, you have in your hands the exact stones that Mastro Livi recommends for touching up a blade. A good coticule, and an Arkansas stone to follow it up.

Originally Posted by Marshal

Interesting...do you use the coticule dry as well?

My small coticule in the truck when passing the time, yes, I use it dry. If in the shower room, no. Lather and water. Usually don't take the time to work up the slurry. But at home on my big 8x3 coticules I'll work up the slurry, dilute down to clear water. When done I'll follow up with a dry Zulu Gray or ArkTrans / or Black.

I love the Livi videos. He must have taken my advice.

I should have added: the small coticule is quite hard, smooth as glass, and very slow. Jarrod at The Superior Shave, the vendor, suspected it to be a la verte. I get good results using it dry. I know it's not recommended for best results, but it works well enough in the truck on the road.

BTW, tonight I'm in Bradford, Ontario.

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.

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.