Starting My Natural Stone Honing

[rbscebu]

As you may have read here, I have been having trouble with my SR shaving not leaving anything to shave 24 hours later. This morning I finished working my way through my Japanese M7DS so I am now free to compare a naturally finished edge against my normal diamond pasted balsa edges.

To start with, I only have two Turkish natural (Tnat) whetstones in my arsenal. Any further natural whetstones are basically impossible for me to procure until the Philippines postal system opens up again to receiving overseas parcels. The rest of my honing gear consists of synthetic whetstones, lapping film and diamond pasted balsa strops.

For this comparison, I will be using two identical SR's of Japanese high carbon steel. Both have been honed up and finished on diamond pasted (0.1um) balsa strops. To tell them apart, the tail on one of these SR's has been painted black with nail polish.

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Over the next three or four days I will shave with these two SR's to ensure that they are providing about equal closeness and comfort. Once that is confirmed, my intention is to refresh the edge of the black-tailed SR on a Tnat and see how that performs in shaving. Once into the comparing stage, my shave routine will remain constant as follows:

• 60 laps on clean leather hanging strop
• Wash face with cold water, bar soap and rinse with cold water
• Face lather with Arko shaving soap stick
• 1 x WTG + 1 x XTG
• Rinse face with cold water and apply alcohol/witch hazel splash
• 6 laps on clean chamois hanging strop
• 50 laps on 0.1um diamond pasted hanging balsa strop (clear-tail only)
• 10 to 20 laps on Tnat with water (black-tail only)
• Dry and oil blade then put away.

My goal is to get the black-tail to shave at least as comfortably as the criterion SR but hopefully not as close. I realise that this will be a learning experience for me and will take some time. I just hope that it provides the results that I desire.

The Tnat is about 50mm x 160mm x 10mm and has a possible grit rating of about 10k. Here is the Tnat; dry and wet:

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[Straight up]

I'll be interested to hear how the two finishes compare and if you get your wish granted. Should this fail, the honing Gods do accept human sacrifice instead.

 

[rbscebu]

I'll be interested to hear how the two finishes compare and if you get your wish granted. Should this fail, the honing Gods do accept human sacrifice instead.

I could sacrifice one of my girlfriends, Maria. She is starting to get a bit possessive and wants me to settle down.

 

[Straight up]

An angel cries everytime a hot chick dies.

 

[rbscebu]

My first question.

I am starting off with a blade that is perfectly shave-ready for me. When refreshing it on a Tnat, should I hone edge leading or edge trailing?

 

[Legion]

My first question.

I am starting off with a blade that is perfectly shave-ready for me. When refreshing it on a Tnat, should I hone edge leading or edge trailing?

Edge leading.

 

[SterFry]

I'll be paying attention to this thread. I'm interested to read your results.

 

[kohalajohn]

This is also something I have been curious about for ages.

Only someone with a 7 day set could do this experiment.

 

[Njguy1977]

My first question.

I am starting off with a blade that is perfectly shave-ready for me. When refreshing it on a Tnat, should I hone edge leading or edge trailing?

just have to remember on a natural that you need to keep the blade pressure light and keep the stone lubricated. What I tend to do is that after about 20 to 40 passes each side I look at my edge magnified to make sure it’s heading in the right direction. All my naturals are different but after a while you tend to figure them out and how to get a perfect comfortable edge.

Larry

 

[Frank Shaves]

Subscribed.

 

[Eastcoast30]

I am experimenting with a jnat and I find it more difficult to learn. Using synthetic stones and a balsa/paste progression, I am easily able to achieve a screaming sharp edge that consistently passes HHT, time after time. With the jnat, I have progressed to where I can treetop hair off my forearm, but no HHT. I have been able to sever a hair n the HHT occasionaly, but not repeatably or often. Because the stone is hard, the slurry is light and pressure is light, I think it will take a few hours to get that edge. I put in about 20 minutes a day and will keep trying. And while I have not yet hit the HHT, the shaves from that blade are comfortable, but could be a bit closer.

