Good first JNat?

[lightfoot]

With these stones I would suggest purchasing from a vendor that can ensure that the stone in question is a Razor grade stone regardless of the quarry location or stamping. The real learning curve with these stones is honestly managing the slurry. If you start out with a medium heavy slurry and you work that down to water through a dilution you may find that you need to go back and repeat that to some degree. Then it’s a matter of deciding how much slurry you wanna start with on round two for example. You might only want to start out with about half the amount of slurry (or perhaps less) on round two. So developing fundamental skills with these stones doesn’t necessarily resemble the same approach you might use with synthetics.
Then there’s the consideration of using Asano stamped Mikawa Nagura as well.

 

[dabrock]

What is your definition of not too expensive? That can make a big difference on what you are looking for. You don't want self slurry unless you are looking for more of a knife stone probably either. Something on the softer side of hard maybe that isn't difficult to slurry with a Atoma or a tomo.

I’m thinking under $300, I’m trying not to mortgage my house lol.

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

For that price point you should get a nice stone. Get advice from a trusted vendor.

Judging from your joined date you should know your way around the hones.

What more are you looking for in a Jnat edge, how are you finishing your razors now?

 

[dabrock]

For that price point you should get a nice stone. Get advice from a trusted vendor.

Judging from your joined date you should know your way around the hones.

What more are you looking for in a Jnat edge, how are you finishing your razors now?

I’m curious at how a JNat finish compares to my current natural finishes and learning how the slurry works with the base. I’m currently finishing with a 30k Shapton HD class, a corti, a ILR, a hard black Ark, La Lune and a Black Shadow. I prefer the natural edges in general due to the smother feel, but occasionally prefer the crisp 30k finish.

 

[Steve56]

A good JNat with a tomo or two can span most of those edge types; an edge finished with thicker, softer tomo slurry will be more likr the coti or Black Shadow, an edge finished on thinner, harder tomo slurry will be noticeably keener. An edge that has added clear water strokes can, depending on the base stone, approach or equal high grit synth, paste, and La Lune edges.

The right coticule can also be very versatile and produce a keen edge, but they seem a bit rarer than JNats that can do the same. I don’t have tremendous experience with cotis though, so take this with a large grain of salt.

 

[dabrock]

A good JNat with a tomo or two can span most of those edge types; an edge finished with thicker, softer tomo slurry will be more likr the coti or Black Shadow, an edge finished on thinner, harder tomo slurry will be noticeably keener. An edge that has added clear water strokes can, depending on the base stone, approach or equal high grit synth, paste, and La Lune edges.

The right coticule can also be very versatile and produce a keen edge, but they seem a bit rarer than JNats that can do the same. I don’t have tremendous experience with cotis though, so take this with a large grain of salt.

This is the main reason I’m interested in trying a good JNat because I understand that JNats are able to adjust the finish based on various factors. Versatility would be a big plus for me.

 

[Jakebullet]

An unexpected and pleasant side effect of using a jnat for me was learning that it could take a razor from a 1k stone then in less than 5 mins take it it all the way up to a crazy sharp shaving edge far in excess of 12k with no intermediate stones in between.
A diamond slurry just obliterates the 1k scratches, it’s very powerful stuff.
This means I could get by on a 1k bevel setter and a good jnat. No need for a progression of stones.
Who knew the jnats had so much range?

 

[dabrock]

An unexpected and pleasant side effect of using a jnat for me was learning that it could take a razor from a 1k stone then in less than 5 mins take it it all the way up to a crazy sharp shaving edge far in excess of 12k with no intermediate stones in between.
A diamond slurry just obliterates the 1k scratches, it’s very powerful stuff.
This means I could get by on a 1k bevel setter and a good jnat. No need for a progression of stones.
Who knew the jnats had so much range?

That's very impressive; I hope I can achieve those results!

 

[JPO]

An unexpected and pleasant side effect of using a jnat for me was learning that it could take a razor from a 1k stone then in less than 5 mins take it it all the way up to a crazy sharp shaving edge far in excess of 12k with no intermediate stones in between.
A diamond slurry just obliterates the 1k scratches, it’s very powerful stuff.
This means I could get by on a 1k bevel setter and a good jnat. No need for a progression of stones.
Who knew the jnats had so much range?

I agree. However, it is also nice to just use an 6-8k stone, and a light tomo slurry removing less steel.