What Straight Razor Have You Honed Lately????

Is gritrange appropriate for natural stones?

If you say that a thuringer is like a 16 k, is that for sharpness or smoothness?
I get the feeling that a yellowgreen esher on water is way smoother than a 20 k, but sharp like a 16k,and on slurry it is even smoother but even less sharp,...

I used the same Coticule for geometry work and to put a finish that is so crazy sharp i needed to temper it.

For me, the vintage sheffield and solingen knives take a better edge than new steel. The new steel is often a tad brittle.
Older razors are often not perfect straight, grinding was paid handlabor.
You got what you paid for.
Honing towards a smile but also using a narrow or a slight convex stone solves geometric issues without ruining the whole blade.

 

I Used the Term Finishing Capacity of Naturals..Not Grit Rating...So..I Can Compare or Conclude the Approx Finishing Capacity of a Given Natural Stone Compared to a Known Grit Rated Synthetic that I Know Well..

Its Very Simple..I Know My Hones..Well..

Billy..

 

Sorry for the misunderstanding!

 

6/8 Trident Cutlery Solingen Germany Just came in the mail Today .Gave her a quick refresh on the Translucent Arkie .

 

E-W "941" Germany.

I dug this out of the box, and worked on it today. It was a rusty, and chippy blade, that required a little massaging. But, in the end, it took a very very nice edge.

 

Wade & Butcher, "Bow Razor".

It looked like someone had overdone it with the sander, to get the rust off, and took a bit of wording off of the blade. This mattered little to the edge. I buffed the entire thing out, and honed it up. The Welsh Slates and Arkie SB Stone did it well.

 

Trio of razors:
Wade & Butcher: Chosera 1k bevel set; Naniwa 2k>5k>8k>10k>12k>Vintage Escher (finisher); strop on linen & leather.
Filamonica Novodur 13: Chosera 1k bevel set; Naniwa 2k>5k>8k>10k>12k>Vintage Escher (finisher); strop on linen & leather.
Portland Razor Co. Kamisori: Chosera 1k bevel set; Naniwa 2k>5k>Okudo Suita>Shobudani Asagi with Mikawa Nagura progression ( Botan, Tenjyou, Mejiro and Koma); strop on linen & leather.

Single tape layer — I tested both the W&B and the Fila just off the 12k & stropped. VERY keen; HHT4+. On the face, I found the edges somewhat harsh. BBS result, but...
I opted to go back and run a series of laps with the two on a vintage Escher. Starting with a dense grey slurry and then continuing to dilute until just water laps.
Result:still very keen, but a noticeable softer feel on the face. BBS.

With the Portland kami: After the initial bevel set and a series of slurried progressions through the Naniwa 2k & 5k, I slurried up the Okudo Suita and worked the edge until the slurry was dilute to just water. Sticky edge. Continued edge refinement with the nagura on a very hard Shobudani asagi finisher. Linen & leather resulted in a hair-popping edge with the typical jnat smoothness.

 

So I think I have my priorities straight - taxes or razors? Razors it is!
Time to hone that Kabeso that I added the gold to the spine.
The Naniwa 1k & Shapton 4k really set and refine the bevel well for me.
Then went Mikawa nagura (Tenjyou & Mejiro) before finishing with that large Nakayama tomo, all on that Okudo Mizu Tomae.
Interesting with this one as it seemed to really suck into the Tony Miller Plain Vanilla strop... sort of a weird, heavier draw than normal.

Gotta find some more stuff to put off taxes .
Tom

 

This is an older image, but some nice eye candy to start the week off. A Le Jaguar full hollow touched up on my 'Grand Prismatic Nakayama'. Usually stones this colorful are too soft and coarse to hone a razor, but not this time, this one is indeed hard and fine.

Cheers, Steve

 

I refreshed an incomplete (only 6 blades) etoile poor mans 7 days set from saint etainne manufacture d'armes francaise.
All on the ozuko, and all comparable, botan, mejiro, koma, tomo.

And i wonder if i ll feel a difference or not. If they shave the same this set might learn me stilla few things on honing!

 

Pics?

 

Honed the Top Three Razors on a Naniwa Super Stone Progression All Finished on My 16 K + Escher Thuri..The Sheffield 6/8th & French Razor 5/8th to the Right of it are NOS..The French 5/8th is Minter than Mint..Looks as if it was Made this Morning..

I Treated My Wester Bros 5/8th to a Refresh Whilst I was on the Escher..

Billy..

 

I love how Wester Bros. Steel takes and holds an edge . My First straight was a 5/8 Wester Bros .

 

Finished a user-grade Hayashi test razor on almost 4 pounds of Nakayama goodness. This stone needs to be used with a clear water finish, but when you do the result is an outstandingly smooth edge.

Cheers, Steve

 

I Got this Rather Minty NOS Factory Fresh PET LUDW SCHMIDT Elberfield - Solingen 3/4 Hollow 6/8th Today..Honed on a Naniwa Super Stone Progression & Finished on My 16 K + Escher Thuri..I Got it to Turnover But I Reckon its Possibly a Keeper..Och Naw..No Another Keeper..

Its One Real Beautiful High Quality Solingen Blade..Beautifully Ground & Shines Like a Mirror..

Billy..

 

Now that is a big rock.

 

M.L.Brandt Cutlery Co. Germany & New York

A little corrosion at the tip, that was honed away, and a minor chippy blade, all the way down. I used the Norton 220 grit to quickly take care of those problems. My usual progression and finished on the Arkie S.B. Stone. In the end, it gave a great shave.

 

Got this Barbers Thuringian Stone Today in the Post..Its Very Similar in Color & Fine Glass Finish & Texture of My Own Escher Thuri which has a 16 + Finishing Capacity..I Can Probably Push 17 K + Out of it with Tallow Lather for Finer Polishing..

The One I Just Got is in the Paddle Type Base..It was Flat & Just Needed a Few Ticks with 350 to 1000 grit Wet n Dry to Lap it Uber Smooth..I Got it for £ 11.00 Pounds Posted on Ebay..The Seller Didnt Know what it Was..But Hey..I Spotted it a Mile Away & Was 99 % Sure what it Was..

Regardless what Anybody Says Thuringian Stones VARY a LOT..I Have Tested a Number of Em...They Can Vary from around a 10 1/2 K Finishing Capacity to Maybe 17 K +..Also.Some Escher Thuri Stones are Way Down at the 10 1/2 K Mark..As a Rule of Thumb the Darker Black/Blue Ones are Very Poor Performers Compared to these Lighter Colored Stones..This will Not be Written in Stone Of Course..No Pun Intended..

This Stone I Just Got is Very Similar in Fineness to the One I have..Albeit I Have Not Shave Tested it Yet..It Might Even be Smoother...Time Will Tell..I Wanted a Similar Performing Thuri to My Own Encase I Drop it or have a Mishap with it..

These Very Fine Thuringian Stones are Not Easy to Find..

Billy..

 

You seem to be acquiring a lot of nice looking toys lately. One of these days I will have to venture out and try one of those Thuringen Stones.
You do know you are an enabler, don't you??