Thread: curious about natural bevelsetters

I like natural hones. It's just a preference, and I'm comfortable with that.

All the natural hones I read about fall into a few different categories, broadly, 1) Finishers (i.e Eschers, Charnley Forests, Jnats etc..) 2) polishers (Cotis), and 3) Sharpeners (BBW, TOS, DT, various Scotch hones). The only bevelsetting hones I read about are Coticules with slurry.

Am I missing something? Are the various Dalmores used for setting bevels? There must be a Jnat, but that's all, well, entirely too mysterious for me to understand yet.

I'm not about to go pick up a new hone. I seem to have developed HAD, and need another stone like a hole in the head. I'm just curious.

To me coticule can't beat a 1k synthetic when it comes to bevel setting.
I am not aware that there is a Jnat suitable for bevel setting on razors, mey be there is one out there. I have one that is rather coarse but slow as hell.

This is a little issue we have.
So far i cannot find any natural good bevel setter . i am hoping may be one day .

How about a soft Arkansas stone?

I would think the grit would be low enough for bevel setting.

The Dalmore Blue is pretty coarse, but not really all that fast. Some coticules are pretty fast, but I still wouldn't use one to set a bevel on. Aotos are good just after the bevel is set, but the one I tried was too soft to set a bevel; I have heard of harder ones, but that they too get softer as they are wet for a while (which they will be if you are setting a bevel).

I recall Sham trying an Amakusa Red and saying it wasn't good for razors. The only other possibility I know of (not that that is an all inclusive list by any means) is the Amakusa White, but I'm not aware of anyone having tried one.

Have you considered a white amakusa? Grit range is said to be 700-1K on the Japanese scale, I feel that mine is in the 1K-1200 range. I don't recommend the amakusa red for anything but coarse work like removing chips.

I ordered mine years ago from here:
Amakusa White Natural Medium Stone, Medium Grit Stones

Found it cheaper here, should be the same stone:
BladeConnection: Practical and Tactical Knives for Daily Carry
Scott

I have a big chunk of some kind of nagura that works for me in that area. But it takes ages. In fact, technically speaking any stone can set a bevel for you, just depends on how much time you have available.

However, if you are a man with things to do and people to see, forget a finite-time natural bevel setter and just do what the rest of us do: buy a decent synthetic or diamond, and check the hones section every 6 months or so for any new info on finite-time natural bevel setters.

James.

For me it is a matter of degree. If it is a razor that needs a lot of work a synthetic, in my case a 1k naniwa, is what I reach for. With a bevel that is in good shape and doesn't have far to go I might, if I feel like it, use a pink coticule with heavy slurry. I've gotten good results in reasonable time with that specific stone. More often than not I'd choose to get it done more quickly and wear down an easily replaceable naniwa 1k as opposed to a natural coticule or whatever.

Originally Posted by HNSB

How about a soft Arkansas stone?

I would think the grit would be low enough for bevel setting.

Can be quite slow tho

Originally Posted by MarkinLondon

The only bevelsetting hones I read about are Coticules with slurry.

Am I missing something? Are the various Dalmores used for setting bevels? There must be a Jnat, but that's all, well, entirely too mysterious for me to understand yet.

Depends on how you define bevel setting. It can begin at anything from 220 grit upwards depending on the state of the razor. You could certainly do it with naturals but you will usually come up against cost or time. Synthetics are simply the fastest cheapest way to do it. Some of us don't balk at paying $1k for a J-Nat finisher but how many Norton 1k's can you get for $1k

I'm not really in a hurry to find a new hone, I'm simply wondering if there are any suitable naturals. The speed doesn't concern me because I genuinely enjoy honing. I like listening to a natural stone.

Still, prior to synthetic hones, how did anyone set a reset a bevel? The Coti with slurry couldn't be the only game in town. Which UK hones were used?

I read a thread some time ago about someone wanting to complete a razor using only UK naturals and was searching for Scottish hones. I'm close to an all-UK progression (DT, TOS, Charnley) and wondered what to look for over the coming months to finish it off. Once I find it, I'd like to finish a couple of old Sheffields with them.