What Straight Razor Have You Honed Lately????

Discussion in 'Straight Razors' started by DaltonGang, Sep 25, 2016.

  1. Leclec13

    Leclec13 Well-Known Member

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    (with the 0.25 micron diamond pasted balsa)
     
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  2. Chuck Naill

    Chuck Naill Well-Known Member

    I did some dripping water laps a couple of nights ago to make a Geneva 6/8 ready to go. The stone was a Thuringian I got from Timber Tools last year. I find the size good for holding while lapping. I guess I did 40 or so laps. The net net is I've used the razor for two days and the results are very nice.
     
  3. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    Curious about the Thunguran (and/or nats in general). Although I am a dark sider, I still get a better shave with DEs. I don’t think this has anything to do with the sharpness of the blade, but is more due to my relative lack of experience with straights. My honing progression is a Norton 4K, 8K, followed by a Naniwa 12 K and a strop. Can I get a better edge with something else? Maybe. Will it affect my shave and/or enjoyment of honing? Maybe.

    What say you guys about this?
     
  4. Leclec13

    Leclec13 Well-Known Member

    What parts of Florida?

    I, by a huge margin, get a better and more enjoyable shave with SR. (However I still dabble and enjoy DE, and SE).

    It’s difficult to learn to shave with SR and learn to hone at same time. Your satisfaction rate will be exponentially better learning to shave with a known sharp edge!

    Many suggest and I agree.... get edge done by honemeister or at least someone more experienced then you will know you are shaving with a decent edge. The learning curve will be accelerated from here. Knowing what a good edge feels like shaving, and what to work towards honing. Or mail it out to someone that will hone it properly.

    And yes technique is king for both honing and shaving, take some time and practice. Unless something which your gear is grossly out of specification it should be fine. What razor do you have? You did not mention. Does razor cut arm hair easily? does it treetop? Or pass hanging hair test? Did you buy razor new or pre owned? Do you know how to check bevel? Pretty sure you will need a need a stone/hone/ film in 1k/1.5 K range, if not now eventually. Looking at your hone progression my WILD guess is bevel is not set which is usually done at lower range than the hones you have.

    Even better is to find someone local to you and help you learn to hone! And possibly help with shave technique. If we knew what area you are in we might be able to refer you to someone close to you.

    Ps. I’m in north Florida
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2019
  5. Steve56

    Steve56 Hone Hoarder

    Send me a blade or two and I’ll put nice jnat edges on them/it for you, then you can see if there’s a difference.
     
  6. Steve56

    Steve56 Hone Hoarder

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    My user Filly 14 wasn’t getting a smooth enough edge, and I know what that means, I need to flatten and re-form the bevels and re-finish the edge. A Shapton Glass 4k did the job, followed by diamond plate slurry on a fast, fine kiita, then the final honors went to a Kato-era Nakayama maru-ka. Et voilà, a fine, smooth edge. While I had the maru-ka slurried up, I gave my St Joanis a little love since it had a good number of shaves on it. 1 mil Kapton for the frameback.
     
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  7. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    I’m in West Palm Beach; sixth generation Cracker.

    Maybe I gave a misleading impression: I have about 20 straights of different sizes and grinds, and wouldn’t consider myself a beginner at either honing or shaving with them. As you suggest, when I began, I started with professionally set edges, but now I can easily set bevels and work through my stones to pass the tree topping test every time with every razor. I also consistently get better than a DFS with every razor, so I’m not struggling by any stretch. I just don’t have the dark side experience of others here and have never used natural stones to hone with.

    As such, I’m curious to understand the difference in using natural stones and how the edges are different from the synth generated edge that comes off a 12K Naniwa, and how this may (or may not) affect the quality final shave.

    My experience with DE blades is that different blades can affect “feel” slightly, but actual shave results are 100% dependent on technique, not the blade. I’m assuming this is true of different straight edges as well, but am curious what those with more experience than myself have to say about this. Not sure I want to go down the natural stone rabbit hole yet without a better perspective on it.

    Sorry for the long post and thread hijack. If a mod wants to move this to a separate thread, feel free to do so.
     
  8. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    Will do, Steve. Thanks! PM me your address.
     
  9. Leclec13

    Leclec13 Well-Known Member

    Ok I understand now. The “getting better shaves with DE” threw me off.

    I’m now finishing with diamond pasted balsa Progression.
    Probably the sharpest edge I can get.
    Definitely different feel than coticule, or an ark.

