Arks don't really scratch the way that backing is. Sometimes you get the wrinkle grooves from repeat use on hards but not really scratches. An ark glued to a good quality bhone isn't the dumbest idea ever. Can use oil on both, the ark would tamp down some of the more undesirable aspects of a typical bhone edge that you usually need to stay on a strop longer than you typically would want to in order to reel in.
My shave results; edge comparisons.
- Thread starter SliceOfLife
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #182
It's working good now. Might be a couple days before I get to shave test it, but looking forward to it. Definitely a soft one though.
So far out of everything I tried the norton razor hone has been the finest bhone, at least that is how I perceived it, but the wedgeway has been the best to shave with by a fair margin. The ruby hone is fine enough but not wholly comfortable. Would rather a ruby edge than a 00 though. The rest are all over the map. Good swatys are very good.
I actually think I prefer the edge off a clean am tonsorial gem for shaving to the 00
I had a feeling you would end up with that one. I started to chase it down but figured I’d be bidding against one of you guys and didn’t want the wifey to cold shoulder me for a week. It was much easier buying stones when I was single.
I tend not to engage on stones that aren't bins anymore apart from the odd tracking bid unless it is really poorly listed
I browse eBay and literally think to myself yep Ian will get that one, and that one, and that one. Lol. Back when we were both heavily buying stones we’d check with each other before bidding so we weren’t constantly fighting over the same stones.
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- #188
I’d still encourage you to heads up me if you’re gonna go after one with more than a throwaway bid. It’s rare I find stones I must have any more. Most of my buys are just because it’s a good deal. I’ll sit out on anything I know you are really interested in.
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- #189
Cattaraugus No 8.
Picked this up because it reminded me of the Norton hone in look, and I was curious.
Backside is faster and finer than the backside of the Norton. Reminds me of a slightly finer version of the "Ahconite" 2 sided... looks and feels similar, and that's the only barber hone I can compare it to speed-wise. Crazy fast... Usable as a beveler. I may actually keep this hone to use this side of it.
Front side is almost identical to Norton Razor Hone. Down to same "almost wire edge" feel of it in the shave.
Comfort:40
Closeness: 43
Overall:83
Picked this up because it reminded me of the Norton hone in look, and I was curious.
Backside is faster and finer than the backside of the Norton. Reminds me of a slightly finer version of the "Ahconite" 2 sided... looks and feels similar, and that's the only barber hone I can compare it to speed-wise. Crazy fast... Usable as a beveler. I may actually keep this hone to use this side of it.
Front side is almost identical to Norton Razor Hone. Down to same "almost wire edge" feel of it in the shave.
Comfort:40
Closeness: 43
Overall:83
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I found the coarse side of the norton a bad pairing with the fine. It's too big a jump when you wouldn't want to stay on that fine side too long.. Shave off that manmade coticule?
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- #191
Once, was pretty good. Maybe not quite as good as the one I borrowed from David years ago (still probably one of the best), but very similar (that one was crazy soft too). I finished a handful of razors on it I'm planning to put in BST when I get a chance, so we'll see what others think of the finish if/when those sell.
Regarding Nortons, The Norton coarse to fine was a huge jump. This hone is much better balanced, and the coarse side is actually FASTER than the Norton coarse side, despite being significantly finer. Much better 2-piece hone in my opinion (still not a top tier)... and can't argue with it costing 5-10% what the Nortons sell for.
I may try a 600DMT to coarse side to fine side and see if this is a practical one-stone solution (The Ahconite almost was, but it's fine side was a disappointment if memory serves). That said, like the Norton, I personally wouldn't shave off this stone daily, but it may be a viable stand-in for my 1200 and 8000 DMT's as a progression before a finisher with how fast it is, and it's plenty comfortable for an occasional shave (which the 8k DMT is not).
Coming down the line I'm going to have to thin out my stones by a large degree, to prepare for a future move (still probably a year or more out)... so I'm going through my collection again to see what's worth keeping, and likely no synth finishers will make the cut. I've got a mystery stone I bought several years ago (possible Jnat, but came from EU) that is pretty mind-blowing and will likely set the bar high enough I can trim my collection down without too many regrets. The Goal is to get myself down to my DMT's, a few knife stones, 2-3 arks, 3-4 cotis, 2-3 Thuris, 1-2 Jnats, a few more stones for knives... and I'm still undecided if I can bring myself to trim down my PDSO collection at all (they're so darn hard to replace)... even with all the stones I've sold in the past couple years, that still is a couple hundred stones I'll have to part with.... and truth be told... the Barbers synthetics will be one of the easiest sacrifices to make. If I keep a synthetic finisher... probably going to be my 13k... but even that's not terribly likely.
Edit: also forgot to mention, the instructions for this hone (cataraugus 8) refer to the finishing side leaving an edge "gummy" like we discussed with the wedgeway a few pages back... so apparently that was a term for some desirable quality in a shaving edge from the early to mid 20th century (this hone dates to ~1930, and I suspect the wedgeway is that era as well).
Regarding Nortons, The Norton coarse to fine was a huge jump. This hone is much better balanced, and the coarse side is actually FASTER than the Norton coarse side, despite being significantly finer. Much better 2-piece hone in my opinion (still not a top tier)... and can't argue with it costing 5-10% what the Nortons sell for.
