I'd be the first to admit that I have a large number of finishing stones. Enough that I've been able to forget about a couple of them. Not because I can't keep track of them, but because they are really really extra hard. They do a beautiful job, except that they have a bad habit: at about the time that everything gets just exactly perfect, the razor sticks or something, for just an instant, and takes a little gouge out of the edge. Usually in a narrow band, for a few mm. Time to start over!
You can imagine that I have not been eager to repeat this experience, however great the edges I get when this catastrophe does not happen. So I've had two stones in durance vile, waiting for the day when I could find the way to set them free.
I've tried everything with this pair of stones. Being gentle. Not being gentle. Making sure I have plenty of slurry. Not making sure I have plenty of slurry. Torqueing. Not torqueing.
Finally I got my hands on a Morihei Ozuku, which showed all sorts of signs of being a top-class razor finisher, but it started showing early signs of this sticking behavior. I stopped, and contemplated, and remembered a piece of advice I'd read here: try involving some dish soap. So I added several drops of Dawn to my spray bottle, shook it up, and sprayed. It worked! That bit of extra lubrication, along with some due care, was all I needed. Now I can use my hardest stones again! Very happy about this.
I guess it won't make it into the Dawn ad campaigns, though. I might go through 1/100 of a bottle of Dawn per year.
You can imagine that I have not been eager to repeat this experience, however great the edges I get when this catastrophe does not happen. So I've had two stones in durance vile, waiting for the day when I could find the way to set them free.
I've tried everything with this pair of stones. Being gentle. Not being gentle. Making sure I have plenty of slurry. Not making sure I have plenty of slurry. Torqueing. Not torqueing.
Finally I got my hands on a Morihei Ozuku, which showed all sorts of signs of being a top-class razor finisher, but it started showing early signs of this sticking behavior. I stopped, and contemplated, and remembered a piece of advice I'd read here: try involving some dish soap. So I added several drops of Dawn to my spray bottle, shook it up, and sprayed. It worked! That bit of extra lubrication, along with some due care, was all I needed. Now I can use my hardest stones again! Very happy about this.
I guess it won't make it into the Dawn ad campaigns, though. I might go through 1/100 of a bottle of Dawn per year.