Quote Originally Posted by Bart View Post

I don't think we are in complete agreement on the slurry issue. Maybe there's a difference between the stones we use. With naturals, one can never be sure. Either way, I have done double blind experiments on it, testing three coticules and one blue. Very distinct differences showed up between edges finished on slurry and on water. That's why I always tell people to be careful with slurry. Not that slurry has no place in honing. I hardly ever use my DMT 1200 anymore, but a coticule with slurry instead. No way a Blue without slurry is going to refine that bevel to the keeness level I prefer for a decent shave. If other gentlemen's mileage varies, that's fine with me. Everyone can do a simple test: take a razor that shaves you very well, finished on a coticule. Get a slurry on the same coticule and do about 20 laps. Shave with it. I know that I was not pleased when I tried this, and I have, on almost every coticule lying around here. Next, try to revive that edge on the same coticule, now with water only. I can't do it, but that is not important. Everyone can easily find his own answer. Allow me to assume some people would actually share my outcome. Those can now take their still not satisfactory edge to a Blue with a light slurry for about 40 laps (let's stay on the safe side). Next to the Coticule with water, or even to the Blue with water. (I believe I stopped caring ). At this point I shave and rest my case.
Actually I think that we are in agreement, I just did not express myself as clearly as I should have with my quickly typed comment (I was at work and should not have been typing in a shaving forum anyway ). What I meant to say was that using blue with or without slurry will not have an effect on the resulting shaving edge IF and only if you move on to another higher grit stone like a yellow coticule and do more work. In my experience, the edge left from a blue used with slurry leaves a much finer edge than a DMT 1200, Norton 1K, and even Norton 4K. The main point that I wanted to express is that a blue with slurry certainly is not counterproductive to the work that you did with a Norton 4K based on my experiences and will leave an edge fine enough to benefit quickly from another stone like a belgian yellow. If you shaved off the blue (which I never do) you very well could tell a difference in the edge with slurry or without. When I move on to the yellow I always finish with just water (no slurry) because I feel like I can tell a difference in the resulting edge compared to yellow used with a heavy slurry (as I think Josh does too). In fact, I always finish without slurry on my final finishing stone whether that is a belgian yellow coticule, german escher, nakayama or another. Hopefully that is more clear.

David