Honing School - Honemeisters & Newbies Unite!

Speaking of splash and go hones. I'm looking to get a splash and go bevel setter. The worst part about the king 1k is waiting for it to soak for half an hour before you can start to hone. I was considering a Naniwa Chosera, but they've gotten awfully pricey. Anyone use a Shapton ceramic (Kuromaku) 1k or 1.5k

 

There is quite a bit of misinformation about the Naniwa SS hones out there and let's also understand they changed the composition of the binder between the Super vs Specialty

There is no doubt that the older Super Stones swelled there are a few old threads about Lapping tons of good surface down the drain chasing "Flat"
A well-known Vendor was protecting their bottom line by blaming "Soaking" on the hones popping from the bases and the 3/8 combo hones popping apart. This contributed to the idea that they were "Splash n Go" PLEASE have the Instructions translated yourselves to see what they say

(I did and it says the Super Stones just be soaked a short time first) I soak about 10 minutes on my Super Stones


Now the Specialty Stones with the newer binder are allegedly better and don't Swell as much, you are going to have to figure that out for yourself

How to test,
Just do a light Grid Lap before any water, then spray or dunk wait 10 minutes and do a new Grid Lap,,, did it change ??? if so you have your answer about swelling and it would be REALLY nice if you take pics and post your findings for others


Hone On !!!

 

I bought my stones based on Glen's video and will try to do it as his video shows. I don't have any kids around to get into anything, so having a bucket to constantly leave my king in soaking is not a problem for me.

I have one super stone and the rest are specialty I will try it and post pics if I can.

 

from what I'm learning yes you can splash and go with them but get a little better results if you soak them as @gssixgun said to stabilize them. He has been honing for a long time and I trust his word and advice on honing straight razors.

 

My stones secondhand so my findings would me tainted without continuity of their service history or new vs old versions...

@BearCWY thanks for any forth coming pics or any info on your findings!

 

Oh come on guys, we need to keep this tread going! I am learning so much here and need to learn more! Where is our fearless originator of this thread and how he is doing with his honing skills. Very shortly I will be starting to hone myself and will post.

 

I'm still here. Got my Wagner packed up and off to Glen for his look/see.

Getting an edge seemed easier then I thought it would be based on how it felt shaving. I'm new at straights and progressing, so I'm no expert. I'm enjoying the whole experience.

You have done the homework, got the tools, have plenty of razors......Just Hone....... some of us are waiting.

 

I'm planning on it, Tuesday is my day off and am planning on leveling my hones and trying to hone 1 razor. Only thing I'm debating is what tape to use, 3M 700 or Kapton.

 

I started with tape, then abandoned it when I notice it wear.

The spine bowed out in the center on one side.

 

I was on vacation and stepped away from the stones a few weeks. I have several new ratty razors that I bought, and I’m sure I haven’t made my last mistake for others to learn from. More to come...

 

Here’s a question for the veterans. Let’s assume you get a super sharp blade. How frequently should you “refresh” it? In other words bring it to a 12k or 16k stone to keep it sharp? Obviously this will vary by technique, beard type and other factors, but what’s a good rule of thumb?

 

When a touch up on the pasted strop, and the leather, no longer bring the edge back to satisfactory sharpness. It happens quicker with a new SR shaver, due to techniques.

 

Kind of in a holding pattern waiting for some test razors...

I tried out an unmarked barber hone yesterday trying for an edge refresh but it did not come completely back, had difficulty with the smaller size trying to make consistent X-strokes. Also did not know if the original edge had been done with tape or not.

I think I'll try for my first bevel set on this one razor today and see how it goes with the chosera 1k...

 

There are two schools of thought on this try both and see what works best for you @DaltonGang gave you the most used
The other is an actual Maintenance routine where you refresh on the finisher BEFORE the edge degrades, the timing is determined by all the normal causes like Beard Tyope, Prep, Technique, Steel, etc: etc:

Basically, you retouch every 2 weeks or so and adjust from there up or down to keep the edge in the best shape for you
This was the routine that I was taught from my barber so many years ago, he said never let it get dull and you won't have to sharpen it..

Try it both ways and figure out what works for you

 

The barber hone that I was told is a swaty remnant, has been lapped and was used with lather...

 

Ok think I have bevel set with the 1k chosera.

My first so nothing to compare it with, pops hairs from toe to about midway...the edge has a pretty consistent shine down its length not sure I want to over do it...

A couple shots of the setup and stuff









I don't have any mid level synthetics for the progression so a natural grey stone that is supposedly between 4-6k will be next , Balkan Grey...

Back to the adventure!

John

 

Sunday afternoon hone. Took a ratty Torrey and took some time to put a bevel on it. Some of the pitting on the face of the blade went all the way into the bevel, so this took some time and attention. Took a while work out the roughness on the edge and to get a good even bevel using X strokes and J strokes . However, once that was done, going up the progression was pretty straightforward. I’ll shave with it tomorrow, but I feel pretty good about the results. Maybe I’ll go back and sand down the pitting and shine it up a bit. Maybe not. Either way, this $8 fleabay find was a whole lot easier and more rewarding than the mess of a Gold Dollar I attempted in the first round.

 

@BaylorGator that's great! Would like to see some pics of the Torrey when she gets cleaned up!

So I was trying my honing out for the first time right along with you, figuratively ;-)

I think my bevel needed more work, maybe I needed some kind of rolling stroke (shrug)

I went through my 4-6k natural then to the 8k Naniwa and then the 12k Naniwa .

About 3/4 of the blade is popping hairs and seems good the heel seems not so sharp...

Going to take her to the pasted strop and see how it goes. Which may have to wait for a minute.

Pic of the hones



Great evening all!

John

 

Well, it shaved, but it was not nearly as sharp as I would have liked. Back to the stones to see if I can improve on things.

 

I have been consistently using a synthetic progression for about 3 months.

Tonight I ran my first natural progression (and its all the fault of @Arnout)

1k Chosera to set the bevel
Dragons Tongue with slurry, progressively thinned to water
Charnley Forest to finish (cleaned up and used with water)

I honed a problematic Dovo that I've never been able to shave with comfortably from the synthetics. It wasn't the smoothest edge, but by Jove it jolly well worked!!

Coming off the 1k the bevel looked good but pretty rough. I ended up having to run the Dragons Tongue cycle twice - it looked pretty good the first time but there were two spots that spoilt it.

I used a sharpie to set the bevel. That really helped.

I knew I was getting somewhere when suddenly the Charnley Forest started behaving like it was glass. Weird feeling. Much more sympathetic in terms of feedback than the Naniwas.

Honed with the hone in my hand as had been suggested, even with the 1k which was a first for me.

And the other thing I noticed that I haven't read about was the change in sound on the Charnley Forest - like you get on a strop.