This...right here...shaves...i purchased it around the same time as the bismarck..now it could semi clip hairs...so i went off to work as a last chance for sr....worked out a balance issue ...lo and behold it can shave off my not even day old growth( very rough at growth this stage for me)
I have no idea what power this is, but sure wish they still made these. It's not flat but like a half of a sphere , super handy to haveShifting to magnifying tools. I was having trouble holding the 40x side of my loupe still, so I bought an inexpensive plain-old, old-school 8x magnifying glass (no LED) which I can hold quite still. Much better in terms of a stable view but obviously not as much detail as the 40x.
Does anyone know if plain-old, old-school hand held magnifying glasses are available at 20x?
Shifting to magnifying tools. I was having trouble holding the 40x side of my loupe still, so I bought an inexpensive plain-old, old-school 8x magnifying glass (no LED) which I can hold quite still. Much better in terms of a stable view but obviously not as much detail as the 40x.
Does anyone know if plain-old, old-school hand held magnifying glasses are available at 20x?
Shifting to magnifying tools. I was having trouble holding the 40x side of my loupe still, so I bought an inexpensive plain-old, old-school 8x magnifying glass (no LED) which I can hold quite still. Much better in terms of a stable view but obviously not as much detail as the 40x.
Does anyone know if plain-old, old-school hand held magnifying glasses are available at 20x?
Sounds like I should only use the King 1k for learning on my Gold Dollar and then move up something like a Chosera 1k for the real show. Can someone confirm that I cannot do anything to the GD with the King that cannot be undone/fixed with a Chosera 1k?
And remember that the plan is to repurpose the King combo for my kitchen knives.
There are a few problems with this statement. First, no stone should dish fast with a straight razor, no matter how soft.I haven't tried the king 1k, but from how everyone describes it, it seems like a rather soft stone. Using a good amount of preassure will dish it fast. How do you keep your stones flat? You will probably have to lap the stone several times to get a decent bevel.
Using dished stones on knives is a challenge in itself, probably impossible to get a good bevel with razors on a dished stone.
The King 1K is only slower and softer than the Naniwa Professional 1K. Those two stones are otherwise close enough in grit that you can simply re-purpose one and move to the other.Sounds like I should only use the King 1k for learning on my Gold Dollar and then move up something like a Chosera 1k for the real show. Can someone confirm that I cannot do anything to the GD with the King that cannot be undone/fixed with a Chosera 1k?
And remember that the plan is to repurpose the King combo for my kitchen knives.
There is no need to "remove" the existing bevel. All you have to do is reset the bevel. This can be done on a 1k synthetic.My new GD P81/1996 (which has only ever touched a Naniwa 12k, a hard black Arkansas and leather) will cut hair but not well enough for me, so I want to perform my first full progression.
- To remove the existing bevel, should I use a glass or my King 1k?
- What is the risk of me applying too much pressure (I don't mean enough to bend the blade) when I set the bevel? Just lose a little bit of metal on the razor that I bought to learn on?
- What is the risk of me applying too much pressure when I am finishing on my 12k or Arkansas? That I will need to go back one step or two steps in the progression?
Is it unable to cut tomato skin all along the edge? Or just where the edge made contact with the scales?Great. I want to do a few full progressions and make a few mistakes. It's the only way I will learn.
The reason I asked question #3 above is my practice Beau Brummel has lost it's edge. The blade on the razor sometimes catches on the inside of the scales when I close it (so I need be careful). The razor had been capable of slicing a tomato but no longer is. So I don't know if I damaged the edge by catching the blade on the inside of the spine or by spending too much time finishing it on my new hard black Arkansas.
Is it possible that the edge was lost by too much finishing/polishing on the Arkansas (I was pretty careful)?
Regardless, I plan to next take the razor to my 1k King.
Just don't do the Burr Method on a show piece! I did it on a minty Klas Tornblom... It shaves really well, but will never look pretty. lolIf you choose to hit the 1k, I suggest you begin with a sharpie test, just two or three very light pressure laps. Look CLOSELY at the bevel under a BRIGHT light, with magnification. Look and see where it hits. Turn the razor edge-up into the light and see if you can see the edge at all. The actual edge should be quite invisible to any magnification of 10x or less. If you see just a tiny ding here or there, that's not a systemic failure, just tiny flaws that ought to be corrected but should certainly not prevent tomato cutting or forearm shaving or any other common bevel test.But if you see a lot of edge, then you don't have a bevel and if you ever did, you did something to totally lose it.
DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT "kill" the edge. It is probably already quite killed.
If you have good contact on the bevel all the way out to the edge, and the edge is actually an edge with no reflection when looking right at it, then it ought to slice your tomato as finely as you please. If not, you are not reading your reflections right.
Do not proceed again without ensuring that the bevel is set. Truly set.
As already posted, you can't over-polish an edge. However, you COULD create a fin edge by using too much pressure on a finisher combined with a lot of laps. But a fin edge will still cut the dickens out of a tomato. So I think you never had a good bevel.
Here is a drill for you. Take a razor, any old razor, one you can afford to sacrifice, as long as it is made from proper razor steel. Even a GD will serve quite well for this exercise. Pick one side and hone it on your bevel setter. Circle strokes, with heavy pressure, about the weight of your arm. Don't stop until you can detect by feel or by eye, a burr. I don't care if it is 10,000 strokes. The purpose of this is to understand that a burr is a real thing, not a myth. Just go at it. Don't flip the razor until you have a burr on at least a small portion of the blade. THEN flip and do the same number of laps. Probably you will then end up with the burr on the opposite side, but maybe along the full length of the edge. Return to the first side because you never got that full length burr. Get it full length, then equalize the laps so each side has the same number. Now lighten up the pressure and go a set on each side of the razor of 10 circle strokes, then 8, then 6, 4, 2, and these should be with light pressure, no more than the weight of your hand, at the very most. Do a dozen or two regular alternating laps, weight of the razor and a finger. Add a few pull strokes. Finally do some short x stroke laps, maybe 3 dozen or so, about 3" of travel, with only the weight of the razor for pressure. If you nail it, you should be able to carve War and Peace in the skin of that tomato and frighten your forearm hairs into deserting their follicles. You could probably strop and shave with it.
NO SLURRY. Slurry will eat up a burr or any other edge artifact, and in fact it also eats up the edge just a little, rounding it slightly. Keep your 1k clean. Honing under running water is not excessive, especially with a King or Bear Moo or similar.
If you never get a burr, then never quit. If you don't get a burr, you are NOT DONE, using this method.
Remember to feel both sides when trying to detect a burr by feel.Compare them. One has a slight catch. The other side offers no resistance to a fingertip sliding off the edge. Look at the bevel on both sides, too. Once you can spot the burr, and feel the burr, and have set a few bevels by the burr method, you do not need to go full length with the burr any more. Just get a little burr on each side in turn, and hone normally, with regular laps, to finish the bevel. Not that it really makes that much difference.