Lithide Hone

This may have been discussed before, but try as I may, I can't find it. The following posts were at the end of the "polishing barber hones" thread. I still wanted my lithide question answered, and the discussion seems to have died, so here it is again.

"Once you have lapped a Barbers hone the first impression is that they are more coarse than before. Only the surface texture is coarse, the size of the abrasive grian remains the same. The texture will smooth out with use. You could lap the Barbers hone with the 4K Norton to hasten this process." (Randy Tuttle)

Ahh, this explains it! I recently bought a lithide hone and the other night I just finished lapping it and was frustrated as hell because it feels coarse, and most definately does not have the smooth finish that it had when I bought it. I lapped it using an 800 grit hone and then went up a progression to a 6K hone. Should I try polishing again on the 6k hone to get that finish, or should I just start sharpening my razor? Will the lithide hone behave as a fine finishing hone while the surface feels coarse, or will it damage the edge until the polished surface returns?

Superfly Nenad posted this response:

About the Lithide... I never managed to get the mirror surface on it. I lapped it with another Lithide, and still no go. Also, I have honed on it a bit, and my conclusion is that it's grit is somewhere between 5000-6000 grit. I am shaving with my Simmons straight off the Lithide, and it's no more comfortable than the N8000 edge.

Nenad

And then I responed with this:

"About the Lithide... I never managed to get the mirror surface on it. I lapped it with another Lithide, and still no go. Also, I have honed on it a bit, and my conclusion is that it's grit is somewhere between 5000-6000 grit. I am shaving with my Simmons straight off the Lithide, and it's no more comfortable than the N8000 edge."

Really? That sucks. The whole reason I bought the hone is because I thought it would add a nice finishing touch after my Japanese water stone 6K hone. Do other folks have this same experience with the lithide? Do you have any suggestions for a barber hone that will serve my intended purpose?

texan, that is true about my Lithide. So far, noone managed to put mirror finish on it, and one guy even took half of the hone's thickness trying. The problem with the barber hones is that they are not standardized in grits and cutting and bonding agents. You need to try them to see what works. I think that no barber hone is finer than the Norton 8000 side, and that is my opinion only. For something finer, you might try the Chinese 12000 water stone, or one of the Shapton pro series. Also consider the Coticule and the Esher stones, both natural. Me personally, I would go for synthetic stone, because they are fast cutters, and the grit is well known...

Nenad

I don't know enough about the Norton 8k to judge it against my Lithide, but the Lithide is my current final finishing hone for refreshing my razors when they just lack the final touch of sharpness.

From that experience I would say the Lithide for me is a very nice finishing hone, and from the results I got from the Coticule I found it hard to find a difference, sharpness-wise.

There is no mirror finish on the stone, as Nenad wrote, but is doesn't need to be. The fineness is in the slurry, not in the surface of the hone.

I also think that this example shows that straightrazor-shaving (and sharpening) is something very individual, so one guys holy grail may be the big no-no for somebody else :)

Just my 2 cents,
-axel-