Thread: Slurrying synthetic stones?

What is "your" take on using the slurry from synthetic stones? Yes for it No against it and why please?

Thank you everyone ahead of time, I have been gaining leaps since asking these sort of general questions...I am not a beginner by any means, just like refreshing what I have been doing in case I missed something that could lead me to the unicorn!!!

Could someone make a "Unicorn" emojoi please lol...

I use a slurry on 1k chosera if i need to be more aggressive. On higher grit i havent used a slurry that much.

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I use slurry on every stone, natural & synthetic, except the Translucent Arkansas, its too darned hard. Occasionally I'll use slurry on the Chinese 12k but most generally it does just fine with plain water.

It's a tool, like tapes of different thickness, magnification, lapping tools, etc so there really isn't a right or wrong.

I rarely use slurry especially at lower grits, Shapton Glass HR 500 and 1k are so fast that they don't need speeding up. I occasionally have used the slurry from the Naniwa 'brown biscuit' on a 600 Chosera, but the difference in speed with that combination though noticeable wasn't great.

At higher grits, I have used a King 8k 'nagura' on synths, again with noticeable speed increases but not really needed. The best case for the King 8k is on synths from 2-8k when you missed a tiny thing that you need to remove but want a softer-acting option that's quicker than dropping down a grit or two and then removing all those coarser scratches a second time. The King is intended by the manufacturer to make slurry to speed up honing (knives are always mentioned by reviwers).

I also use the 8k King to clean and smooth stones after honing, and the surface smoothness versus the brown biscuit is noticeable and I feel is beneficial on fine grit synthetics.

Cheers, Steve

I'll use a slurry on a synthetic when I want it to cut faster and finish with water only on that hone.

Bob

I guess it depends on circumstance, or what I'm trying to do.

Generally speaking synthetic stones as is are so darn fast there's no need. It might take a minute of work on the Norton 4K to get rid of 1K stria, then fewer than 20 on the 8K. And if I then move on to a 12K I'm looking at another 20 strokes. Using Shapton Kuromaku 1/2/5/12K stone you run into the same thing. Following the general chain of progression there's simply no way for slurry to expedite the process.

Now if I want to experiment and try to skip the mid range hones I might work up a slurry on the final stone and work from that to do a touchup. If I want to expedite work on the 1K I might work up a slurry there as well. But for the most part it just isn't necessary. The general objective is to expedite polishing/steel removal when using the technique on naturals. It has the opposite effect in a synthetic progression outside of bevel work. You spend more time building a slurry on the stone and doing dilutions than you would if you just wet the stone and got to work on it. And I don't think synthetic stone cutting material breaks down quite the same as natural honing materials either.

I do have a chunk I cut off a Naniwa 800 grit stone that I use to make an 800 grit slurry on my really hard natural stones. Works every bit as well for bevel setting as any Synthetic 1K I've worked with.

I will slurry a King 1K with a small harder rubbing stone to work faster, then hone on clear water before moving on.

I also have a Shapton Pro 2K (light green) that has a tendency to load up, but I found that if I get a little coticule slurry going on the surface the swarf stays in the slurry. Still cuts like a 2K should, just doesn't load up.

Originally Posted by BobH

I'll use a slurry on a synthetic when I want it to cut faster and finish with water only on that hone.

Bob

+1.....

There is fun to be had playing in the mud, some pretty nice edges can be found also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS1gk9V2FdA

In the past I only used slurry when cutting a bevel at 1k as a means to cut faster. However, as of late I have been using slurry at 8k as well. I find that when I use slurry at 8k it delivers the most super smooth and comfortable edge I've ever experienced. Last week I picked up a razor that I had more or less kicked to the side since it had never been a favorite of mine. The edges on this one were often, meh or sometimes harsh. Never were they anything special. I took it over the 8k with slurry doing circles and x strokes. I then rinsed the hone off and brought the edge back, keeping a close look at what was happening under my scope. Once I was satisfied I did about five laps on 12k, and finished it on 20k. I shaved with it Friday and was blown away at the difference. It is extremely sharp, like a squeegee wiping away my beard. But it was also extremely comfortable and left no irritation at all. And this has been my experience with so many razors I've tried this with. The results have been very consistent for me.