Thread: Raising slurry on lower grit stones

I am not really a fan of slurry on the synthetic stones at all, but glad this worked out for you. Typically with the synthetic stones, you can get there pretty quickly at all levels. I normally set the bevels on about 24-30 razors a day without creating a slurry on either of my Naniwa 1K's. With the Naniwa 1K, I have found that more X strokes after the circles (1 set = 40 circles each direction followed by 25-30 X strokes) really helps to get the bevel to where it bites into the thumb pad test quickly. Usually after one set unless a restored razor, repair or an ebay beater. Personal preference remains key and if something works for you, build on it.

Have fun.

It's hard to add anything to a thread after Gssixgun and Lynn have posted! I was thinking about my use of slurry on synthetics, it seems to really help me. I'm not a great honer so I was thinking maybe slurry all along the way helps a new honer with easily made mistakes. Using slurry fills the gaps between grits, so if i were to not spend enough time on the 1000 and the bevel isn't quite set then maybe the fact i use slurry on the 4000 fills the gap enough so little mishaps get ironed out. The same thing can happen between all the grits. Slurry makes the progression between grits a gradient instead of jumps. The jumps in grit from my experience and reading in this forum is where many (me) have problems.

Tell me if that made no since...
Nathaniel

Originally Posted by Lynn

I normally set the bevels on about 24-30 razors a day... I have found that more X strokes ... helps to get the bevel to where it bites into the thumb pad test quickly.

Got any thumbs left, or are they just stumps at this point?

I have thought about slurry on 1k synthetics and agree I don’t need it. But what I think slurry does is make you concentrate on your stroke and use less pressure. Herding the slurry around the stone, keeps you focused on the edge and pushing forward, resisting the urge to grind and push downward.

It is interesting how little things affect the edge, we must remember how fragile the edge really is, even at 1K and continues to get finer and finer. When you look at it like that it is not surprising that minor refinements in technique improve results.

I have been using 400 & 600 Chosera stones to quickly repair restored edges, the effects of pressure on the edge are dramatic. While they will re-grind a bread knifed bevel quickly, added pressure leaves a ragged edge. Very light finish strokes leave both a flat bevel and straight edge.

So while there may be some breaking down of the slurry the real effect on the edge is from reduced pressure on the stone.

Thanks to all for your input and answers.

I was a bit hectic about using slurry on synthetic and lower grit, but after re-thinking about everything, it seems that building slurry really helped more in exposing fresh hone surface to the razor. I noticed that there were some metal particles embedded in the hone after last restoration and it didn't have the bite it usually has. Razor was skidding effortlessly over the surface of the hone. As I didn't have my lapping marble nor wet sandpaper, only thing left was to try to clean the hone by building slurry. After completely diluting slurry, hone had the same bite I was used to.

As Euclid440 said, slurry also helped me to better visualize and control my strokes.

Cheers,

Rob

All slurry does is make every grit of stone cut faster. It can and should be used all the way up to 8k. On 8k and higher, make sure that you follow slurried passes with water only passes.

Personally, if I want a slurry on a synthetic, I use a coticule slurry stone to raise a coticule slurry. My main reason is that low grit slurry is large, and tends to leave scratches above the bevel.

As an added bonus, I have found that the coticule slurry helps prevent the steel buildup (blackening) on synthetics.

Not that I NEED the slurry. (Unless I'm fixing messed up wedges on my 1k...)

Well, I used my mystery hone to raise the slurry. The grit on that one is well above 1000.

Now that you mention it, it does seem that stones are much cleaner when using slurry.

Cheers,

Rob