Look under a 40x loupe, you will see a difference. The jnat will polish the blades edge, and take off any jagged edge, left by a lower grit stone. The jagged edge can be confused with sharpness. It will snag and pop hairs in a HHT, but you will feel a difference in the shave, especially the aftershave, with alcohol in it.
Honed my first razor today a Peter's Brothers Best Quality near wedge. The bevel looked to be in good shape and so I went right to my Shapton 8k and then my Surgical Black Ark Finisher. I was very impressed with the end results and what a great shave considering this was my first time honing a razor.
Shepherd Cast Steel, the maker’s mark was registered in 1772, and this one is likely 1776-1787-ish. The steel is pretty good! It’s been reground sometime in its 200+ year history, and the bevel angle is only about 12.5 degrees. So 4 layers of electrical tape protected with 1 layer of 1 mil Kapton gave me 16.5 -17.5 degrees along the edge. I measured the bevel angle after applying the tape, and Sharpied the bevel to see how it was contacting the 1k Shapton Glass, used to cut the new bevels and remove some tiny chips. Next up Shapton Glass HR 2k, Shapton Glass HC 6k, and a Nakayama sunashi suits to finish. HHT was silent. Mike Hoskins (outback) over at ‘The Palace’ restored the scales, he dug out the delaminated blonde horn, and then repaired that and a missing corner on the pivot end with epoxy tinted with food color. You could not find better workmanship, the man is a genius when it comes to these old scales. Tomorrow the old gal goes out on a new adventure after 220+ years.
That is a spectacular piece of history. Shaving with an original piece that was around during the revolutionary war is really something special!
Kept it simple for the latest project... Wade & Butcher FBU with a bevel set on the Naniwa 1k, followed by an easy work up through the Shapton 4 & 8k, ending with a 16k finish. Happy honing. Tom
Cape 2000, refreshed the edge with a new jnat - and I’m really liking the edge that this stone makes, just a super smooth shaving edge. Progression was 4k Shapton Glass HR to flatten the bevels, 6k Shapton Glass HC, then the jnat on thin slurry. Perfection.
A pair of 7/8 Kropp rescales. Emerald with translucent gold wedge. ShaptonGlass 1k-Hindostan-8k ILR-C12k and finished on a J nat hone from a barber shop.
My Mint Factory Fresh Schlemper Solingen 6/8th. Arrived Today from Italy..Its Brand New Factory Fresh Absolute Mint Condition..Just Honed it on a Naniwa Progression..Professional Stone 1 k, Superstones..3 K, 5 K, 8 k, 12 K, 16 K Lapping Film & Finished on My 17 K Escher Thuri..It Took a Killer Edge..The Factory Grinding is Excellent..Its a Huge Blade for a 6/8th.. My Next Shave .. Billy..