I think so. But I'd like other people's opinions.
I got into straight razor shaving by way of sharpening. I wanted to tackle the challenge of razor honing, and of course I'd need to start shaving with straight razors. I didn't expect the shaving part to be so much fun that it spawned its own obsession.
I have two nontypical habits that will be important later on: I have a (for-real) microscope that I use to look at my edges, and I test edges on my thumb, or on other digits if I've been too hard on my thumbs lately. Also I have a large collection of sharpening stones, synthetic, diamond, and JNat.
Fairly early on, I formed an opinion: hard-bond stones are better for razors. Shapton Glass stones and vitrified diamond stones and fine JNats are the hardest bonds I know, and, what do you know, when you hone on them, and look at the edge under the microscope, it is much less ragged than an edge honed on a scratchier, looser bonded stone. Feels less scratchy to my thumb, as well.
I expected that this was some sort of newbie opinion, but it has persisted, even over plenty of razors, even when I learned to use much much less pressure than I was using. I can't get rid of this opinion. Should I? Or could it be actually correct?
What occasioned this post was my first acquisition of a Shapton Pro stone, the 1500. I've had Shapton Glass stones for decades. I just love 'em. They have that quality of the best JNats where they are actually hard, but feel soft to sharpen on. They are so long wearing that I am still on my original stone set, though I've added some grits to it.
I had high hopes for the Pro 1500. Flattened and conditioned it well with a diamond stone, then put a razor on it that I'd normally have put on the SG 1000 at that point. It felt really good to sharpen on it. It's a thirsty stone, at least compared to the "wet it and forget it" SG stones, but nothing outside of the norm. The SP1500 had the kind of feedback I like, the kind that JNats and SG stones have, where you know you've reached a good point because everything gets really smooth. After a few hundred gentle strokes, the razor seemed ready to go.
But, what is this? The edge felt raspy. And the microscope showed that it was more torn up than the same razor was after it spent time on the SG500!
I've had similar experiences on Naniwa (not the wonderful Hibiki stones, though) and Nanohone. The Pro 1500 now goes into a knives-only category with those.
Not a problem, I like knives, but it makes me wonder. Either I'm missing something, or the Shapton Glass stones are seriously superior synthetic razor hones in the 500-6000 grit range. But no one ever says anything like that, that I've seen.
So what gives? Am I using the other stones wrong somehow, or am I somehow in possession of a truth that has gone unexpressed before? The latter is so unlikely that it has driven me to make this post.
I got into straight razor shaving by way of sharpening. I wanted to tackle the challenge of razor honing, and of course I'd need to start shaving with straight razors. I didn't expect the shaving part to be so much fun that it spawned its own obsession.
I have two nontypical habits that will be important later on: I have a (for-real) microscope that I use to look at my edges, and I test edges on my thumb, or on other digits if I've been too hard on my thumbs lately. Also I have a large collection of sharpening stones, synthetic, diamond, and JNat.
Fairly early on, I formed an opinion: hard-bond stones are better for razors. Shapton Glass stones and vitrified diamond stones and fine JNats are the hardest bonds I know, and, what do you know, when you hone on them, and look at the edge under the microscope, it is much less ragged than an edge honed on a scratchier, looser bonded stone. Feels less scratchy to my thumb, as well.
I expected that this was some sort of newbie opinion, but it has persisted, even over plenty of razors, even when I learned to use much much less pressure than I was using. I can't get rid of this opinion. Should I? Or could it be actually correct?
What occasioned this post was my first acquisition of a Shapton Pro stone, the 1500. I've had Shapton Glass stones for decades. I just love 'em. They have that quality of the best JNats where they are actually hard, but feel soft to sharpen on. They are so long wearing that I am still on my original stone set, though I've added some grits to it.
I had high hopes for the Pro 1500. Flattened and conditioned it well with a diamond stone, then put a razor on it that I'd normally have put on the SG 1000 at that point. It felt really good to sharpen on it. It's a thirsty stone, at least compared to the "wet it and forget it" SG stones, but nothing outside of the norm. The SP1500 had the kind of feedback I like, the kind that JNats and SG stones have, where you know you've reached a good point because everything gets really smooth. After a few hundred gentle strokes, the razor seemed ready to go.
But, what is this? The edge felt raspy. And the microscope showed that it was more torn up than the same razor was after it spent time on the SG500!
I've had similar experiences on Naniwa (not the wonderful Hibiki stones, though) and Nanohone. The Pro 1500 now goes into a knives-only category with those.
Not a problem, I like knives, but it makes me wonder. Either I'm missing something, or the Shapton Glass stones are seriously superior synthetic razor hones in the 500-6000 grit range. But no one ever says anything like that, that I've seen.
So what gives? Am I using the other stones wrong somehow, or am I somehow in possession of a truth that has gone unexpressed before? The latter is so unlikely that it has driven me to make this post.
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