Thread: Jnats and Wedges... Bad combo?

So I sold a Jnat to a member here and he says he uses a wedge and gets more comfy shaves finishing off his escher than the Jnat. I understand shaving is as personal as well you get the idea. Anyway anyone here have similar experiences with wedges and different finishing stones? I for one can't stand the wedge razor, I find it to harsh, or maybe I can't hone it well, whatever it is I put mines to sleep... So any comments are much appreciated.

I think it depends on the stone , hard stones work better on softer steel in general.
I hone all wedges on my hardest Jnats and they come out great, and since I have not heard complaints I would say others like the edges too.
another question is if the person is using the stone correctly.

I've only got one j-nat. A nakayama asagi. So far it performs excellently finishing whatever I throw at it from wedge to full hollow. I hear they are not all alike though.

Has this person ever used a razor edge off of a japanese stone before?
Has this person ever honed on a japanese stone before?
Is this a polisher, prefinisher, etc?

I've had not issues with using wedges on a variety of JNats. I'm not sure what the problem would be.

It could be the hone & its relation to the razor or the honer or both. He may find that the process he uses with the Escher does not work with the Jnat. He may need to experiment some. If the Jnat is a fast cutter he may be overhoning & crumbling the edge. Or vice versa, it may be slow & he's not doing enough strokes.
I have a few Jnats & I have one in particular that rarely sees a wedge or if it does its only for 3 or 4 strokes like a Shapton 30k. For a while there I thought wedges & Jnats didn't mix but since adding to the stable I found that wasn't the case.
Maybe more so with naturals than synthetics you need to match stone to steel.

From my discussions with Joe as well as some things I've read around here, I'm more inclined to think it's a matter of the steel and the hone than the grind and the hone. But even there, I'm not sure that the differences will be so pronounced as to make one edge bad and another good (unless there was a problem with the edge leftover from lower levels).

It seems to me that a common problem for many when they are honing their first wedges is that the lower end work doesn't get completely finished or taken as far as possible, but the difference may not become apparent until the high end. This can often lead to the conclusion that the problem is with the high end, when it isn't really. But that is just one theory, as the information presented in the OP is quite vague.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

It seems to me that a common problem for many when they are honing their first wedges is that the lower end work doesn't get completely finished or taken as far as possible, but the difference may not become apparent until the high end.

Of course, that applies for the honing of every razor.

Thanks a lot to all!!!
back on subject, the person has been using a wedge for about 2 years I think and doesn't shave daily. The stone I sold him is his first Jnat, I for one can relate cause I can't hone a wedge, or if it is sharp I just don't like the feeling. Anyway the Jnat is a nashiji, fairly soft and fast cutter. I was thinking maybe the wedge angle is larger than the singing razors and thus gives a different edge feeling? Maybe the person just plain likes the feeling of eschers??? IDK another thing is I used to like coticule edges better than Jnats until my shaving skills came to par (tons of weepers from the extremely sharp edge) so IDK, what else to tell him. Thanks 2 all!

My favourite finisher is my nakayama Maruichi, and I've yet to find a razor it won't put a great edge on whatever the grind.

My runner up is my Escher and I hardly ever use my coti and charnley.

I've done a fair few wedges and they were all finished on my Jnat.