Thread: The C-Nat-athon

Originally Posted by northpaw

Interesting. Mine from the Polish seller is one of the nicer ones, from what I understand. I did buy it a few years ago, if that makes any difference.

Mine is from him as well, I bought mine towards the end of summer, and mine has the tiger striping as described to be some of the best. The stripes are not a different color as that would reflect a difference in mineral content, the stripes just polish shinier. It's a real high end finisher and I feel very lucky to have one, especially since it's the first one I bought.

I just ordered one from a Polish seller. I hope it is the same one.

Huh, those really are stripes. I guess mine doesn't have tiger stripes after all. More like tiny copper wire things.



edit: I did my honing for this thread and will post it up soon.

Originally Posted by Crotalus

I just ordered one from a Polish seller. I hope it is the same one.

I'm pretty sure he's the only Polish guy on ebay that sells C-Nats so rest assured. I'll be very interested in seeing what yours looks like after being lapped and how it performs.

Originally Posted by northpaw

Huh, those really are stripes. I guess mine doesn't have tiger stripes after all. More like tiny copper wire things.



edit: I did my honing for this thread and will post it up soon.

That is a very interesting and unique looking stone you have there, very kool.

Originally Posted by Crotalus

I just ordered one from a Polish seller. I hope it is the same one.

Which seller is this? Can I get info? maybe I should order one too... I have one C12k which I think is pretty good but second stone would be even better.

Can someone post a link to the polish sellers ebay page? I can't find him.

Originally Posted by northpaw

Huh, those really are stripes. I guess mine doesn't have tiger stripes after all. More like tiny copper wire things.



edit: I did my honing for this thread and will post it up soon.

The one I kept (I started with 4) and the best one I have honed on, has the exact same type of markings only I just counted and I have maybe 25 squiggles on the whole face of my stone..


http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...nese-hone.html Here is the old thread



Since then I have probably tested 20 PHIG's at the meets from all different sources and some are still good and some are still bad, I think you might be more on track by trying the polishing routine on the bad ones and using them more like a Arkansas stone (The slicker the better) with either oil, soap, or Smith's Honing solution to get the best polish out of them..

Basically some are very similar to Thuringens and work that way, others are more like a Arkie or a Charnley Forest and need a different approach..

Like any Natural stone you have to have the desire to romance that stone into giving up it's secrets


ps: Mine is a Woodcraft stone, but that honestly doesn't mean a thing 2 of the ones right next to it on the shelf were nowhere near as good..

Originally Posted by bmilesmiles

Can someone post a link to the polish sellers ebay page? I can't find him.

This is the stone I bought from him.

New Chinese Water Hone / Waterstone for Straight Razor | eBay

Hone Report #2:

Today as promised I attempted to hone my 5/8 Spike wedge. I also attempted to shave a Mandarin 9/16 with a wicked toe smile.

I did the mandarin first, but even though the center and heel are quite sharp, it appears I have not mastered the 'Rolling X' stroke, because it doesn't apear to be sharp. I looked and looked under the loupe, and it looked like a good bevel, but I never got off the 1k with it popping hair. After a good hour of trying to get a bevel on the toe, I hung it up for the 100th time. Maybe someday, but not today.

SO I turned my attention to my Spike. This is a beauty of a spike, all original and came unrestored with almost no patina on it, except on the tang. Scales still look new too. Straight as an arrow edge, so I figured a perfect candidate. I honed one of it's sisters for the JaNorton challenge with good success, so I followed the same process on this blade, foregoing the 1k and setting the bevel on the 4k, followed by the 8k.

I was able to build quite the slurry, the best I ever have using the edge of my slurry stone. Covered the thing in a nice white milk. I was able to get in 2 sets of 25 X's and 2 sets of 20 circles before the slurry was practically gone. I finished out the remaining 150 X's and 120 circles (again in sets of 25's and 20's) using clear water.

Unlike the Salamandar I honed yesterday, this one didn't seem to be quite as sharp when I finished. The Sally sent hair flying when it popped them, and the Spike just kind of cut them and they collected on the bottom of the razor as I passed over my test area. An HHT test sheared it with ease so I took it to the shave den for 100/200 laps on the felt/leather.

I won't need to shave tonight, but i might have to anyway, just to find out if it is a good shaver now. I don't have the same incredible expectations I had yesterday over the Sally.

Water pushed evenly on every stone and the bevel looked good and even under the loupe (30X). The scratch patterns were getting lighter and lighter as I worked it on the Cnat, but it just didn't seem as sharp. I will strop it another 100 before I use it either tonight or tomorrow morning.

This one I did use a layer of tape, changing the tape between each stone. I am half tempted to take it to a CrOx paddle, but I will wait until I see how it shaves from the Cnat.

I'll update when I can!! Good luck all!!

Mike

Just shaved with my Wolff, Lane & Co. Boker and it was a great shave. No irritation and it seemed to just wipe the lather/hairs like like a squeegee. It was honed as I documented on the other page but just got around to shaving completely with it today. The razor was a restore I did but it's completely original. The hone wear from my C-nat polishes the edge and the spine and made it look beautiful, like it's accented with a mirror like frame. lol