Thread: Are You A Real Man? Do You Think You Can Hone? Shave Off Of Your 1k Hone

So I decided to go ahead and do this while testing two other razors that I honed on my new surgical black (which I will post about in that thread).

Anyway, I maxed out a Torrey shoulderless in bocote scales that I just finished rescaling yesterday. I took my time to REALLY sneak up on a maxed-out bevel on my Chosera 1k, and followed up with 40 linen and 60 English bridle (no pastes or cheating of any kind!):

To be honest, I am stunned by the absolute buttery-velvet shave from this 1k edge! It was smoother than the two I was also testing from a surgical black by quite a bit (and they were both HHT-sharp, though I am still learning on and breaking in this new hone). I kept trying it in multiple angles and WTG, XTG, ATG, etc., and it just kept mowing off lather and whiskers with almost no sensation at all. I have shaved with uber-sharp, pro-honed edges, and more than a few of my own "finished" edges that were just as smooth and sharp, and this shave beat many of them. And no, I am not trolling-I couldn't/can't believe it either, and don't even have any real theories as to why a 1k bevel setter could give such a close, smooth shave. But I'm going to do this on the next few bevels I set on 1k just to see if it was a fluke.

Thanks for throwing out this challenge again, Ron! I learned (again) how much I love my Chosera 1k, and that it really is "all about the bevel." I'm going to test this blade again after each step from Norton 4k/8k/Nani 12, and the new arkie-hopefully the shave doesn't get worse LOL. If it does, a bunch of higher-grit finishing stones might end up on the BST (kidding, maybe). Aaron

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

To be honest, I am stunned by the absolute buttery-velvet shave from this 1k edge! It was smoother than the two I was also testing from a surgical black by quite a bit (and they were both HHT-sharp, though I am still learning on and breaking in this new hone). I kept trying it in multiple angles and WTG, XTG, ATG, etc., and it just kept mowing off lather and whiskers with almost no sensation at all. I have shaved with uber-sharp, pro-honed edges, and more than a few of my own "finished" edges that were just as smooth and sharp, and this shave beat many of them.

I think you just got better at honing! Nice job!

I don't believe that all razors will respond in the same manner, but doing that same approach of trying to max out what the 1k can do certainly will be better for setting the stage for the rest of the grits.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I think you just got better at honing! Nice job!

I don't believe that all razors will respond in the same manner, but doing that same approach of trying to max out what the 1k can do certainly will be better for setting the stage for the rest of the grits.

Yeah, it was kind of an epiphany in that sense, Ron-Really, why not max out every stone? I know I have often been guilty (maybe moreso in my newbie "formula" honing days) of just saying "Screw it, let's move up the 8km or whatever. I'm going to test shave after every stepping stone this summer I think, just to know exactly how much refinement I'm getting at each step.