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My First Natural Finish

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
I think it was @cotedupy who suggested that I use one side for finishing (the top burnished side) and the other side for slurry honing. I lapped the underside (for slurry) flat ready for my next go with this Adaee #12000.

I found that I needed to be able to quickly differentiate between the two sides. All edges on this whetstone have been broken (chamfered) at about 45°. To easily differentiate between the two sides, I used a black Sharpie to "paint" the chamfer all around the slurrying side.

IMG_20220621_122902.jpg
Works well.

The way this stone doesn't want to wear, the Sharpie ink should not require replacing for many years.
 
I think it was @cotedupy who suggested that I use one side for finishing (the top burnished side) and the other side for slurry honing. I lapped the underside (for slurry) flat ready for my next go with this Adaee #12000.

I found that I needed to be able to quickly differentiate between the two sides. All edges on this whetstone have been broken (chamfered) at about 45°. To easily differentiate between the two sides, I used a black Sharpie to "paint" the chamfer all around the slurrying side.

Works well.

The way this stone doesn't want to wear, the Sharpie ink should not require replacing for many years.

A good way to separate the two finishes. I simply put an arrow to the finer side.
 
I think it was @cotedupy who suggested that I use one side for finishing (the top burnished side) and the other side for slurry honing. I lapped the underside (for slurry) flat ready for my next go with this Adaee #12000.

I found that I needed to be able to quickly differentiate between the two sides. All edges on this whetstone have been broken (chamfered) at about 45°. To easily differentiate between the two sides, I used a black Sharpie to "paint" the chamfer all around the slurrying side.

Works well.

The way this stone doesn't want to wear, the Sharpie ink should not require replacing for many years.


Good stuff! Yeah it's often useful to write or mark on the sides of stones in this way.

I've been enjoying your adventures in natural honing R, and puts the lie to a slightly lazy assumption that I at least am sometimes guilty of making: Imagining some kind of unbroachable divide between natural stone fans looking down upon method honers for their lack of romanticism and harsh edges. While the method crew despair of the stoners and their insistence on trying to shave with blunted butter knives. And never the twain shall meet.

It's been interesting reading someone going from one to the other with an open mind.

---

And also as you've seen - that's it's perfectly possible to get very good shaving edges off quite a wide variety of stones. Especially the kind of slate like affair you have here.

Once you get up past a certain level of fineness in natural stones, it can be a little reductive to think about finishing 'grit' level and stuff. I tend to judge the quality of finishing stones by how easy they are to get a good edge from, because even quite cheap, less celebrated, stones can and will do it too. They just often require a little more patience and learning to coax the best out of.
 
It is of course the great tradgedy of honing razors on natural stones that the ultimate ‘beginner’ stones (Thuris and the like) that will put an amazing edge almost instantly on any razor within about 15 yards, also have the least ‘beginner’ like price tags.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Today after lapping flat the underside of the Adaee #12000, I put a Cnat edge on two more of my SRs. They were the Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 (orange ball) and the Titan ACRO T.H.64 (green ball).

IMG_20220621_151345.jpg

The T.H.60 is of high carbon steel with just a little Cr added, very similar to the GD W59 but a little harder, and has a bevel angle of 17.4°, almost a degree more than the GD W59 (16.5°). The T.H.64 is a true stainless steel having a hardness about mid-way between the T.H-70 and the T.H.60 with a bevel angle also of 17.4°.

Both SRs had a shave-ready edge off a diamond pasted balsa strop progression and were tree-top tested before the Cnat work. They were both tree-topping my chest hair with ease at about 12mm

As the blades both had pasted balsa edges, I dispensed with any slurry work on the Cnat. Each blade was given 60 laps with plain water and pull strokes on the slurry (bottom) side of the Cnat followed by another 60 laps on the burnished (top) side with plain water and short X strokes. They were finally give another 60 laps with short X strokes on the burnished side with a drop of detergent added to the water.

