Thread: The C-Nat-athon

Originally Posted by mjhammer

Hi Handyman,

It sounds to me like a superb start! Much better results than I got my first razor out. As a matter of fact, I never even got a shave off my first try. I could tell by the arm hair test not to try it on my face. Then about 50 tries later I finally got a good bevel set.

Here is a great place for an illuminated magnifier (30x loupe):
Widget Supply 25mm 30x Chrome Teardrop Jewelers Loupe, Illuminated

That is the one I bought, and you can't beat the cheap price. It is not a cheap loupe though and I think it works magic for seeing an edge.

I also think you need a 8k stone to go between your 4k and 12k Cnat. But that is just because that is what I was taught you need. From what I learned from the JaNorton exercise all you need is the 4/8k stones to be able to set a bevel and shave from it. I did make that happen, even though I think I get a much better edge off the CNat than I ever did off just the 8k alone.

Keep going brother!! I needed all the encouragement I could get when I was doing my first razors, so I am here to encourage you as well!! Us rookies need to support one another!

Great job bro!!

M

Thanks for the info and encouragement. Both needed here and appreciated. Looking at a loupe very similar to that one but also looking at a 40x about the same type build. 8k is probably in the future but probably down the road in the budget. Will try to keep at the cnat to learn how I can span the gap. I know others have used it solely after the bevel was set but they have much more experience. Will just have to keep at it for now. 3rd shave was still pretty rough. Will try to hit the stones soon. Thanks again for the support.

Originally Posted by handyman

Thanks for the info and encouragement. Both needed here and appreciated. Looking at a loupe very similar to that one but also looking at a 40x about the same type build. 8k is probably in the future but probably down the road in the budget. Will try to keep at the cnat to learn how I can span the gap. I know others have used it solely after the bevel was set but they have much more experience. Will just have to keep at it for now. 3rd shave was still pretty rough. Will try to hit the stones soon. Thanks again for the support.

You can do the one stone honing routine, it's just going to take a while and extra finesse. I've done it before, and actually use the one stone honing method to gauge a new stones characteristics (rock hunting for natural whetstone material). Having a loupe will make it much much easier for you especially with the one stone honing. I got a loupe for 1.87 off ebay free shipping and it's made of real steel and real optical glass 30x magnification. I use it for everything now, it's an irreplaceable tool really. If you want to know the seller just pm me if you want.

I touched up my Wolff, Lane & co. Boker tonight. Tried a couple different things to prove my theory with my stone. I was more aggressive when creating a slurry and the edge was more coarse compared to 10-12k scratch pattern. Then I used my proven method of taking more time creating slurry with little pressure and again a nice polished edge looking close to 15k scratch pattern. With my stone the secret is in the sauce.

I have a question for all of you guys here. How heavy is your stone? Mine is really heavy and dense, like surprisingly heavy.

Mine is rather heavy

Size = 7.75 in x 2.75 in x 1.25 in or 195 mm x 69 mm x 32 mm

Weight = 45.4 oz or 2 lbs. 13.4 oz or 1286 g


Density = I hope I did the math right 1.704 oz / cubic inch or 2.986 g / cc

if the math is wrong please feel free to correct it


I used LxWxH for Cubic size, then divided that into the Weight for density as you can see below it is actually a bit easier to work in metric for this or at least for me it was

Guess I need to get technically with it than

Just used the comparison theory to check other stones real fast

PHIG = 2.986 g/cc

Thuringen = 3.608 g/cc

BBW = 3.737 g/cc

Arkie = 4.12 g/cc

So the PHIG turned out to be not quite as dense as I thought just bigger and heavier so it gave me a false sense of actual density

I'll have to use a actually scale

I honed a vintage Wester Bros. No. 22 today. Started at King 1k then went to Norton 4k, 8k then C12k. I did about 30 circles across the stones alternating sides of blade about 5 times then 10 light laps minding pressure throughout on the 1, 4 and 8k's. Off the 8k seemed all good so moved up to C12k. Spent 45 mins on the C12k and wasn't really happy with it. The edge didn't mirror up like I wanted it to and it just didn't seem sharp enough/wasn't what I expected even though my experience is nil. My C12k stone seems weird. I wish I would've got the thicker one because it's tricky on a narrower stone. I didn't realize the thinner stone was narrower. I overlooked that when I orderd it. Anyhow, there's that and it seems really grabby and inconsistent even at light pressure. So anyways the edge off the C12k sucked imo but I have a 2 sided paddle style leather strop from Lee Valley with 1 micron on one side and clean on the other. I stropped forever on the 1 micron side and then went to clean. I'm overall very happy with the edge. Nice and mirror like and it pops arm hairs off like nothing and operates like it should from vids I've seen. Bummer is I notice in a few spots some scratches from I'm guessing the 12k. Oh well, I'm still proud of it and am looking forward to the shave test tomorrow *fingers crossed* I wonder what you guys think though? I feel like I spent plenty of/too much time on each stone but before paste my results aren't up to what I think they should be. I'm sure the bevel must have been set at 1k because I spent some good time there. Then I took my time and didn't rush through my progression so as to remove the previous stone's tool marks completely. Then the 12k was pretty weird and my result was bleh. Mybe my C12k from woodcraft is one of the not so great ones? Luckily the 1 micron cleaned it all up nice. Funny also it won't pass a HHT but maybe my gf's hair is too fine? I'm bummed about my DMT 325 4x10" lapping plate too. There is an imperfection and it leaves visible little tiny scratches in the stones. I hope I can take it back!!?? It's brand new