 

[rbscebu]

I am experimenting with a jnat and I find it more difficult to learn. Using synthetic stones and a balsa/paste progression, I am easily able to achieve a screaming sharp edge that consistently passes HHT, time after time. With the jnat, I have progressed to where I can treetop hair off my forearm, but no HHT. I have been able to sever a hair n the HHT occasionaly, but not repeatably or often. Because the stone is hard, the slurry is light and pressure is light, I think it will take a few hours to get that edge. I put in about 20 minutes a day and will keep trying. And while I have not yet hit the HHT, the shaves from that blade are comfortable, but could be a bit closer.

With your Jnat edge were you starting off with a pasted balsa strop edge?

Your current results are close to were I would like to be; comfortable two-pass shave but still having something to shave 24 hours later.

 

[seattleshaver]

I could sacrifice one of my girlfriends, Maria. She is starting to get a bit possessive and wants me to settle down.

You told us you only have one (two is four, remember?) so you'd best keep her.

 

[rbscebu]

You told us you only have one (two is four, remember?) so you'd best keep her.

No, I said one girlfriend is one trouble, 2 is 4 trouble and 3 is 9 trouble. I have 3 a do not want any more trouble.

 

[camoloc]

No, I said one girlfriend is one trouble, 2 is 4 trouble and 3 is 9 trouble. I have 3 a do not want any more trouble.

if the Tnat is as hard and fine as a Cnat I would suggest a minimum of 40 laps. for the very first go around maybe 60.

just my opinion.

camo

 

[rbscebu]

if the Tnat is as hard and fine as a Cnat I would suggest a minimum of 40 laps. for the very first go around maybe 60.

just my opinion.

camo

You may be right. It has been many months since I played with one of my Tnat. If my aging memory serves me correctly, it was hard and slow. I will take your advice and try 40 laps initially. If I find that doesn't change things, I will up it to 60 laps for the following shave and see what results I get.

Does size matter? (Girls lie.) My Tnat is only 160mm x 50mm (6½" x 2"). Is 40 to 60 laps still in the suggested ball park?

 

[camoloc]

You may be right. It has been many months since I played with one of my Tnat. If my aging memory serves me correctly, it was hard and slow. I will take your advice and try 40 laps initially. If I find that doesn't change things, I will up it to 60 laps for the following shave and see what results I get.

Does size matter? (Girls lie.) My Tnat is only 160mm x 50mm (6½" x 2"). Is 40 to 60 laps still in the suggested ball park?

yep 60 then...... my Cnat is very small 4 x 2"

my Shobu Jnat is something like 6.2" x 2.2"

with these harder stones, it is my belief that they work slowly, so a high number of laps intitially and 20/40 for maintenance (equivalent to maintenance on the .1u balsa.) minimal hone or steel loss in my book.

the bigger thing will be figuring out what to put on the Tnat. water, oil, shave cream/water combo, or dry maybe possibly ?????

camo

 

[JoWolf]

My first question.

I am starting off with a blade that is perfectly shave-ready for me. When refreshing it on a Tnat, should I hone edge leading or edge trailing?

Nice. Thanks for running this test. Why not do both razors the same? I’m a beginner in all things. I just have one natural stone a Cnat. There is a major difference with and without slurry. Should slurry be considered?

 

[cugel]

Is the Turkish fine enough to do that after every shave? Its not apparently common to touch up on a natural after shaving. Shouldn't be needed?

It was said, by Iwasaki(???), that a acquaintance went a whole year of shaving with one of his blades using canvas and leather to maintain the edge. Course it could be a myth. You get the idea though.

An edge is the product of all the stones it saw. To get a better idea of a natural's capabilities start with a fresh bevel set and go from there and end on the natural of interest. Lots more fun.

 

[rbscebu]

Nice. Thanks for running this test. Why not do both razors the same? I’m a beginner in all things. I just have one natural stone a Cnat. There is a major difference with and without slurry. Should slurry be considered?

I need to keep one of the SR's as a criterion against which to judge the other. This will help to reduce any psychological effect.

I don't have the means to produce a natural slurry with these That's so I will stick with just water and maybe add some lather later if possibly needed.