Thread: Testing my long Swaty

Update on the testing: I've taken two differend W&B's that I had previously finish off my long Swaty; namely "Joeman's" 8/8 Barber's Use wedge and the Medium Size Hollow Ground. I took each to my C12K for 50 laps a piece and found that both shave better. I was sort of hoping that they would be the same (because I wanted the Swaty to be better), but the facts is the facts (or, my opinions is my opinions).

The next test that I have lined up, which I mentioned in the Barber Hone's Characteristics thread, is to see if the two sides of my Swaty give different finishes. To this end, I will be honing up two identical Henkels 401's. I have set the bevel on each with the same 1K stone. I have decided not to use my BBW/Coticule for this test, because there may be variations in the amount/dilution of slurry on the BBW. Instead, I will give each one the same number of laps on the Swaty; one on the front and the other on the back. Not sure how many laps yet, but previous tests suggest 150ish.

Hmm...maybe your C12K, is a higher 'grit,' than 12K...it is a natural stone and they vary??? Have any known, manmade, 12K grit hones to compare it to?
Just a thought...

Thanks for this experiment...its pretty cool.

Mac

Yup, those C12K's do have some variations.

The only man-made stone I have is a 220/1K combo, so that's no help. But even if I did have a known grit hone to compare with, I seem to recall reading that different naturals and different synthetics cut differently and leave different finishes (based on their cutting agents), so it's not always just the grit rating that matters.

I've finally decided to stop slacking and take a stab at testing whether the two sides of my Swaty are the same or different "grits." This came up in the Barber Hone Characteristics thread, and I proposed the following test: I'd set the bevels on two identical Henkels 401's and then give each the same number of laps on my Swaty - one on the front and the other on the back.

I just ran the test. I gave each one 100 strokes, and both were cutting hairs off my leg with the edge about a half inch above the skin. As far as I can tell, cut exactly the same and have tha same visual appearance, and so I am going to call my Swaty a uniform stone.

On another note, after I gave each 401 100 passes on the Swaty, I gave them each 100 passes on my C12K and, though I have not yet tested them, I assume they will pass a shave test. I find this pretty amazing; I went from a 1K to (probably) shave ready with 200 strokes on two stones. Essentially, 100 laps on my Swaty replaced my BBW slurry/diluted/water + coticule progression. Next, I plan on playing around with using my coticule after the Swaty (instead of the C12K) to see what that does.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

I just ran the test. I gave each one 100 strokes, and both were cutting hairs off my leg with the edge about a half inch above the skin. As far as I can tell, cut exactly the same and have tha same visual appearance, and so I am going to call my Swaty a uniform stone.

Holli4, Read the instructions that came with my mint in the box long Swaty here in the first post.

Barber hones are fast cutters, that explains their popularity.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Holli4, Read the instructions that came with my mint in the box long Swaty here in the first post.

Thanks for pointing that out, Jimmy. I'd seen those instructions, but didn't know there was a specific hone (unique writing) that went with them. Always fun to do a good test though, no?

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Thanks for pointing that out, Jimmy. I'd seen those instructions, but didn't know there was a specific hone (unique writing) that went with them. Always fun to do a good test though, no?

Thanks for doing the testing and posting. I have the one NIB long Swaty and a used one. I taped a razor and gave it a touch up on my used long. I couldn't tell there is a difference between one side or the other by feel or by eye. Maybe their "rough" side is pretty smooth in comparison to what we think of as rough ? Or maybe that specific model (my NIB with the instructions) had one rough side and the other side smooth ? I'm not sure if all of the Swatys were the same.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Thanks for doing the testing and posting. I have the one NIB long Swaty and a used one. I taped a razor and gave it a touch up on my used long. I couldn't tell there is a difference between one side or the other by feel or by eye. Maybe their "rough" side is pretty smooth in comparison to what we think of as rough ? Or maybe that specific model (my NIB with the instructions) had one rough side and the other side smooth ? I'm not sure if all of the Swatys were the same.

I'm thinking there must be different Swaty's. I seem to remember some people saying that the ones with two lines of text are more coarse than the ones with three lines of text. While I cannot say for certain, I seem to remember my old normal Swaty with three lines of text putting a better edge on my blades that my long Swaty with two lines of text does. But then again, that may just be because I had not been exposed to a C12k back when I had my little three liner.

As an update to my testing, I was thinking about this afternoon at JoeD's place, and I was thinking about all the laps I was doing on my Swaty, and I thought to myself "Why am I not doing circles?" So I grabbed another blade that was fresh off my 1k and did about 10 seconds of circles on each side, followed by about 30 laps. Went from there to about 50 laps on the C12k, and I was matching my other blades. Can I get a "You might have spent a day at JoeD's if..." Next time I'm going to play with some circles on my C12k too.