Thread: ILR hone any tips?

Originally Posted by Utopian

In that case, then I would recommend a Chinese hone from HERE. This is the larger one for $40 and the smaller one is $26.

Well I gave $30 for this thing I have. I'm going to remain optimistic it will/does work. I have a couple razors that going to 12k naniwa just doesn't seem to work so if my test shave proves good then I'll keep it for those great suggestion btw I did look into that very stone a long time ago.

Originally Posted by ejmolitor37

Utopian, my research was not only of this forum but several areas, I do agree the general consensus here was the seller not the stone. I see your point though. Also as far as I can see it doesn't auto slurry at all.
Gssixgun, it would be neat to know what this stone actually is! lol, but I don't I know what the box says which isn't much. I'm not a rock hound, but my guess by looking is slate of some sort.
Marshal, I did watch this video. Very informative, i can see why he was not thrilled with this hone. I simply have it as a trial and gateway into natural stones one day. If anything I'll use it for pocket knives

It's been a while since I watched the video myself, so I can't recall everything Keith did to his test stone. But I found it intriguing that the stone had what seem to be invisible toxic inclusions that undid everything at the very edge of the blade. I'm sure any natural stone can have toxic inclusions, but it's nice when there's a visible difference between inclusion and good stone.

It looks like a type of slate to my eye too. Welsh slates are a favorite of mine so there's nothing wrong with that in my book and I would probably treat the stone the same as I do my Welsh hones. I'm sure you've already lapped it flat. I'd sand the scratches out cause I'm picky about my honing surfaces. Probably take it up to 2K sand paper. Every stone that I have at performed fairly well just polished to 2K so I'd venture to say that's far enough to test. If it passes you can always refine it more later or wait for it to take a natural burnish. Then do a standard finishing hone test. Get a blade up to 8K or 12K, whichever you prefer, test shave it to be sure it's good and ready to go. Then take pure water and do 25 to 50 laps, see what the natural rock gives you. If you like it, repeat until improvement stops. You could also keep an eye on the edge with a loupe and see where the stone levels out.

IF there is a problem, there's always the chance that it lies in your slurry stone and not the hone itself. Giving it a shot without slurry will tell you if the stone in the hone is good. You might also want to check both sides if it's feasible. My Phig is very different one side to the other, there's always a chance your ILR might have a 'use me' side and an 'avoid me' side.

All of my slates are pretty much that easy to use whether it's the vintage Yellow Lake or my Newer Black Welsh slate. In fact most of my naturals give a decent shaving edge treated exactly the same. The only difference in use is surface prep and the honing media. One side of my naturals is burnished, the other is kept roughed up with about 400 grit sandpaper. Gives me a slow/fine side and a faster cutting side that can be used with slurry. The burnished side is never lapped, unlike my synthetics which get scuffed as they load up and slow down. And I typically finish on a thin shave lather, though they all work OK with water. I just like that tiny bit of difference lather gives. I guess you could call it a cheap version of Smith's depending on your taste in shave soap.

Honestly i tried 2 of them over time and i tried it with slurry...oh man...rubbing it with the ILR slurry stone is a fun workout so i raised up some with a safe diamond nagura....feedback is nice but i have doubts about it's cutting abilities in the sense that i realy think it performs better without slurry...the ones i had exibited slurry dulling - especialy if hard presure was used to asses the stone's cutting power...this aspect reminded me of coticules with iregular shaped garnets....the ones that ruin your edge when you start making circles on slurry...

IMHO a stone that can't be used both for honning(slurry) and lapping(without slurry) is half a stone in my opinion...so a turn off from the start.
An ideal razor hone must have the possibility of use with slurry and plain water and exibit performance in both methods of use to be versatile...few stones have these properties and somehow it all goes back to the true timeproven razor hones of the old days...(Slate...Coticule...JNAT).

Back to the experience with the ILR ...So on to the water and oil test...i used it under running water and it seemed to improve/burnish the coticule edge a bit a the same time making it a bit chrispy similar to a thuringian edge on water only...this kind of made me belive it is related in some way with slate hones....but at the same time...it is harder then slate and more densly packed so it could be anything.

what i noticed under the scope was the alternation of burnished shiny areas with shallow crisp scratches that led me to belive that the mean size distribution of the abrasive particules varies quite a lot.

This hone you evr like ory you dont...it all depends on what you compare it...

