Thread: My razors won't get sharp...

Originally Posted by gugi

what exactly is the point of your initial question - yes they should be there because that's what your hone does?

That wasn't my initial question. I asked why my Welsh stone doesn't visibly affect my razor's edge. Other members assumed that one of the possibilities is mistakes with the 6000 grit stone.

Originally Posted by RustyTorch

That wasn't my initial question. I asked why my Welsh stone doesn't visibly affect my razor's edge. Other members assumed that one of the possibilities is mistakes with the 6000 grit stone.

Not really, you posted that you think it is a possibility right off the bat - your posts from right where you hijacked the thread are still right here.
I can't help you. I hone my razors to shave with them not to look at the bevels. If you want to know what my bevels look like you'll have to do the work yourself - I've posted them many times. Not that it'll help you, judging by how many variables you are omitting to consider.

My mind is going, hehe.

If you don't look at the bevels, how do you control the sharpening and honing process? If the scratch marks don't seem to begin to vanish after 2 or 3 hours of honing on a natural stone - what am I to do? In which direction should I dig?

What 'welsh' hone are you using? For example, is it a Llyn Idwal, A purple slate, a green slate, a Dragons Tongue (sold by Inigo Jones), a Grecian Oilstone (which is an LI variant) a Llyn Melynllyn (also called Yellow Lake Oilstone) etc.

Regards,
Neil

Natural Wide Welsh Slate Razor Hone 15K Sharpening Stone with Slurry Stone | eBay

I have this stone. Does it fit for razors?

That particular one comes in two varieties, one with a purplish-grey colour and one with a greenish-grey colour. They are from early cambrian deposits. Assigning a grit rating to them of 15k is ludicrous in my opinion - I have tried several examples of both types and would suggest that they are more in the 11+k range. A Naniwa 12k gives a superior edge, as does a good thuringian waterstone (ie, most escher labelled hones). One of them is slightly better (finer) than the other - you can usually tell by the feel of honing on it with slurry. The second best one has a slightly gritty feel to the slurry.

It performs slightly faster than the chinese 12k hone (which is not 12k, in my opinion!) and is slightly more adaptable and more user-friendly than the chinese hone.

The welsh slate hone is rather slow and requires a lot of work, particularly coming from a 6k hone. It should be well slurried (ie a thick slurry should be produced on it when you commence honing) at first and the slurry worked out towards the end of honing. Using it with oil gives a slightly more refined edge than using it with water but is of course much messier! It should leave quite a bright scratch-free bevel to the naked eye, but under magnification it will of course be marked.

If you are using it with just plain water then good luck - book a week or two off, because its going to take you a long time to get the results you want.

It is fine for razors. It's best point is its price. It should leave a very good shaving edge, but as I said, the naniwa super stone 12k is a better and faster finisher.

It should remove the marks - after some deal of time - left by the 6k. Unless your 6k is very 'scratchy' or contaminated with grit from lapping.

Regards,
Neil

Thanks a lot Neil. How much does the slurry reduce the time of honing?