I received this rusted butter knife from eBay yesterday. I could see without a loupe that the edge was almost serrated like a steak knife. Didn't so much as tug on forearm hairs out of the envelope.
I started to set a bevel with a Naniwa 1K SS. It was pushing water evenly once some of the edge "scraps" were rubbed off by attrition, but for whatever reason, this was to be a Battle Royale. The spine wear was significant and I watched the edge evolve carefully along the entire process. I put a piece of Kapton on 1/2 of one side and a first for me--I worked the bevel aggressively until it conformed. Much of the bevel set time was spent on removing enough material from the edge to get past a chip almost dead center between heel and toe. The loupe came out at least every 10 minutes to confirm I was getting where I wanted to go. Once the bevel was established nearly 90 minutes into the process, I was eager to see what I could do.
Botan, Tenjyou, Mejiero and Koma Nagura slurries were used with the heaviest pressure I've ever risked. For whatever reason, I also used my dominant hand to guide the blade while using at least two fingers of my non-dominant hand to exert pressure wherever the loupe told me it was needed. This too was a first. I learned that pressure can be your friend. I was afraid to use it before. Many new firsts on this hone--one is that I stopped at Koma. I never used Tomo. Another, is I did not dilute my slurries as the feedback diminished. I simply rubbed the rock until feedback was gone. I stropped 75 times, disinfected, and it was off to the races.
To keep this short I'll cut to the chase. I'm happy to say I had the closest, silkiest best shave ever. I read this forum voraciously and cannot say how many times I've read "zero pressure" on blade against skin--but I experienced this for the first time last night. The whiskers were being cut, but I wouldn't have believed it unless I had rinse and re-lather between passes.
I learned a lot yesterday. I've got a few SRs, a few of them new off Jarrod's shelf. This is far and away, without peer--my best shaver. Bought for a song. I've never heard of the brand, but 100 days into this sport there's A LOT I've not heard of. I think with some time, I can have all my edges match this one.
Perhaps I'll take a wine cork to the heavy hollow grind and restore some of the shine--as long as the etching isn't marred in the process. If I can't, I'll leave it alone. The way this shaves, looks are the last thing I want to change.
