Damn Comfortable Shave

[Lord Fatboy]

Took 30-45 minutes.
I used my large Naniwa flattening stone, same as I use for everything that needs lapping.
I was left with two small opposing corner area's that were not at the same level as the rest of the stone.
It's not a big deal and I may go back and see if I can get it done at a later date. I did have an idea to maybe try the other side of the stone incase it's flatter. I don't have an accurate straight edge to test this out.



Glad to hear this Cal.

Those damn opposing corners
That's why I chamfer before, during and after lapping, lol.

 

[Somerled]

Those damn opposing corners
That's why I chamfer before, during and after lapping, lol.

Haha

I did the chamfer bit as well. Didn't help.
It's in the back of my mind to fix it, you know how these things work.
Bugs me crazy till it's eventually sorted.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Honing and such today.

Having experienced what seems to be a quite beneficial effect - on the Boots LTD razor above - from using these two pastes (red & black, in that order) after CrOx, I've decided to continue on with it.

All I did with the Boots razor today was a polishing stropping on the black paste and a bit of stropping on plain leather.

I just finished honing this razor - the G. Felix. Solingen. GloriaWerk. 77. Made in Germany. 5/8" - which was acquired NOS from JR. It went through the progressions, burr method of bevel setting on the 1K, 3K, 5K, 8K, 12K, and Arkansas Hard Black.

Then it was stropped on CrOx and on the red and the black before it was stopped on plain leather.

Next up?

Boker Tree. All it got today was CrOx + red paste + black paste. Leather stopping followed, plain leather.

We'll see what that added to a razor which clearly wasn't quite sharp enough after its last honing. This is the first time I've used the red & black pastes on it.

This razor - it's an 11/16” Golden Rule Cutlery Co. razor which was made in the USA - got the same treatment as the Boker Tree. I call this razor my Golden Peacock.

When I check these four razors with the thumb pad test they seem equally sharp.

The real test is the shave test, but I have four razors which might be worth testing. I'm more sure of the top two razors in this post. I know the Boots razor is sharp (having used it several times); today's honing session seemed to go pretty well so I'd think the G Felix razor would be sharp.

We'll see.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Seveneighth]

Took 30-45 minutes.
I used my large Naniwa flattening stone, same as I use for everything that needs lapping.
I was left with two small opposing corner area's that were not at the same level as the rest of the stone.
It's not a big deal and I may go back and see if I can get it done at a later date. I did have an idea to maybe try the other side of the stone incase it's flatter. I don't have an accurate straight edge to test this out.



Glad to hear this Cal.

Are you regularly checking the flatness of the Naniwa lapping stone? Mine dishes pretty quickly.

 

[Seveneighth]

Honing and such today.

Having experienced what seems to be a quite beneficial effect - on the Boots LTD razor above - from using these two pastes (red & black, in that order) after CrOx, I've decided to continue on with it.

All I did with the Boots razor today was a polishing stropping on the black paste and a bit of stropping on plain leather.

View attachment 940183

I just finished honing this razor - the G. Felix. Solingen. GloriaWerk. 77. Made in Germany. 5/8" - which was acquired NOS from JR. It went through the progressions, burr method of bevel setting on the 1K, 3K, 5K, 8K, 12K, and Arkansas Hard Black.

Then it was stropped on CrOx and on the red and the black before it was stopped on plain leather.

Next up?

View attachment 940189

Boker Tree. All it got today was CrOx + red paste + black paste. Leather stopping followed, plain leather.

We'll see what that added to a razor which clearly wasn't quite sharp enough after its last honing. This is the first time I've used the red & black pastes on it.

View attachment 940200

This razor - it's an 11/16” Golden Rule Cutlery Co. razor which was made in the USA - got the same treatment as the Boker Tree. I call this razor my Golden Peacock.

View attachment 940203

When I check these four razors with the thumb pad test they seem equally sharp.

The real test is the shave test, but I have four razors which might be worth testing. I'm more sure of the top two razors in this post. I know the Boots razor is sharp (having used it several times); today's honing session seemed to go pretty well so I'd think the G Felix razor would be sharp.

We'll see.

Happy shaves,

Jim

So many questions...

What surface are you using for the pastes?
How many laps?
Are the razors treetopping?
What tests are you using for sharpness?

 

[Somerled]

Are you regularly checking the flatness of the Naniwa lapping stone? Mine dishes pretty quickly.

No, and ever since you first mentioned this it's been on my mind to check.
I use a round about circular motion when lapping, covering the whole of the lapping stone
Hopefully that's not wearing any part of it more than another.

But your right, I should check.

 

[Seveneighth]

No, and ever since you first mentioned this it's been on my mind to check.
I use a round about circular motion when lapping, covering the whole of the lapping stone
Hopefully that's not wearing any part of it more than another.

