What's new

Finishers that give the most comfortable edge (and are easy to use).

Slice - This was really thorough. Thank you. With regards to the Arks - what do you mean "demanding during the shave itself"? I am not sure fully understand that.
Thuris and even moreso cotis leave an edge that almost feels like it can't cut you. You can get away with being a little less careful. Opposite end of the spectrum are high grit synthetic edges... where you need to be very exact to keep your shaving angle right and skin properly stretched.
Arks are somewhere in between.
 
I was this ---> <--- close to buying a Suehiro Gokumyo 20K when I saw the MTC Kitchen was having 20% off Suehiro stones and then realized its all stones except this one. SMH. 😢 I think I may be going natural.
 
Thuris and even moreso cotis leave an edge that almost feels like it can't cut you. You can get away with being a little less careful. Opposite end of the spectrum are high grit synthetic edges... where you need to be very exact to keep your shaving angle right and skin properly stretched.
Arks are somewhere in between.
I like the idea of that kind of edge that you mention. That being said, it is so easy to find an Ark from Dan's that that was what I was very close to doing. Is there any way to prep the stone to be more like the edge you mention? I have ready so much about people using SIC powder to 600, then even going to 2k, then some even spending days burnishing it with a chisel. Any idea where the skin friendly edge would lie? I'm thinking about a translucent or black ultrafine from Dan's.
 
Different approach as I approach one year SR shaving,,, first is proper face prep , hot towel or face wash, learning each soap proper lathering, moist/wet,,,
The right shave soaps, while not talking scents but cushion/ glide, surreal post shave,,,yes high artisan soaps,
As far as razors edge maintenance, i learned to hone, still learning but almost also have several finishers , i love diffent edges, each different but efficient naturals
Shave mechanics, stretching skin, etc wet lather is key to help little to know irritation,,,

Given that i own a few finishers,,, sounds like la lune stone as option,,
Easy to use, creates comfortable edge
Rec this as very easy to use, comfortable results
 
Not really. Arks make a very clean and sharp edge. Maybe pasted stropping afterwards would move you more towards a "sloppy-friendly" edge? If you want an edge you can be a little sloppy in your shave with, I'd get a coticule. I don't think anything really compares to them when it comes to that quality.
 
@catchacoolbreeze I was in a very similar situation a few weeks ago, looking for an finisher other than diamond pasted balsa and I bought a SG20k at the end.
I've been using it for the last two weeks and do not regret buying it. Easy to use, sharp and smooth edge. No red dots, almost no burning/feedback from aftershave, no skin irritation.
However I have also Dan's black/ultra fine ark arriving tomorrow and I'm very curious to compare it against the SG20K edge. I also plan to buy a jnat and an thuri soon.
I believe, there really is no way to find out which finisher you are going to like most, unless you try them all. Making those experiences and experimenting is part of the fun for me.
 
Last edited:
I finally shaved with two ark edges I did, both on a vintage trans with oil. Shaves were outstanding and ZERO post shave irritation.
One edge was first put through a complete JNAT nagura progression and was a great shaver. So I put it on the ark for 10 min and it improved it some. The other was de novo: 1.5k shapton pro, 3k naniwa ss, 4k naniwa hayabusa, 8k naniwa superstone. This progression was fast (and I highly recommended it), and gave the best HHT I have ever had from the 8k SS, twas effortless. So I went to the ark for about 10 min and hht was similar; probably did not max out the ark's potential. Nevertheless, shave was excellent again.

Compared with the synths, the ark is much less forgiving in technique. One bad stroke and you may be dead. I did plenty of stropping strokes and half x on the ark just for the fun of it, and ended with x strokes. Great great great razor finisher.
 
And now for something completely different: diamond film, 0.5 micron. Very fast and easy to use but has yielded the very best edge I have ever used. So sharp there was no sensation of cutting or anything else sliding down my face- it felt like I had the razor backwards. Extremely easy to use also with no tricks or even technique.... drag the razor flat over the film and material comes off and sharp is left behind. Diamond film is more expensive than aluminum oxide certainly but it is also much, much faster cutting and I have not been able to wear a sheet out in a decade. I also have 1 and 0.1 micron film but find the 1 micron to yield a 'grabby' and unpleasant edge and have not noticed any change going from 0.5 micron to 0.1 micron.

The amusing thing about this post is that I am right in the middle (I hope but maybe still in the early stages...) of learning how to use a Japanese natural stone. Jnat edges that I have used, from others skilled in using those stones, are substantially different from film or pasted balsa edges in that they seem to have a tooth or something like it and they cut the hair fairly aggressively while feeling quite mild to the skin. Basically they are not as sharp as synthetic edges but cut hair above their level of sharpness, at least compared with synthetic materials.
 
Not really. Arks make a very clean and sharp edge. Maybe pasted stropping afterwards would move you more towards a "sloppy-friendly" edge? If you want an edge you can be a little sloppy in your shave with, I'd get a coticule. I don't think anything really compares to them when it comes to that quality.
I like to get it really sharp on an ark and do 3-5 light strokes on lather on a really fine, hard coticule. It's pretty nice with the right coticule.
 
Ancient Ocean Jasper from Natural Whetstone Sharpening
gives a very good edge and is very quick and easy to use.
It's a block of cryptocrystalline quartz,
something like an Ark but I like it better.

Not sure I've really heard this stone advocated for before. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
 
Not really. Arks make a very clean and sharp edge. Maybe pasted stropping afterwards would move you more towards a "sloppy-friendly" edge? If you want an edge you can be a little sloppy in your shave with, I'd get a coticule. I don't think anything really compares to them when it comes to that quality.
Thanks. I'm not intentionally sloppy - just newbie sloppy. But its getting better.
 
@catchacoolbreeze I was in a very similar situation a few weeks ago, looking for an finisher other than diamond pasted balsa and I bought a SG20k at the end.
I've been using it for the last two weeks and do not regret buying it. Easy to use, sharp and smooth edge. No red dots, almost no burning/feedback from aftershave, no skin irritation.
However I have also Dan's black/ultra fine ark arriving tomorrow and I'm very curious to compare it against the SG20K edge. I also plan to buy a jnat and an thuri soon.
I believe, there really is no way to find out which finisher you are going to like most, unless you try them all. Making those experiences and experimenting is part of the fun for me.
Very cool - please post what you think compared to the SG20. Can't wait to hear!
 
Does the progression leading up to the final edge make a difference on the end result?
A full nagura progression feels a little different then if i use a tomo nagura after an 6-8k synthetic. You are in principle always replacing the scratches from the previous step.
 
Does the progression leading up to the final edge make a difference on the end result?
A full nagura progression feels a little different then if i use a tomo nagura after an 6-8k synthetic. You are in principle always replacing the scratches from the previous step.

Based on my experience, no*. The bevel setter sets/shapes the bevel, the midrange stones repeatedly remove/replace/transform scratches, and the finisher imprint its DNA on the final edge.

Now if you do not fully remove the previous user's fingerprints from the wine glass, your fingerprints will be mixed with the previous fingerprints.

*Obviously, what you do before the finisher impacts the result, but I get what you are asking.
 
Top Bottom