If all you have is welsh slate to compare then it may be an upgrade...
It may even be an slight upgrade from a coticule if you dont know how to max out the coticule...
It could even help you off the norton 8k
Compared to a quality slate type hone like a celebrated thuri or an Escher type hone i'd have to go for the slate because it's far more versatile on slurry and even on water...i like the feedbacl ofthe slate more and the fact that a slate seems to exibit much less stiction.

But honestly once you get to a Nani 12k level or a Kuromahu 12k the game changes and i realy see little use for this stone beyond that teritory.

Comparing it to a mid qulity JNAT that you can get for that price range(I know you guys are gonna jump me for saying you can get a JNAT for 60$ + shipping...but the truth is you can if you know what to look for! )...there'sno ense in talking about...they are 2 diffrent animals.

So bottom line...for some the stone is an option it al dpends on your standpoint and weather you're looking up or down on the stone.


Also...i'll have to go with Utopian on the thing about the shadyness of the seller...it is my personal way of dealing with sellers that dont privide full information about the product they sell(or provide misleaing information)...I dont finance them...if they dont mae money ...we can all se where that would lead... markets tend to self regulate if the buyer is educated.

my 2 cents, hope it helps!

Actually, I felt that they had every right not to disclose the source of the hone--whether it was a non-existent pit in Italy or the left side of aisle 13 at Lowes. It was the coming into multiple forums pretending to be a user/customer when he really was the seller.

Thanks for the insight guys, yes this hone is lapped flat, never thought about doing the other side to see if there is any difference. I will give that a shot. I have not taken it up to 2k for finish that might be of help. I'll try that as well.
Ovid, I agree with what you say about particle distribution, it's like under the scope there are errant scratches that just go where ever they please. After playing with it a bit today, I honed a Boker up to 5k then went ILR after. It did not polish any more and does not appear to have improved anything so I will have to see once I shave. The other blade a Clauss was taken to 8k, it really took the polish backward on this blade so again I have to shave and see. Lots of unknowns right now for me but I do appreciate everyone's thoughts and comments.

Originally Posted by ejmolitor37

After playing with it a bit today, I honed a Boker up to 5k then went ILR after. It did not polish any more and does not appear to have improved anything so I will have to see once I shave. The other blade a Clauss was taken to 8k, it really took the polish backward on this blade so again I have to shave and see. Lots of unknowns right now for me but I do appreciate everyone's thoughts and comments.

This to my eye does not bode well. All of my naturals to some degree leave a bit of errant stria here or there. Kinda leaves me wondering at times where the heck it came from but it's usually not bad enough to negatively impact the shave. However, even my $12 ZY Cnat is a side step from 8K and certainly not a step back. The only hone I've got fitting that description was my coticule oddly enough. Used to visibly degrade an 8K edge under the loupe and made for a fairly unpleasant shave. But the last edge I put on a razor with it showed the stone had calmed down and actually improved an 8K edge. I still don't trust the little bugger though.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Actually, I felt that they had every right not to disclose the source of the hone--whether it was a non-existent pit in Italy or the left side of aisle 13 at Lowes. It was the coming into multiple forums pretending to be a user/customer when he really was the seller.

I did not know they did that...But then again we're talking about people that are trying to reinvent the wheel in most of the aspects of dayli living...it's all about marketing and making "a honest dolar".

I remember 20K+ stones that had garnets were advertised by some guy who mined them...also the Lidian hipe and every now and then a new stone on the block pops up...

I recomend sticking to time proved razor hones and if you must stray away an bite into the unicorn hones... get one from a frind and test it before financing a potential seller that has no clear reputation established.

First rule of business"if something sounds to good to be true then it probably is"

Originally Posted by Marshal

This to my eye does not bode well. All of my naturals to some degree leave a bit of errant stria here or there. Kinda leaves me wondering at times where the heck it came from but it's usually not bad enough to negatively impact the shave. However, even my $12 ZY Cnat is a side step from 8K and certainly not a step back. The only hone I've got fitting that description was my coticule oddly enough. Used to visibly degrade an 8K edge under the loupe and made for a fairly unpleasant shave. But the last edge I put on a razor with it showed the stone had calmed down and actually improved an 8K edge. I still don't trust the little bugger though.

Well like I say, it takes the polish back not necessarily the edge performance. I'll report back maybe tomorrow or Friday with shave results.

Well, those two may not go hand in hand but they're not always mutually exclusive either. You're right though, no telling until you can do a shave test.

I've tried several of these now also and IMO, while they produce an edge that can be shaved with, they aren't quite up there with the top-tier stones. I got my best edges from these stones with a light slurry finish a la hard JNat, and with a tiny touch of glycerin in the slurry. YMMV.