But your right, I should check.

Do you have the large or small one? If the small one then that might be why those corners are causing trouble.

I lap mine on wet and dry on one of those toughened glass lapping plates (£12) from Axminster. In fact I use that method for a lot of my lapping these days.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

My Wednesday shave was late in the afternoon.

How was the razor? Pretty good I think, but it's hard to compare with yesterday's razor. Know what I mean? Certainly the razor seemed pretty sharp and I got a pretty good shave, but is it as good as the Boots LTD razor?

I really liked this brush. It's really grown on me over time.

I'm reasonably pleased to have two straights that both are at least within the range of sharp that seems acceptable to me.

Happy shaved,

Jim

 

[Somerled]

Do you have the large or small one? If the small one then that might be why those corners are causing trouble.

I lap mine on wet and dry on one of those toughened glass lapping plates (£12) from Axminster. In fact I use that method for a lot of my lapping these days.

Large one.
Might order one of those lapping plates.
In a few weeks, wallet is complaining after buying that Filarmonica.

AJ quotes that his stones are flat, after lapping for about half an hour it did occur to me I maybe doing the wrong side.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

No, and ever since you first mentioned this it's been on my mind to check.
I use a round about circular motion when lapping, covering the whole of the lapping stone
Hopefully that's not wearing any part of it more than another.

But your right, I should check.

I'm not saying you are doing anything wrong but I noticed this about the flattening stone I bought for my synthetics.

You're using a different flattening stone I think, and mine might be less or more inclined to not pair well with the natural stones, and maybe Arkansas stones are unique (although I doubt it) amongst natural stones.

My flattening stone is not going to be used to flatten any natural stones unless I learn something more from the manufacturer or vendor. I like the FS too much to ruin it or run the risk and SIC on marble should flatten any natural stone I think (not that I've done it).

Just saying.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Seveneighth]

Large one.
Might order one of those lapping plates.
In a few weeks, wallet is complaining after buying that Filarmonica.

AJ quotes that his stones are flat, after lapping for about half an hour it did occur to me I maybe doing the wrong side.

Well they may be flat but my yellow lake was rougher than the Dragons Tongue.

You may also want a finer grit for lapping natural finishers - for finishers (Yellow Lakes, Llyn Idwals, Charnley Forests, Water of Ayrs, hard coticules) I flatten on a lower grit and then use a 1k or 2k grit wet n dry afterwards. It seems to improve the finishing performance.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Large one.
Might order one of those lapping plates.
In a few weeks, wallet is complaining after buying that Filarmonica.

AJ quotes that his stones are flat, after lapping for about half an hour it did occur to me I maybe doing the wrong side.

You need something like this. Link.

It helps a lot to have a quality straight edge for checking the flatness of stones. It makes a huge difference compared to the "wrong" tools I used before. Now I know if it's flat!

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Somerled]

I'm not saying you are doing anything wrong but I noticed this about the flattening stone I bought for my synthetics.

View attachment 940229

You're using a different flattening stone I think, and mine might be less or more inclined to not pair well with the natural stones, and maybe Arkansas stones are unique (although I doubt it) amongst natural stones.

My flattening stone is not going to be used to flatten any natural stones unless I learn something more from the manufacturer or vendor. I like the FS too much to ruin it or run the risk and SIC on marble should flatten any natural stone I think (not that I've done it).

Just saying.

Happy shaves,

Jim

Strangely enough I had no trouble lapping my Hard Ark. It was almost flat to begin with and didn't take much to make it so.
It has occurred to me I might be doing the wrong thing with this, on more than one occasion.
So, I'll look into alternatives.
I guess I'll find out when I do lap the flattening stone. How much I have damaged it, or not, as the case maybe.

Well they may be flat but my yellow lake was rougher than the Dragons Tongue.

You may also want a finer grit for lapping natural finishers - for finishers (Yellow Lakes, Llyn Idwals, Charnley Forests, Water of Ayrs, hard coticules) I flatten on a lower grit and then use a 1k or 2k grit wet n dry afterwards. It seems to improve the finishing performance.

I've lapped my 4 naturals up to 600 grit.
Ark, Thuringian, and CF are all super smooth.
I got 600 after watching one of Keith's video's on surgical black, where he suggested not to go higher. You need a degree of roughness to make the finisher work.
There's contrary advice everywhere on this.

 

[Somerled]

You need something like this. Link.

It helps a lot to have a quality straight edge for checking the flatness of stones. It makes a huge difference compared to the "wrong" tools I used before. Now I know if it's flat!

Happy shaves,

Jim

Thanks Jim.

Going to make up a list of "essentials" I need, including these.
Axminster Bevelled Straight Edges
Veritas Glass Lapping Plate


When my wallet feels able to breathe again I'll be getting these "essentials" instead of, soaps, razors, brushes, etc.
Unfortunately its SWMBO birthday in 4 weeks......

