Normally yes, but if you have an artificially imposed time limit that would as we say, put a hitch in your get along.

I think, for the ease of lather, the slickness, and the pleasant scent, ARKO wins, hands down. Besides, Williams smells like mosquito repellent.


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John, I’ve always been under the impression that the lightening of the pressure creates a convex bevel, not a concave one, but the three bands look similar in images. In the image that Jerry did for me, those straight striae at the shoulder are from back-and-forth Japanese style strokes at bevel setting pressure. The middle band is just from bevel refinement, and the area at the apex eith angled striae is from a rolling x stroke at feather weight pressure.

I hone most razors the same way regardless of grind. It creates a durable bevel, much as Glen alluded to with a micro bevel. BTW Glen, I’m just plain lazy, if I get a razor like the one that you described, I just slap some tape on it until it takes the edge. Anyway, I got 67 shaves from a Filly Doble Temple and 153 shaves from a Fill Sub cero. And yes I pushed the Sub Cero edge a little because I was doing some secondary strop testing, and you’ll notice differences in strops easier with a high mileage edge. Still, 120-130 would have been more like it.

Why even bother doing this? I’d read forum posts that the Doble Temple and the Sub Cero/Novodur were the same steel/tempering with different graphics, so I decided to do edge longevity tests to find out. They’re not the same, the Sub Cero lasts about twice as long as normal double tempered razor steel.

Here’s what I think that I’m making.

In my example I did it deliberately. I did a touch up on the razor using firm pressure with koma slurry. Then I used light pressure on the tomo slurry. If you gradually ease up on the pressure, you will create a convex bevel.
I am not sure what you did. It sure looks like you flexed the bevel enough at one stage, which enabled you to work on the front part of the bevel during finishing.
If you use a convex stone this can be controlled, because you can apply pressure and flex the bevel without digging into the stone, which can result in edge chipping or dulling the apex on a flat stone.

I’m not sure either because I don’t use a microscope. But I know that what I do works, and the edge is durable.

These jnat edges leaves enough texture on the edge to cut well without needing to be that refined. They are still skin friendly and durable.
Edges from super hard jnats can be a little too much for my skin. I shave daily, so I need to find a good balance.

It isn’t the hardness. I have several super hard JNats - as in 5 minutes to raise a slurry with an equally hard tomo. But fantastic smooth edges. Other hard ones, and soft ones not so much.

Skin friendliness (and fineness) depends on the specific stone, not the hardness.

I have a small Nakayama Mizu Asagi I am considering cutting up as tomo nagura. It is hard hard and fine, but will not give good edges. It was a cheap stone, and was not sold as a razor finisher.
I also have a Shobudani that is stupid hard, but feels grate, and gives good smooth edges.
It seems like you get what you pay for if you find a good seller.

It will not make a good tomo for razors.

Slurry it with a diamond plate and use it for small knives and tools.

Yep same here, but I was asked to test this one by the Custom Maker
So I was doing a stage by stage comparison

I also agree that Master grinders as few as there are,, certainly are not honing, I doubt they ever were

Yes sir!

Sure, it depends on the size of the shop. Ralf Aust is a one man shop (with his wife assisting with the business), Dovo is big.

This is a good read to get a good perspective of Solingen razor manufacturing.

https://sharprazorpalace.com/razor-...-master-straight-razor-grinding-solingen.html

Look at the third image in post #2. I have one of those, but it’s a Dreifus, Kayser Ellison steel instead of the Sistrum’s Böhler steel. And yes, it’s ground that thin. You don’t need any more flex. Honing it will make your pucker factor go way up, you can’t put any pressure on this razor, it just takes a lot of time because it won’t stand any pressure.

*First post*

Regarding convex hones, currently I'm not in the market for anymore stuff (at least for a while), but for someone looking to get into giving it a try, where does one start? I do not want to modify any of the stones in my current progression.

Are there ways to modify stones without the need to purchase a new fancy lapping plate?

Well, you’re either going to have to lap a stone or buy a stone unless you DIY.

If you lap a stone with loose grit (cheap), it will be slightly convex, and you can carefully smooth the surface with sandpaper or a small rubbing stone to the finish desired. Depending on your stones, you might be able to convex one side and keep the other flat, though you might need a towel under the stone with the convex side down on a hard surface. I’ve been told by the convex stone advocates (without any proof) that this method isn’t good enough, though my straight edge says otherwise.

Oh, and welcome @Kyle89 - I recognize you from another forum. Good to see you here.

Thanks for the welcome Steve! Nice to see you too. Thanks for the reply. That does sound possible to hopefully "eyeball" things, and curious if others have done something similar without buying a new plate.

And for those who have dabbled in this voodoo witchcraft, how's stone maintenance?

Sometimes when I see extraordinarily thin bone scales,
I wonder if it was done by someone who primarily worked in ivory.