What do you do after a 8k grit stone or to touch up the edge after 20 shaves or so?
Finishing stone?
Is a paddle out of style?
Balsa?
Finishing stone?
Is a paddle out of style?
Balsa?
Between 8k to Strop?
- Thread starter petr
- Start date
You should get a lot of different approaches to this question. I would guess the folks here have tried about everything
In order of my preferences, based on how the blade responded up to the 8K:
1. I would likely use a finisher next- 12K or higher. Then, off to the linen and leather strops.
2. A pasted CROX strop (balsa) , then linen/leather.
3. A bit of diamond spray on felt, then linen/leather.
4. Some combo of 1., 2. or 3.
5. Just strop and give it test shave off the 8K.
To touch up I have used finishers, fine barber's hones, newspaper (once on a trip).
For the last few weeks, I have been trying the perpetual honing approach (give Larry Andro credit here for suggestion
) . Three light strokes on a lathered finisher after every few shaves and then stropping. It seems to be keeping my blades from dulling at all, but it will take a few months to really reach a conclusion on using this approach with more than a blade or two in a rotation.
In order of my preferences, based on how the blade responded up to the 8K:
1. I would likely use a finisher next- 12K or higher. Then, off to the linen and leather strops.
2. A pasted CROX strop (balsa) , then linen/leather.
3. A bit of diamond spray on felt, then linen/leather.
4. Some combo of 1., 2. or 3.
5. Just strop and give it test shave off the 8K.
To touch up I have used finishers, fine barber's hones, newspaper (once on a trip).
For the last few weeks, I have been trying the perpetual honing approach (give Larry Andro credit here for suggestion
) . Three light strokes on a lathered finisher after every few shaves and then stropping. It seems to be keeping my blades from dulling at all, but it will take a few months to really reach a conclusion on using this approach with more than a blade or two in a rotation.
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I like a thin slurried coti after 8k, then just jump into the tail end of dulicot.
Touchups? I use my 110x25mm Thuringian.
Touchups? I use my 110x25mm Thuringian.
A Thuri is great for touch ups. That is what I have been using in trying the perpetual approach. The one I have is a little older hone in a little wooden box. Is that what you are using, too? I consider these a finishing hone as well. Would you agree?
I just finished (I think) honing my first razor, from completely no bevel dull, to "I cut the hanging hair" sharp. (I feel like Grasshopper when he snatched the pebble from masters hand.)
I went to 8k, then one of the cheap Chinese 12k's and then just stropped on kangaroo leather. Seemed to do the trick.
While I was there I touched up my go-to razor, which could no longer cut the hanging hair (it could when I first got it), on the 12k and now that one is Kung Fu sharp as well.
I went to 8k, then one of the cheap Chinese 12k's and then just stropped on kangaroo leather. Seemed to do the trick.
While I was there I touched up my go-to razor, which could no longer cut the hanging hair (it could when I first got it), on the 12k and now that one is Kung Fu sharp as well.
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After 8k, I go to a Chinese 12k and then to a balsa strop before the leather strop.
Mine's one of Mueller's last tiny thuringians. I've got four 5" Celebrated/Escher hones in preen plus a vintage 4" Escher from an old hobbiest carving kit (on of the few vintage 4" I've seen). But my Mueller is the finest Thuri I've used. Stone cold luck. I bought a batch of ~30 thuri's to distribute to B&B a few months back. I opened a blue one to cut into slurrys (because my best hone at the time was a blue Escher and I wanted a similar slurry), a green one to see what the majority of the stones were like (they were mostly green), and an olive green one because it had a deep red vein in it and I figured I couldn't sell it since I was selling the stones sealed and I had no way of knowing if it was even usable. The one with the vein turned out to be the finest Thuri I've ever used (of about three dozen now).
Yes, Thuri's are definitely finishing hones. The only hones I know of that are finer than thuri's are high grit jnats and more than likely 30k+ synths... but in both of those cases it wouldn't be ideal to use a Thuri before them (Jnats work differently as I understand. IE you don't really switch stones after a certain grit, you just use a different rubbing stone to produce slurry of a different texture and if you're finishing on a Synthetic, I can't imagine a reason why you wouldn't use synthetics for your earlier hones. Almost all the classical wisdom of honing says that for ultra-refined edges you work the other way around. Start on synths but always finish on natural stone for the best results.)
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I use a barber hone or Thuringian. A paddle or balsa with some good paste would work well, too.