I may try a 600DMT to coarse side to fine side and see if this is a practical one-stone solution (The Ahconite almost was, but it's fine side was a disappointment if memory serves). That said, like the Norton, I personally wouldn't shave off this stone daily, but it may be a viable stand-in for my 1200 and 8000 DMT's as a progression before a finisher with how fast it is, and it's plenty comfortable for an occasional shave (which the 8k DMT is not).
Coming down the line I'm going to have to thin out my stones by a large degree, to prepare for a future move (still probably a year or more out)... so I'm going through my collection again to see what's worth keeping, and likely no synth finishers will make the cut. I've got a mystery stone I bought several years ago (possible Jnat, but came from EU) that is pretty mind-blowing and will likely set the bar high enough I can trim my collection down without too many regrets. The Goal is to get myself down to my DMT's, a few knife stones, 2-3 arks, 3-4 cotis, 2-3 Thuris, 1-2 Jnats, a few more stones for knives... and I'm still undecided if I can bring myself to trim down my PDSO collection at all (they're so darn hard to replace)... even with all the stones I've sold in the past couple years, that still is a couple hundred stones I'll have to part with.... and truth be told... the Barbers synthetics will be one of the easiest sacrifices to make. If I keep a synthetic finisher... probably going to be my 13k... but even that's not terribly likely.
Edit: also forgot to mention, the instructions for this hone (cataraugus 8) refer to the finishing side leaving an edge "gummy" like we discussed with the wedgeway a few pages back... so apparently that was a term for some desirable quality in a shaving edge from the early to mid 20th century (this hone dates to ~1930, and I suspect the wedgeway is that era as well).
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Gummy is such a strange way to describe an edge...
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- #193
Yeah, not sure what it could refer to. Maybe that feeling that it flexes right at the edge... (what I'm saying feels like a wire edge)? Maybe completely made up marketing term that was chosen to be completely untestable?
It kind of sounds like it's supposed to mean the bevel is so smooth it clings to the face almost like your lather is sticky (I described this effect with a couple good hones so far in this thread)... but this hone certainly doesn't create that effect.
It kind of sounds like it's supposed to mean the bevel is so smooth it clings to the face almost like your lather is sticky (I described this effect with a couple good hones so far in this thread)... but this hone certainly doesn't create that effect.
The wedgeway edge is super gentle for a bhone but it really cuts no worse. That said, I prepped the backside of that stone to an ocd level to get everything out of it and ran it with sewing machine oil.
The norton to my face just felt similar to a high grit synth edge of reasonable modernity. Edges totally stable, no fins or anything. The coarse side of it is a bad joke though, at least for a razor... The example I had was remarkably preserved which didn't hurt the cause.
I can shave off my synthetic coticule. Might actually be finer than my natural, its pretty close. It's a slow stone though. I have been using a broken piece of the synthetic as a slurry stone for my natural with pretty good results. I have no idea how that works for me being the synthetic is so slow in its own right but that's my experience with it.
I believe the "gummy" reference is in the way the edge feels when tested on the thumb pad. Sticks like gum, grabs and bites deep, a very fine edge.
- Thread starter
- #198
Bought a lot of barber hones on eBay for a "Little Devil" figuring I'd flip it for a profit and get to test this little guy... it gets here and the seller stuck a "Victory" Razor hone (reviewed in my previous thread) in the box, No little Devil. Not really worth the return, as I can probably resell what I got for almost what I paid (with a little work)... and I did want to test this hone out, so I stuck the ones I don't need to test on eBay and honed this thing up.
It's a little tiny Swaty-like material with an impressed logo on the front (unusable), and a flat back. I've seen a few of these ("Koken's Moor" is probably the most common one I've seen), and always suspected they might be pretty good.
As soon as I started honing (off 8k DMT) I didn't expect much. Feels somewhat beat up under the hone, nothing about the feedback says it's gonna be a treat... so I stick the edge under the scope... actually looks nice. Still, I don't trust that, so I hone up a second razor on a coticule just so I can swap over if I get started and it's junk... Figure 60-75% chance I'm going to need it.
The shave was... actually... really good.
The Aurora
47.5/50 comfort
47/50 closeness
94.5 Overall
It's a little tiny Swaty-like material with an impressed logo on the front (unusable), and a flat back. I've seen a few of these ("Koken's Moor" is probably the most common one I've seen), and always suspected they might be pretty good.
As soon as I started honing (off 8k DMT) I didn't expect much. Feels somewhat beat up under the hone, nothing about the feedback says it's gonna be a treat... so I stick the edge under the scope... actually looks nice. Still, I don't trust that, so I hone up a second razor on a coticule just so I can swap over if I get started and it's junk... Figure 60-75% chance I'm going to need it.
The shave was... actually... really good.
The Aurora
47.5/50 comfort
47/50 closeness
94.5 Overall
Attachments
Used an old Sheffield Pearson 5/8 this morning sharpened on my Kiita yesterday. After stropping, it was a solid HHT 4. Without koma, I doubt that I can get to a HHT 5 with this stone. Results: Honestly, one of the best shaves ever! Ever!!! I have lots of real estate on my noggin (face + bald head), so my edge quality is very important. Face shaving was no problem, and even shaving my head blind (over the top of my crown and back), I was rewarded with a close/smooth shave, with no resulting red slurry. A solid 85 score. Btw...100g koma is on its way from Japan! P.S. - Dang, those things are expensive!
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