There was little change in the tree-top test results after. Possibly not quite as good. I will slot these two SRs into my shaving schedule next week after I finish with my Cadman "Bengall" set.

This type of honing is fun!
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Trifecta

This morning was another comparison test between my 0.1μm diamond pasted balsa edges and those off my Adaee #12000 Cnat. For this comparison, I chose a trifecta of SRs; a Revisor 6-0035 (balsa), GD W59 (balsa) and a GD W59 (Cnat). All were give 60 laps each on hanging clean leather before this shave.

full

(L to R) GD W59 Cnat, Revisor 6-0035 balsa, GD W59 balsa​

First pass WTG was the 6-0035 (balsa) and all went well as expected. Second pass started with a coup de maître (aka fool's pass) using both GD W59 SRs, Cnat RHS and balsa LHS. The rest of this pass was XTG using both GD W59 SRs, Cnat RHS and balsa LHS. Final pass was XTG in the opposite direction using the 6-0035 and all went well as expected.

The results of the coup de maître were that I could feel no difference between the balsa and Cnat W59 SRs while shaving. Upon feeling the finish, I would say that the Cnat was just that little bit closer. The rest of this XTG pass was with both W59 SRs and there was no difference in either feel or resultant finish.

At present, I am thinking that there is no really noticeable difference between my balsa edges and my Cnat edges other than the Cnat may be just a tad better. I have another three matching pairs of SRs to compare with and will report back here as they happen.
 
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rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
And that your edge leading technique is well honed - pardon the pun.

More seriously, we talk a lot about gear, but technique also matters.
I agree. I should have added that I am now finishing my Cnat progressions with edge trailing laps when using clear water with just the faintest amount of lather.

Earlier in this thread I detailed my initial normal Cnat full progression. Here is what my full Cnat progression now consists of:
  1. Start with a shave-ready edge off an 8k or higher whetstone or 1.0μm flim.
  2. Develop a light slurry on the Cnat using a 600 diamond plate.
  3. Fifteen laps plus 3 pull strokes.
  4. End-for-end the Cnat
  5. Repeat step 3
  6. Add a little water if needed.
  7. Repeat steps 3 to 5.
  8. Rinse blade under running water to remove all traces of slurry.
  9. Add water, now down to no slurry.
  10. Repeat steps 3 to 8.
  11. Rinse blade thoroughly under running water.
  12. Add water with just a small amount of lather.
  13. Fifteen laps plus 6 short X strokes.
  14. End-for-end the Cnat.
  15. Repeat step 13.
  16. Add a little water with lather if needed.
  17. Repeat steps 13 to 15.
  18. Repeat step 11.
  19. Rinse blade thoroughly under running water and dry.
  • Cnat is bench mounted or may be held in hand if preferred.
  • All laps and strokes are done with weight of blade only as pressure.
  • All laps and strokes are done with edge leading except when including lather with the water. Then they are done edge trailing.
Once all is finished, if needed, protect the blade from oxidation until use. Just prior to use, strop the blade on a hanging clean leather strop about 60 laps - weight of blade only and strop held tight enough so that there is no noticeable deflection in the strop while stropping.
 
I'm struggling to imagine him stating it so succinctly. But it's a good procedure.
I don't know Jarrod but that's essentially how I do it. Rub steel on stone until I like how it feels/sings. Something sets off the caveman trigger in my brain(like meat+ wood fire) that makes rubbing steel on stone satisfying. Like scratching your back on a tree trunk like a bear. Good stuff, that.
 
I tried maybe 6 or 7 Cnats, including one loaded with the orange squiggles that was sold to me as a top notch example.

The "top notch" one was the only one I'd consider a half-way decent razor finisher. Definitely worth the $25-30 they cost back then... but then it took $150 spent to get one that good. The rest weren't worth the time spent trying to use them. Even the good one I resold after a few weeks (maybe days), as at that point I just wanted to see if there even WERE any useful examples out there.

