Thread: Taming a harsh blade

I generally follow the approach of use the least agressive method first. If that does not succeed then go to a coarser stone.

In your case I would guess that the old oxidized steel on the edge has not yet been removed and none of the hones that you mentioned are coarse enough to do that job quickly.

But... as mentioned, use the coticule and/or the chrome ox first.

As Modine stated, the abrasive used in the Frictionite 00 is a natural abrasive that was mined in Africa and is no longer available, it was a very fine grit graded at 1200F, 1200 grit and finer is the proper interpretation.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

As Modine stated, the abrasive used in the Frictionite 00 is a natural abrasive that was mined in Africa and is no longer available, it was a very fine grit graded at 1200F, 1200 grit and finer is the proper interpretation.

1200F? What's that on the usual scale that we use to characterize grit sizes?

Originally Posted by Kees

1200F? What's that on the usual scale that we use to characterize grit sizes?

Hey Kees,

Currently, standards have been established so that we can tell what the distribution of grit sizes are in a given product ( more or less).
The 1200F, 4F and FFFF standards predate the current existing standards so it has been hard for me to find a chart showing the grit size distribution for the earlier "standards. It seems that the earlier standards were dependent on the use of a sieve or the flotation method of segregation.
As an example the 4F designation from Carborundum Company meant 500 grit and finer, 3F meant 400 grit and finer etc. The FFFF designation I have not found a measurement for yet but I assume it is referring to a 4 step flotation method.

From the grit size distribution charts I have seen it appears that the 1200F is about 6000-8000 grit in current standards. But the one point that must be remembered is that additional processing occurs during the hone making process which reduces the size of the abrasive grain making it even finer.

You might be interested to know that most of the barber hones were made with 4F grit abrasives! Wrap your head around that for awhile!

Originally Posted by MODINE

roughkype;
Like Ryan said providing you had a shave ready edge to begin with, I have a Spyderco UF. I don't use anymore. I have a Frictionite 00. I don't want to cause an up roar but I think you got it bass ackward. Spyderco before Frictionite. Frictionite is a very fine barber hone, one of the best.

The tan side is the final finish side. No more than 12 laps on the tan side w/ soapy water solution to bring and edge back to shave ready. Maybe you over honed the edge. Under magnification portions of the edge will look like thin foil bent over... Just my 2 cents.

I was told the Frictionite was a Rhodesian mineral no longer available made by American Hone Co in either Olean NY or Mondrovia IA. Hang on to the Frictionite roughkype.
MIke

Thanks, Mike. I got the Frictionite about 30 years ago, as part of a reed-making kit, and just unearthed it this last year. Yeah, I haven't figured out where to fit it among my other stones.

I bought the Spyderco after looking at Tim Zowada's micrographs of sharpening results in the Wiki (here). He used it after the Norton 8k and it gave a really nice looking edge, so I chose it to be my finishing hone. As some other posts in this thread mention, grit size has a lot of scales so it's hard to know--especially, it seems, in the murky world of barber stones. And I've seen numbers from 1200 to 16000 for the Frictionite UF. But on what scales?

In the fly-tying world they're making some progress toward adopting a thread-size standard. I wish the same would happen in the hone world.