Tested a Puma #1 on a mystery Jnat. Stone was a joy to use. The Puma gave my a comfortable, smooth, easy shave
This is actually two honings. The stone is a recent acquisition that’s very promising. It has a couple of Nakayama ‘tells’ though it’s far from being certain, it’s very smooth, a joy to hone on, and it’s not so hard that it’s a PITA to use, not that I mind that much if it makes the right edge. It slurries pretty easily with my usual tomo nagura. So round 1 was my usual finishing routine, IOW, finishing on thin slurry. The edge tested well by HHT but not the very best. Same for the shave, it was DFS+ but not epic. I want epic, lol. Details in today’s SOTD. Now, some jnats but not all, will respond to clear water finishing with light polishing stokes. With some stones, this makes little difference, others it does, usually softer stones respond a bit better than hard ones, and this one isn’t super hard. So I touched up the edge on thin slurry, just like I finished it before, then cleaned the razor and stone of slurry and did some circles, straight strokes, and generally mixed it up under running water. Strop and test et voilá, silent HHT root in or out. Shave test #2 tomorrow, but if the edge isn’t aggressive, this stone went from 95% to near epic, I’ll just have to shave again to find out.
Honed up the just-arrived Le Grelot Zenith 6/8+ full hollow. The razor is new, never been honed. The bevel set fairly easily on a Shapton Glass HR 4k using 1 layer of 1mil Kapton. The prefinisher was my usual Nakayama kiita, and the finisher a favorite small stone, also most likely Nakayama. I know what tomorrow’s razor will be!
So testing out the monster coti Chose this le grelot because I’m most familiar with these blades and I feel most comfortable testing stones with them. Edge was previously finished on a jnat and was nice and shaving sharp. Did 100 laps with the blade and then tried the treetoping test. Edge popped hairs, so while it still was shave ready the edge was a bit of a downgrade from where it was before. Tried 20 more laps to see which way the edge would go, didn’t notice any further edge dulling. So while the edge isn’t as sharp as the jnat from my edge rests it still seems as a great shave ready edge. Will have to shave test this edge in the next couple days and see how it does. Also here’s a pics of the stone showing just how big it is.
Was nice to get the Okudo out for this pair... Herder 14 & the Iwasaki. 4k edge taken to a Nagura progression (Tenjou & Mejiro) followed up with a piece of Nakayama for the finish. Decisions, decisions Happy honing. Tom
Today’s hone of the day 17/16 Celebrated FBU square point 9/8 Celebrated FBU barbers notch Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
F.W.Engels, "ARGO Steel" This razor has been on the back burner, since a full on restoration was done, a while back. Now, this was a bugger to hone. Have you ever had a blade that just didn't want to take on the 1k bevel, well this was that razor. I decided it wasn't the technique, but the steel. It is as hard as a rock. But, with some patience, the bevel presented itself, fantastically. I then took it to a very hard JNAT, and some NAKAYAMA Naguras, to finish it out. I then used some 30,000 and 100,000 grit Diamond Powders to slurry with. These brought up a mirror shine on the edge. It could have been better, but the JNAT had a lower grit rating than the powders. After stropping, the edge was killer sharp. It will be tested tonight.
F.W.Engels Special This was a breeze to hone. The edge still had the factory bevel on it. The steel wasn't as hard as the ARGO Steel razor. It went through the same steps as the razor above,, but required less time, on each step, especially setting the bevel. This only took a couple of minutes. Very sharp ending, after all was done.
Thank you. That one looked like it really wasn't used, except for some rust on the blade. I am fond of F.W.Engels razors. In My Honest Opinion, they make some of the best razors out there. Some of the best looking too.
Literally just finished a Dome, a pair of Sprocks, a ERN, a TI, and a Sword and Crown... all took great edges
I shaved with a Sprock, great shaver, the two are a boxed set with a small sheathed sprock strop in the box, there are two small spaces for what I think may be for a paste?? or a balm...i dono...the strop was really not at all useable when i got them, it was like sprung on a soft foam...but the leather was shot, it was totally rotten with mostly holes and rot, it was also brittle like candy...i removed both sides as they were mounted on slim pieces of wood, i have kept them tho...and I just replaced it with black leather, i managed to salvage the fragile Sprock name on leather at the handle and it went on ok, all cosmetic stuff I suppose, but the razors are very good, never hesitate to buy one if you fancy it...the steel is very good indeed.
No, Gary. I was just using the photo to let @DaltonGang know that I own an Engel, too! My pic was from a shave last month. Tomorrow's straight razor shave will be #100. I will be using my very first straight razor like I did for 98 and 99, my Dovo Special. I will also be using my 1st brush, the Rockwell synthetic.
