Thread: Razor shoulder catching on hone

Actually, I should add another thing that you might not know.

There might be a chinese hone that could be stated to have a scratch pattern equivalent to a 12k, but that does NOT mean that all of them are that same equivalency. Rocks cut a couple of feet apart from each other can vary dramatically. In fact, consider the case of natural two sided coticules. They are cut at the junction of the light and dark veins. Even though they were adjacent, the two veins vary in color, garnet size, and garnet number. Of course, the two veins also vary dramatically in their cutting ability, even though they've been adjacent to each other for millions of years.

I guess at 12k you can't just run your finger over it and feel the difference; the 8k might as well be marble for all my rough hands could deduce.

No, but we all do it anyway, as if we can feel the difference!

Originally Posted by Utopian

Well, yes and no. They are constant within a given hone line, but not between different lines.

I am guessing the grit ratings for man made/synthetic hones must conform to the industrial standard for the country/area that they are produced in. Those standards may differ country/region to country/region. The rated grit in Japan, North America and Europe may not be the same unless there is a general agreement to follow an ISO method of rating.

8K man made/synthetic hones produced in, say Japan, by two different companies should be the same rated grit but may not be rated the same in North America or Europe.

Makes things a little messy but there is a degree of consistency in grit ratings for man made/synthetic hones coming from one country/area.

Natural hones being a whole other ball game.

Bob

I'm not sure that's true. The grit ratings of Shapton and Naniwa don't seem to correspond, and the Shapton GlassStone 30k is 0.49 microns while the Suehiro Gokumyo 20k is 0.50 microns.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I'm not sure that's true. The grit ratings of Shapton and Naniwa don't seem to correspond, and the Shapton GlassStone 30k is 0.49 microns while the Suehiro Gokumyo 20k is 0.50 microns.

Could be that it also varies by the type/construction of the hones. Like different standards for different steels?

Bob

That certainly could be part of it I suppose, but I'm not even sure that they all use the same rating scales.
Like I said…

Originally Posted by Utopian

That certainly could be part of it I suppose, but I'm not even sure that they all use the same rating scales.
Like I said…

Yup, been reading post on SRP going back to 2008 about this very topic. Nobody seems to really know what is what.

Bob

Originally Posted by Grenage

What's the point in even stating a grit level if they aren't sure? I digress, and rant. It is what it is, and I'll see what it's like once I'm half-competent.

Because folks who don't know better buy them, and then learn better later when they find a place like this and start asking questions.

Don't feel too bad, they got me with that gimmick too.

But, not all is lost! It may not be a true 12K stone, but there's a good chance it'll be an improvement over your 8K. Mine is at least that, polishes higher than 8K and makes for a more comfortable shave than my Shapton 12K Synthetic stone. Get the blade shaving good off your 8K first. Then you can start assessing your Cnat. I say start because some like a fine burnish like an Arkansas stone, others I believe I remember reading like to be used under running water like a coticule. It's been a while since I read Gssixgun's assessment of them, but he found ways of getting a working edge off some of the ones that don't perform quite as well as the really hard stones that take to a good burnish.

The really trippy thing (to me) is you don't even have to move a few feet. The back side of my Cnat is rougher and you can feel it when you drag a blade across it. So just 3/4 an inch to the back side the polish would likely be less than 8K, but on the face I use is a step above. I would wager it's equivalent 10K or so. For now. Time will tell if it stays that way or shifts higher/lower with use.

Edit:

This is the thread I was thinking of earlier -

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...nese-hone.html

And the quote in mind:

#1 and this is the biggy, this is a natural stone, it varies and they vary quite a bit I have used 4 of them now and I finally have one that really works exceptionally well...

#2 There are some very hard stones out there that are scratchy, these take forever to get settled in and even then they are not all that great...

#3 There are some very soft stones that produce slurry off of just the razor without touching a slurry stone, much like the lower grades of Coticules these actually cut rather fast, but don't leave a very sharp edge...

#4 The people that love these hones I would think have the ones that are a dull Grey with no blueish tint and have slight black grains in them...
This is the one I have found to really work it leaves a very sharp very smooth edge the feel is like you threw talc on the stone, a very smooth, soft feel, really reminded me of the Charnley Forest that Lynn let me use at the NC meet...
Also it only takes about 30 laps off of a Norton 8k (my testing routine) to finish off the edge...

Number 3 must be what I was thinking of. Which makes me wonder if the softer ones could be used under running water to produce a better result.

Originally Posted by Grenage

What's the point in even stating a grit level if they aren't sure? I digress, and rant. It is what it is, and I'll see what it's like once I'm half-competent.

There is no point.
That was the point of THIS old thread, which ultimately led the term "People's Hone of Indeterminate Grit" or "PHIG." It was a fun thread.