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Concave (dished) hones are the best

The answer to magical edges has been staring us in the face this entire time. Obviously, dished surfaces are the best shape for honing razors.

We all know a convex edge is more durable. Obviously, honing on a concave (dished) surface is the easiest solution. Everyone in the past wanted a convex edge! We know this is a fact and not an opinion because we don't have to look far to find vintage stones with a dished surface.

We can also hone wedges on dished stones without tape on the spine. Gone are the days of unwanted hone wear on the spine or face of the razor from honing on convex or flat surfaces. Dished stones make narrow bevels.

Finally, flat stones become dished in not very many strokes. We might make the stone flat to start, but the stone is ever so slightly dished in just a few strokes. So, most of us that say we hone on flat stones are actually honing on dished surfaces.

So, there we have it. The best shape for stones is concave (dished). We have proven these facts with history and logic.




This post is just a joke. Try not to take it too seriously. Happy April Fools' Day!
 
The answer to magical edges has been staring us in the face this entire time. Obviously, dished surfaces are the best shape for honing razors.

We all know a convex edge is more durable. Obviously, honing on a concave (dished) surface is the easiest solution. Everyone in the past wanted a convex edge! We know this is a fact and not an opinion because we don't have to look far to find vintage stones with a dished surface.

We can also hone wedges on dished stones without tape on the spine. Gone are the days of unwanted hone wear on the spine or face of the razor from honing on convex or flat surfaces. Dished stones make narrow bevels.

Finally, flat stones become dished in not very many strokes. We might make the stone flat to start, but the stone is ever so slightly dished in just a few strokes. So, most of us that say we hone on flat stones are actually honing on dished surfaces.

So, there we have it. The best shape for stones is concave (dished). We have proven these facts with history and logic.




This post is just a joke. Try not to take it too seriously. Happy April Fools' Day!

Well said! Why would so many old razor hones already be dished with such precision unless intentional?! Those old timers certainly knew best.

The primary benefit of concave stones is the DOUBLE HONING SPEED from the duplicated contact points! As you can see from this geometricly accurate diagram that can not be debated in it's accuracy:

dished razor hone.PNG
 
Well said! Why would so many old razor hones already be dished with such precision unless intentional?! Those old timers certainly knew best.

The primary benefit of concave stones is the DOUBLE HONING SPEED from the duplicated contact points! As you can see from this geometricly accurate diagram that can not be debated in it's accuracy:

View attachment 1432650
Excellent advanced understanding of dished honing surfaces. In the example image above, the stone is dished between each side for increased honing speed.

We can choose to concave the surface along the long axis differently than the wide axis.

We want the dish in between the longest points to be more extreme for wedges. For example, we want to use a stone dished along the long axis like we're honing on the bottom cross-section of a pipe. For wider bevels, we'd want to use the equivalent of the bottom cross-section of a 6' pipe.

1648833934301.png


Like a half-pipe for your wedge.
 
Fast forward to 6:07🤓 If a German is doing it in Solingen it must be correct👍
Why is the green stone dished, while the others stones seem flat?

 
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Fast forward to 6:07🤓 If a German is doing it in Solingen it must be correct👍
Why is the green stone dished, while the others stones seem flat?

Excellent example!

Also, it may be worth noting that hanging strops dish when you use them. Science tells us it helps if the shape of the stone matches the shape of the strop.
 
Excellent example!

Also, it may be worth noting that hanging strops dish when you use them. Science tells us it helps if the shape of the stone matches the shape of the strop.
I was actually wondering if they are too lazy to flatten the green stone, or if there was a reason for using it this way. It is not slightly dished either.
The other stones seems to be quite flat.
 
I was actually wondering if they are too lazy to flatten the green stone, or if there was a reason for using it this way. It is not slightly dished either.
The other stones seems to be quite flat.
I think it was an interesting share. It goes to show how there are folks out there getting acceptable results without regard for the flatness of their hone.

If the green stone is their finisher, then they may use it more than the other stones. If they're using it as a touch-up stone, then the others wouldn't need much use. Perhaps their finisher hasn't been as recently replaced as the other stones in their progression.

It makes a fella wonder if they'd require fewer strokes on their stone if the stone was flatter. Perhaps using the stone dished requires more strokes and causes more stone wear than keeping it flat.

Maybe it is intentional, and they favor the convex edge from the concave hone. But that is probably not the primary goal.
 
I think it was an interesting share. It goes to show how there are folks out there getting acceptable results without regard for the flatness of their hone.

If the green stone is their finisher, then they may use it more than the other stones. If they're using it as a touch-up stone, then the others wouldn't need much use. Perhaps their finisher hasn't been as recently replaced as the other stones in their progression.

It makes a fella wonder if they'd require fewer strokes on their stone if the stone was flatter. Perhaps using the stone dished requires more strokes and causes more stone wear than keeping it flat.

Maybe it is intentional, and they favor the convex edge from the concave hone. But that is probably not the primary goal.
I think these are Naniwa stones. The green one is probably 1k.
 
I think these are Naniwa stones. The green one is probably 1k.
😅 If that is true then maybe they realize that dished finishing stones only do so much by themselves. Perhaps the bevel must be set with a very dished stone to maximize results. Then they move onto stones that are not as dished.
 
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