Thread: A novel hone idea

Originally Posted by 0livia

Why not go the old fashioned way and use a block from lead?

???? lead ???? I'd be real interested to hear more about using lead....besides I might be able to come up with another metal to use instead of the lead if it is a good way to go....maybe magnesium or aluminum or something.

I have worked a bit with the real Lignum Vitae, and I do not think this will work very well....The wood has almost a waxy feel, but will bruise (compress and harden) relatively easy, although once bruised that area is harder and will wear nice and slow......The problem that this would cause is that the razor would most likely scrape away a bit of the wood with each pass, or dig in and chip the edge, unless you bruised the whole surface...but unless you have a good flat plate and hydraulic press to do this evenly, it will be too uneven to be useful.

Personally, since I do not have a really nice finishing hone yet...Once I have the bevel, I use a Tam O'Shanter to polish the edge as well as I can, and then I sprinkle Linde A compound onto the wet hone....I use the hone normally although with this artificial slurry and it gives me a nicely shavable edge that is much finer than the Tam O'Shanter but not as fine as the polish from my paddle with just Linde A compound.

It seems to work nicely for me at any rate...

edit - BTW, for those that do not know, Linde A compound is 0.3 micron Aluminum Oxide powder.

Originally Posted by Smokintbird

???? lead ???? I'd be real interested to hear more about using lead....besides I might be able to come up with another metal to use instead of the lead if it is a good way to go....maybe magnesium or aluminum or something.

I have worked a bit with the real Lignum Vitae, and I do not think this will work very well....The wood has almost a waxy feel, but will bruise (compress and harden) relatively easy, although once bruised that area is harder and will wear nice and slow......The problem that this would cause is that the razor would most likely scrape away a bit of the wood with each pass, or dig in and chip the edge, unless you bruised the whole surface...but unless you have a good flat plate and hydraulic press to do this evenly, it will be too uneven to be useful.

Personally, since I do not have a really nice finishing hone yet...Once I have the bevel, I use a Tam O'Shanter to polish the edge as well as I can, and then I sprinkle Linde A compound onto the wet hone....I use the hone normally although with this artificial slurry and it gives me a nicely shavable edge that is much finer than the Tam O'Shanter but not as fine as the polish from my paddle with just Linde A compound.

It seems to work nicely for me at any rate...

edit - BTW, for those that do not know, Linde A compound is 0.3 micron Aluminum Oxide powder.

Ah...welp that lays that idea to rest.

I don't have a hydraulic press . *runs back to vekta's asinine drawing board*

he he he... I'm sure it would work just fine with a stropping motion!

Smokintbird I've found the idea to use lead in a german encyclopedia, when I was looking for rubber strops.
Streichriemen - Zeno.org

Well, after reading the translated version of the page provided by Olivia...and some subsequent research I did after that, even with the lead block, they are talking about using it loaded with the powder or slurry but with a stropping motion and not a cutting motion...

Originally Posted by Vekta

What effect did it have on the edge and the Chrome oxide?

I could not feel a difference when shaving if I went edge trailing or edge leading on the chrome oxide. I do not think it is that big of a deal to try edge leading on a wooden hone. Since I can go edge leading on something as mushy as my fat cheek and not have the edge catch I do not worry about the edge catching on something as hard and stiff as wood. I go edge leading when I set a bevel on sandpaper, I have also gone edge leading when trying out abrasive powders on copy paper.

I am more worried about the edge of the blade shearing abrasive from the surface and having small particles rolling over the edge as the razor travels down the paddle strop.


I would not try on one of my valued paddle strops, but do not have any problem trying it out on scraps

Experiment, have fun, find out what works

Charlie

I too have used a pasted wooden block as an edge leading hone. I used a block of 3" wide hard maple which I progressively lapped on my granite surface plate. I pasted the block with .5 mic diamond IIRC. Initially, the edge did scrape up excess paste but that stopped pretty quickly. Honing on the wood block did have an interesting sensation since there was no scraping sound as you'd find on a stone hone. Passes on the wood were almost silent. I didn't find any improvement or benefit to go edge leading at that grit level on the wood block rather than spine leading. It was fun to experiment with.

Chris L