 

[Seveneighth]

Strangely enough I had no trouble lapping my Hard Ark. It was almost flat to begin with and didn't take much to make it so.
It has occurred to me I might be doing the wrong thing with this, on more than one occasion.
So, I'll look into alternatives.
I guess I'll find out when I do lap the flattening stone. How much I have damaged it, or not, as the case maybe.



I've lapped my 4 naturals up to 600 grit.
Ark, Thuringian, and CF are all super smooth.
I got 600 after watching one of Keith's video's on surgical black, where he suggested not to go higher. You need a degree of roughness to make the finisher work.
There's contrary advice everywhere on this.

Didn't mean to confuse things.

I am definitely not saying I'm necessarily right and I know nothing about arks.

My touch stone - so to speak - was a weird Dalmore that has come up as my best finisher using a higher grit.

 

[Seveneighth]

Thanks Jim.

Going to make up a list of "essentials" I need, including these.
Axminster Bevelled Straight Edges
Veritas Glass Lapping Plate


When my wallet feels able to breathe again I'll be getting these "essentials" instead of, soaps, razors, brushes, etc.
Unfortunately its SWMBO birthday in 4 weeks......

We need a Groupon for Axminster lol!

 

[Lord Fatboy]

Do you have the large or small one? If the small one then that might be why those corners are causing trouble.

I lap mine on wet and dry on one of those toughened glass lapping plates (£12) from Axminster. In fact I use that method for a lot of my lapping these days.

I use the Ax-Min glass plate for relatively "light" stones, for polishing and one side for films & sandpaper.
Tried to lap a trans Ark on one last year, and all I ended up with was a large uneven lens in the centre of my plate, lol.

 

[Seveneighth]

I use the Ax-Min glass plate for relatively "light" stones, for polishing and one side for films & sandpaper.
Tried to lap a trans Ark on one last year, and all I ended up with was a large uneven lens in the centre of my plate, lol.

Are you using the silicon carbide powder directly on it? If so, I haven't tried that - I always lay a sheet of wet n dry down which wears out long before the glass... I think...

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

This is how I smoothed my Arkansas Hard Black. That's the stone being used here although the video misidentifies it (the names are very confusing).

I used only two grits of SIC, 220 & 600, doing pretty much exactly what the video suggests.

There is a thread somewhere discussing an article in, I believe, Scientific American. Ah, yes; here's the link. It is an interesting thread and says, if memory serves, not to rub the stone with a beater razor and various other things contrary to popular opinion.

I've been using Norton's Honing Oil on my Ark recently. I'm happy enough with the results but I think the oil needs to be a bit thinner. I'm going to thin it a tad with mineral spirits or switch to something else next time I hone with the Ark.

I have the Norton Translucent Ark now, too. I've not seen mine, but it should be in mailbox at the office. I'll need to smooth it with the SIC.

Interesting that the SIC ground a lens like indentation in the glass...I wondered about that. I can't imagine there's anything that can be used for lapping which doesn't itself need to be flattened and so on. Probably there is something but it cost a million dollars a square foot, and weighs a ton, and is toxic to human life.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Seveneighth]

This is how I smoothed my Arkansas Hard Black. That's the stone being used here although the video misidentifies it (the names are very confusing).

I used only two grits of SIC, 220 & 600, doing pretty much exactly what the video suggests.

There is a thread somewhere discussing an article in, I believe, Scientific American. Ah, yes; here's the link. It is an interesting thread and says, if memory serves, not to rub the stone with a beater razor and various other things contrary to popular opinion.

I've been using Norton's Honing Oil on my Ark recently. I'm happy enough with the results but I think the oil needs to be a bit thinner. I'm going to thin it a tad with mineral spirits or switch to something else next time I hone with the Ark.

I have the Norton Translucent Ark now, too. I've not seen mine, but it should be in mailbox at the office. I'll need to smooth it with the SIC.

View attachment 940300

Interesting that the SIC ground a lens like indentation in the glass...I wondered about that. I can't imagine there's anything that can be used for lapping which doesn't itself need to be flattened and so on. Probably there is something but it cost a million dollars a square foot, and weighs a ton, and is toxic to human life.

Happy shaves,

Jim

The guy that honed my razors for years either used Welsh stones or Arks - from what I can make out it was probably Arks. A while ago I set out on a quest to try to replicate the edge he created (nothing I've tried from other honers has come close - but then my beard was softer back then and my memory is rose tinted). I got waylaid with the Welsh, English and Scottish stones and this has worked out well for me.

Family lore is that Arkansas stones are the best, and someday I'll try them properly. At which point I will be looking for advice from you and @Somerled. I just wish I'd paid attention when the guy tried to teach me honing back in the day.