Thread: J-Nat Honing

What magnification are you using to inspect your edges?

Test your base stone with diamond slurry other wise you do not know the potential of the stone and any nagura slurry you add may never be able to produce a fine shaving edge.

You should be able to remove all 1k stria with just 21 laps of diamond slurry,.

Don’t add more variables, find out what you have first, especially if you are not happy with the edges. Is it the stone or technique.

Alex Gilmore, The Japan Stone has several great videos on testing stones, where he goes from 1k to finish on diamond slurry in a few minutes and about 40 laps
Here is a video of Alex removing 1k stria with Diamond slurry
(

Amazing Nakayama Kiita #9 Huge Bench Stone

) Diamond slurry.


Second is technique. Alex uses a basic Japanese Knife honing technique using single direction strokes reducing the stroke count with each set. 10, 6,3,2,1 a total of 21 strokes. The edge can be refined further with a tomo nagura or a refreshed and thinned diamond slurry depending on the ability of the base stone.

This technique also works very well with synthetic stones.

Here is a video of that technique that Alex calles, The Ax 2 Method. Count the strokes. (

TheAxMethod Honing Henckels Friodur razor on the asagi #263)

If you are not happy with your Jnat edges you must determine if it is the stone or technique. As with many things straight razor, your edges will improve with your experience.

Do not be tempted into making the process more complicated, you just add more variables and more opportunities for error and will not know where the failure is.

Here is another video from Alex with a better explanation of the Ax Method.

Note the stroke count and that he uses more pressure with the first strokes and lightens the pressure as the stroke count diminishes.

Alex has many Jnat honing videos with great micrographs of the bevel and edge at each stage. Also note the effects of stropping on plain leather.

Also, of great importance, Alex states that he is using very high quality stones that he has personally selected. Not all Jnats are capable of this level and speed of finishing. And that is a testament to buying from a knowledgeable dealer.

Ax Method, (Testing the asagi with TheAxMethod)

Thanks for the great videos.

Started on the tsushima after a bevel set, using a tenjyou nagura. Stropping and shaving after that was as expected for any tenjyou edge, namely pulling WTG and incapable of ATG (I don't always do this, but when I'm testing out my method I will sometimes strop and shave at a pre-finisher level just to get a sense of where I'm at, and measure the improvement at the next step).

I did note after the nagura session the stone was looking glazed. I lapped the other side, this time using Silicon Carbide sandpaper before moving to the Atomas. Went way quicker. Using that freshly lapped side, I used a self slurry, and got a pretty good refined edge. Under a 40x (advertised) loupe, it had a nice cloudy haze pattern. The shave was comfortable, WTG and ATG. I wouldn't mark that shave up alongside my best JNats, but it was definitely passable.

I went back to the glazed side, doing water only laps, finishing with a couple drops of Smith's solution mixed in (which was sitting withing arm's reach), for a good 50 laps or so. Using a 40x (advertised) loupe, the scratch patterns from the self-slurry were reduced. I don't know how to describe it best, but the cloudiness of the haze on the edge was more reflective... not mirrorlike like I'll get off a high end synthetic, but a hybrid. I've seen the same off my Ozuku when I've got it dialed in. Shaving this morning with this edge was absolutely keen.

I'm marking this tsushima blue as a good finisher. It's very hard, so your honing technique has to be pretty on point, but it's relatively quick, does well with mikawa naguras or self slurries, and will refine further with water laps. It's a nice sized bench stone, uniform and inclusion free. Feedback is meh, not as dead as an Ark but I will say the ozuku & kiita are better from that respect. Reasonably priced off Amazon (I purchased the 'hard' variant), I'm sure it's out there on the Bay as well.

I'll post a photo later... although it's been discussed here on the forums before... it comes in a leather or leather-like pouch with a sizable nagura chunk.