A key thing to remember is when the CNAT was being promoted as a viable option (10-15 years ago), so were the random barbers synthetics, especially SWATY's. In fact a lot of people would argue that SWATY's were preferable (aside from cost, as they could fetch $50+ back then). I've had one or two shave-worthy SWATY stones, and maybe 30 that weren't. This (and Norton 8k) was the tier of "finisher" that CNAT's were compared against when they got most of their praise.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
I tried maybe 6 or 7 Cnats, including one loaded with the orange squiggles that was sold to me as a top notch example.

The "top notch" one was the only one I'd consider a half-way decent razor finisher. Definitely worth the $25-30 they cost back then... but then it took $150 spent to get one that good. The rest weren't worth the time spent trying to use them. Even the good one I resold after a few weeks (maybe days), as at that point I just wanted to see if there even WERE any useful examples out there.

A key thing to remember is when the CNAT was being promoted as a viable option (10-15 years ago), so were the random barbers synthetics, especially SWATY's. In fact a lot of people would argue that SWATY's were preferable (aside from cost, as they could fetch $50+ back then). I've had one or two shave-worthy SWATY stones, and maybe 30 that weren't. This (and Norton 8k) was the tier of "finisher" that CNAT's were compared against when they got most of their praise.
I cannot comment on your observations as I have only tried one Cnat. I may have been just lucky in getting a good one.

It took me many hours (days) of honing/learning to get to where I could put a decent edge on a SR with my (unique?) Cnat. Maybe that was just my ignorance of how to hone with a natural or it was the stone itself.

I am not recommending that a person go out and obtain a Cnat for finishing. I am just stating what I have found with my Cnat. I also would not recommend that a person get a Cnat as their first finishing honing medium. They could easily be put off natural finishers altogether or every SR shaving totally (which mightn't be a bad thing 😁).
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Trifecta No. 2

For this comparison this morning, I chose as my trifecta; a Ralf Aust American point 6/8 (balsa), Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 (balsa) and a Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 (Cnat). All were give 60 laps each on hanging clean leather before this shave.

full

(L to R) T.H.60 Cnat, Ralf Aust balsa, T.H.60 balsa​

First pass WTG was the Ralf Aust (balsa) and all went well as expected. Second pass started with a coup maître (aka fool's pass) using both T.H.60 SRs, Cnat RHS and balsa LHS. The rest of this pass was XTG using both T.H.60 SRs, Cnat RHS and balsa LHS. Final pass was XTG in the opposite direction using the Ralf Aust and all went well as expected.

The results of the coup de maître were that I could feel no difference between the balsa and Cnat T.H.60 SRs while shaving. Upon feeling the finish, again Icoukd feel no difference. The rest of this XTG pass was with both T.H.60 SRs and there was no difference in either feel or resultant finish.

I have another two matching pairs of SRs to compare with and will report back here as they happen.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Trifecta No. 3

This time with two Titan 1918 ACRO T.H.64 SRs and a S.K. Colling custom. The shaving regime this morning was the same as the previous two trifectas.

IMG_20220701_092405.jpg
(Top to bottom) Titan T.H.64 Cnat, Titan T.H.64 balsa, Colling custom balsa
The result was about the opposite of trifecta No. 1 with the Titan T.H.64 balsa just out performing the Titan T.H.64 Cnat. Not by a lot be just noticeable.

One more trifecta comparison to go.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Trifecta No. 4

Two Titan 1918 ACRO T.H-70 SRs and a George Butler "Shakespeare" No. 3 in natural ivory. The shaving regime this morning was the same as the previous three trifectas.

IMG_20220702_122605.jpg
(Top to bottom) T.H-70 Cnat, T.H-70 balsa, Shakespeare No. 3 balsa
Again in this trifecta comparison I could find no difference in either closeness or comfort between the two T.H-70 SRs.

This is the conclusion of my trifecta testing. My next post in this thread will a summary and my conclusion of the Adaee #12000 Cnat whetstone.
 
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