    I have some Coe arks that are relatively new to me. Dota Creek, and Grey polisher. I haven’t quite figured these out yet and can’t get consistent edges using them exclusively.... yet. But when get lucky these have a different feel than coticule or regular ark.

    What I have been doing lately is finishing on the diamond pasted balsa , then going back for a few light stokes on the coe dota creek. It’s kind of a hybrid finished edge and is by far my favorite edge.

    I’ll be glad to put an edge on one if you want to give it a try.
    Or anyone else wanting to compare.
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2019
  10. Billyfergie

    Billyfergie The Scottish Ninja

    Natural Stones Can be Fun to Use...Naniwa Stones are Consistent..I Personally Only Use Naturals as Finishers...I Prefer a Natural Edge...On My Face...I Find they Cut Differently from Synthetics...I Also Find that Some Naturals Fit a Particular Steel Very Well...:cool:

    A Thuringian Can be a Lovely High Grit Finisher..The Problem is that there is So Much Variation in Thuringian Stones like Any Other Natural...I Have Two Escher Thuri Stones with a Finishing Capacity of Around 17 K..Both are as Consistent as Synthetics the Same as My Coticule....A Good Thuringian is Hard to Find & So is a Good Coticule..:)

    There Lays an Issue...And Some Cost Stupid Money for Crap Stones..There lays Another Issue...I Have a Beautiful 20 K Surgical Black Arkansas & I Would Suggest its Only Compatible with about 50 % of a Particular Steels..Thats Me Talkin...Some Naturals Go for Crazy Money & they are NO Better than a Naniwa 12 K Stone...There is Another Issue...;)

    Try a Natural Edge from a Forum User & See if Ya Like it...Moreover, Some Natural Stones Can be Less Forgiving to Honing Errors...:happy088:

    Billy..:chores016:
     
  11. TestDepth

    TestDepth Well-Known Member

    Randy, I like the advice everyone above gave and knowing your interest in all things shaving, I think you have to try a natural... it is just a cool way to get a shave ready edge. Needed? Absolutely not, as you have a great finisher, but there is something cool about working a natural.

    I was totally confused where to start, but the JNat Koppa option at Chef Knives to Go was pretty nice for $75. Not cheap, but not crazy expensive, and I felt I learned a lot before I moved it on to a friend.

    Here is a pic of the one that arrived.
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    This blade is only the size of a DE, so probably a 3.5 to 4” stone. I did seal the bottom with clear finger nail polish.

    Personally, I think once you try out Steve’s edge (which is a wonderful gesture) you will want to jump in with both feet.
    Tom
     
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  12. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    Thanks, as always, for the great input, guys!
     
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  13. Paul Turner

    Paul Turner outside the quote(s) now

    Off the subject of shaving, looks like you have a basketball game to watch tomorrow night, eh?
     
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  14. Edison Carter

    Edison Carter Well-Known Member

    I also use pasted balsa strops.
    For now, I'm pretty happy with the results.
    Just don't know if I'm ready to jump in on a natural stone.
     
  15. Edison Carter

    Edison Carter Well-Known Member

    I love Chef Knives to Go, been dealing with them for sharpening and kitchen stuff for years. Great products, competitive pricing, excellent customer service. I think I read somewhere that Mark Richmond is a straight Shaver. They get the Max Headroom Seal of Approval.

    Very interesting razor, was it always that length or rehabilitated from tragedy?
     
  16. Leclec13

    Leclec13 Well-Known Member


    I love the shorty!!
     
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  17. TestDepth

    TestDepth Well-Known Member

    One of those no fault of the seller buying mistakes on my part... no deception intended and I missed it in the pictures. :)
    Gave me an excuse to have some fun.
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    A very tricky razor to use- tendency to drive the point into your cheek. Good battles! :duel:
    Tom
     
  18. Steve56

    Steve56 Hone Hoarder

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    The Nakayama koppas from Takeda that CKTG used to sell were sweet - I’ve had three and all were top notch razor hones. Takeda might still sell them, he has a Facebook page I believe and also a website.

    I went for lunch take out, and when I got back the postman had left me a nice package from Spain. A big, 8/8 Filly 14 in fine shape indeed. I tightened the pivot, polished the scales, then put my own edge on it, Shapton Glass 4k, Nakayama kiita followed by a Nakayama asagi. It’s a singer, it sang on the strop and took a really nice edge as most Filly 14s do. Looking forward to shaving tomorrow!
     
  19. TestDepth

    TestDepth Well-Known Member

    Such a beautiful razor and rock Steve!!! Enjoy.
     
  20. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    Yup. Lady Bears are BRINGING IT, Paul.
     

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