Honing advice - how to get a sharper edge?

Thx for the update Kevin

 

Welp, I might as well just mosey over to the naturalhones and get this over with...

 

..or wait for his next batch of stones Terry is finishing. Mike, I suppose much depends on the type of size/shape of hones you prefer. Many available tend to be in the 5.5 x 1.5 range, with a few oversized ones. Ideally, for me, would be the standard 3x7 or 3x8 size, but I'm not yet willing to drop that much cash for one.

 

A good point Kevin. Ideally, I should wait for an 8"x3". I'll be keeping my eye on the site. Thanks for talking me off the ledge

 

What's the difference between the old chosera 1k and new? Is one better then the other?

 

The new one is thinner than the old…
sorry, I dont know if there's any difference in either the manufacturing or the composition...

 

From the Sharpening Supplies website:

Q. Is this the new version of the Naniwa Chosera stone?

A. Yes, Naniwa changed the name from Chosera to Professional stone. It has always been their professional stone, now its name reflects its intended use. The same method of production that has made this stone famous has merely been updated to allow for tighter standards in grit tolerances.

 

+1

I'm paraphrasing a bit, but:

"Dude, it ain't the tools. It's the operator." - @swarden43

 

Absolutely—but the right tool in the right hands makes for the right results.

 

Good gear makes things a whole lot easier...

 

Funny story...

Had a Torrey in for restore and honing, the guy requested Naniwa SS for the honing, and since it was the last razor of the day I decided to use just that.

1-3-5-8-10-12 all Super Stones no bevel set on the Chosera 1k which is my normal routine, I kinda wanted to see the difference between using a Dedicated bevel setter like I do near every day and using a standard setup...

Now to be honest the Torrey was in near mint condition so this wasn't a true hard test of the bevel setting stage, but 1k SS did it's job fast and efficiently and I was off and running through the grits.. I won't be giving up my Chosera anytime soon though, I like it way too much especially on the actual "Restores" I hone so many of


The testing and re-testing just never stops

 

what's the update @feeltheburn ? I had the exact same problem, the straight would cut effortlessly on the sides of my face but tug massively on my chin.

 

Still pretty much the same. I'm still working on it though.

 

here is where I just got my new 1000k chosera Pro series with free shipping
http://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/pt/-naniwa-professional-stone-p310.htm

 

Just thought I'd give a little update here. I think I'm finally finding something that's working for me and I'm pretty excited about it. I've been trying to hold off on buying a Naniwa 3/8K. Around Christmas-time, I hate to buy stuff for myself since my wife is always asking me for gift ideas so I put one of those on my list.

In the meantime, I have a 5/8 Black Diamond (Solingen) blade that I thought had a pretty good edge. So I used a diamond plate to raise a slurry on my C12K and did some circles and a few x-strokes. Then did about 50 laps with just water. The shave test actually went well last week and I did my whole shave with it. Not a very close shave but encouraging.

So the next day, I gave that razor a few more laps with just water on the C12K and shaved again. It was a little better, so I did this again the next day too. The next few days, I just stropped and shaved. Yesterday I felt the razor was losing a little sharpness so this morning I gave it a few laps on a CrOx treated strop and then about 50 strokes on canvas and 100 on leather. Today it felt better than ever. I'd say my shave today is about as good as a quick 2-pass DE shave so I've still got some work to do but very encouraging after a week. The shaves have been pretty comfortable. No nicks and very little irritation so I'm going to try to keep it that way and let the closeness come with improved technique.

I know my technique is probably improving quickly now that I can stand to shave with the straight every day. I really feel like I've made it over a big hump that was keeping me from being able to develop any sort of technique so thanks for the advice everyone.

 

As one's technique improves (both with the SR on the face and on the hones/strops), you'll begin to see and feel noticeable differences in the quality of your shaves! Refreshing the edge on a pasted strop, I've discovered, can improve upon the smoothness of the shave—at least thats been my experience. Others claim ChromOx or diamond pastes make the edge harsher, but that not been the case for me. Post-pasted strops, the razor's edges tend to be quite 'sticky' (thumb pad test: TPT), which to me is a good sign. My HHTs tend to be inconsistent, so I rely much more on the TPT and how the razor feels on the face.

 

I need advice Gentlemen
I am honing a vintage 7/8 Bismark registered...I am getting the edge nice and sticky from the toe down the heel not as much the edge shaves arm hair nicely at the skin level but not 1/2 way up...my question is when I take it to the 12k I loose the tacky feel on the edge using TPT can anyone tell me what I could be doing wrong? I am using a chosera 1k/C12k one stone honing.
Thanks.

 

Essentially, you're polishing the edge at 12k. Is it possible your rounding over the edge in your technique? Possible, but I have no way of knowing—simply conjecture.
Is the tacky/sticky feel you're getting off the 1k edge evidence of a keen edge, or merely a rough edge that is catching your TP. Once you lose those rough edges on the 12k, the natural state of the edge (not quite sharp) may be coming obvious. This is all amateur guesswork on my part. I'd wait and hear more experienced folks chime in.
Have you a good loupe? I use one for every step in setting a good bevel. It often reveals to me more than what I can actually feel on thumb.

 

Actually, with the "one-stone honing" you are in fact sharpening with the Chinese natural, then finishing, then polishing - all with the titular "one stone". Unless you're trying to use the synthetic for the one-stone progression. But you're not...right??

Try resetting the bevel and then work through the slurry progression again on the Guangxi. Also, maybe try finishing off the bevel setting with some progressively lighter strokes on a clean stone. Think of getting as fine and smooth an edge as you can on the synthetic bevel setter before you move over to the nat.

Probably should have asked this first, but have you had previous success using your Guangxi as a one-stone hone?

 

I am using my 1k to set the bevel and to also sharpen the edge to the sharp tacky feel "TPT",I am creating a thick slurry on both stones using 20 circular motion up and down both stones then 10 laps straight then 10 X strokes I do that 4 times thinning my slurry as I go....know when I do that on my chosera it comes out sticky sharp"TPT" but when I go to my 12k I loose the tacky edge. I go from heavy pressure to light pressure as I go through my last set of circles,straight,and X strokes.