First hone, followed by first shave

[Eastcoast30]

I've completed my first honing project, taking a Le Grelot razor out to 8k. All went well and after 40 strops on clean leather, the blade passed the hanging hair test. I was both pleased and surprised. Per Slash McC, and before going further, I had my first shave with the 8k blade. Not bad at all. I trimmed the cheek lines of my beard and found that the razor wiped away the hair quite well. There may have been the slightest of tugging at certain spots, but definitely not an issue. I should add that I do not use lather for the cheek lines as I need to see where I am outlining. So this shave was with clear shaving oil after a hot shower.

I have a Wacker that was honed by Matt at Griffith. There is absolutely no tugging with that one. So I am ready to take the Le Grelot to the next step. I have several options available to me, as I have other stones, pastes and balsa. And I know that this is a matter of personal preference, so I just want to know what others prefer.

I can go from 8k to 12k to a balsa/paste progression. Or I can go from 8k to jnat with a nagura progression. Or 12k to jnat. There are quite a few possibilities and I would like to know more about the preferences of others.

The good news, it's working! Now to dive deeper. And thanks.

 

[global_dev]

Its a balance, the feel of balsa/paste is so different than naturals and its nice to be able to jump back and forth.

the easiest is gonna be the balsa/paste so i’d use that as my baseline and then compare/contrast the other finishers

 

[Eastcoast30]

Its a balance, the feel of balsa/paste is so different than naturals and its nice to be able to jump back and forth.

the easiest is gonna be the balsa/paste so i’d use that as my baseline and then compare/contrast the other finishers

balsa from 8k or 12k?

 

[global_dev]

I think it depends on what balsa paste you begin on

Micron to Grit Graph

I made this a while ago when trying to figure out what I should buy for hones and such. Maybe someone else can find it useful also. The data comes from HERE.

www.badgerandblade.com

I dont know the method edge well enough, but if the 3x jump is ok, not sure how big an issue is to jump from 8 or 12k. Why not try both? Start with 8k to balsa then restart with 8k to 12k to balsa?

 

[camoloc]

12k to balsa for screaming sharp.

camo

 

[JohnEzra]

I would personally go to the 12k next, and then shave test that to make sure all went well and give yourself a solid baseline.

After that I would move on to testing out different final finishes, give the pasted balsa a try first since it’s so easy, then give the JNat or whatever else you have a try and then compare those to the results you got off of the 12k.

 

[Eastcoast30]

Sounds like 12k is a good next step.

 

[ScottChapin]

Sounds like 12k is a good next step.

That’s where I stop, contemplating my next move, because it’s oh so close but no cigar.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[stone and strop]

Balsa from 12k for sure.
Shave with a 12k first to see where it lands you. Then proceed.

 

[Zig the Pirate]

I prefer 12k to balsa. That's for a head shave and trimming the neck / cheek lines.

 

[JohnEzra]

Both balsa and your Ozuku should give better edges than the 12K, with my preference leaning toward the Ozuku, assuming it's a good one. That being said shave off of the 12K first, so when you do progress further you are able to see if you really are improving the edge, and if so, by how much.

 

[Eastcoast30]

My jnat is an Ozuku. And I have a tenjyou, mejiro and tomo. I haven't used them yet. I do know the Ozuku is from a reputable source - Alex.

 

[Slash McCoy]

My personal preference is proceed to 12k or 1u film from the 8k. Shave. Shave again and again. Give it some more very light (weight of razor only) laps including pull strokes and short x strokes. Shave some more. Then take it to the balsa. Shave off the .1u balsa. I think you will like it. Keep the angle very low and skin very tight. Let yourself get used to that edge. Hit the .1u balsa after every shave, about 50 laps. Feedback is pretty meager with the balsa. If in doubt, give it a few dozen more laps. When you nail it, you will definitely know.

 

[RumpleBearskin]

I'll add my agreement with the majority above.

12k next. Shave with it for comparison with the 8k edge and with what comes next.

Diamond pasted balsa next. Shave with the 0.10u edge for comparison. Stick with 0.10u balsa stropping after each shave as it moves toward max sharpness. Learn what truly sharp is.

After that you are good to try the naturals and decide if you like wicked sharp or something that some consider "smoother".

You'll find what you like and it will be based on your knowledge of sharp.

 

[Eastcoast30]

God info here. Next step will be the 12k.

 

[Eastcoast30]

I just finished honing Le Grelot on the 12k. It is so sharp, it only has one side! On the HHT, it repeatedly pops hairs with just a touch. I will try a shave before moving on to Balsa.

 

[stone and strop]

Its nice to see you heeding the advice and progressing with knowledge from each step.
Many start and jump right to...name the finisher and end up with poor results and many more questions.
When you know what each level should be at and what it is capable of, you are much further ahead!

 

[Eastcoast30]

Right, it's good to know what each step produces. Then I can compare and choose.

 

[JohnEzra]

Taking the time to shave at each step along the way just makes it so simple to determine if the next part of the progression was an improvement. If it was not, you know your problem lies in most recent step instead of trying to guess where along the way the ball was dropped.

 

[rbscebu]

@Eastcoast30 just remembered that you can get different results with different finishers. I found that 0.5um slightly degraded the result and 0.25um even more so. Don't stop just because the edge feels as though it is being degraded.

When I got to 0.1um was were I found my best edges. To further improve the edge, I finish my diamond pasted balsa stropping with about a dozen or two short X strokes, both pulling and pushing the blade across the balsa strop. I found that this improves the comfort of the shave.