Thread: On my J-Nat, why does water honing cause deeper scratches than dry honing?

I have a question about a J-Nat that I have been using. I am using a Nakayama Kiita and it is doing great for me. The question that I have is that when I am done with the slurry, I go to water only, and then to dry. I get awesome edges this way but I have a nagging question. Why is it that when I come off water only, the shave is not as good as I get by then going dry? A look at the scratch pattern, using water only, and it shows that the stone scratches a lot after the slurry. Dry then straightens everything out and gives a very polished surface.


Thanks in advance,
Richard

I noticed the same thing, and again when using a slurry until dry.

I just mentally shrug and go with it, but it would be nice to know why.

the trick is in the touch.
those stones can be scratchy to some extent, and tricky to use.
Some stones will scratch easily , especially Asagi stones, some will not.
When you hone you need to develop the right pressure with water or slurry and you will be fine.

Now I am by no means an expert at the Japanese naturals but I was told when I bought my stone to let it slowly go to dry to get the most out of it...

This made perfect sense to me because...About 3 years ago I had started doing that on the Norton 8k to get the most out of it... the last 20 laps or so I would let the stone go to dry... I have tried that system on just about every stone and it works with varying degrees of success...
So yes the "let it go to dry" does work and actually works quite well on many stones...

BTW the "DRY" doesn't have to mean bone dry here the stone is still going to be damp just not wet...

Thanks for the insight guys.

Take Care,
Richard

Many of the Japanese stones are alumina based and they really absorb water as opposed to say a coticule which really doesn't so if you let the thing go dry the stone itself is really still wet if you know what I mean.

It is normal for a J-Nat to show its true scratch pattern when used with water alone. As Stefan said some like Asagi are well known for this.
When used with slurry the particles breakdown & polish the scratches so they are reduced. Can't imagine why a totally clean dry stone ie no slurry remnants, would not also leave visible scratches.