What's your best LOOKING finisher?
- Thread starter gumbo
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I wouldn't say one becomes a limiter more than the other. Both are paramount for ultimate results.
I have been honing razors longer than most long time members of this forum.
Do not let my join date fool you
That was the downside. The feeling of sharpness against the skin. Lately I followed some breadcrumbs left by @Slash McCoy and apparently cracked the comfort code. Last week I got my first single pass bbs with absolute comfort - no feeling of “sharp” at all. It was like shaving with a butter knife. Thinking it was perhaps the razor, I honed a different razor and got the same result. Quantum leap I suppose. Problem (if you consider the feeling of “sharp” a problem) solved. The bottom line on this whole thing is that you have to use whatever medium you use a lot and get the feel of that medium to get the maximum out of it. There is much disdain for The Method as some kind of grade school honing but nothing could farther from the truth. I’m my experience with excellent jnat finishes compared to excellent pastes balsa finishes, balsa wins. Everyone should follow his star as I follow mine. I just stated my experience not to knock anyone else’s. If one hasn’t used The Method consistently over a period of time, he hasn’t experienced the maximum potential I suppose. The cost difference in film/ balsa vs naturals was, in the beginning, a serious consideration, however, now I wouldn’t swap my balsa for the most expensive stone out there as it would be a step backward. This is my honest opinion of course. I simply feel that lack of access to @Slash McCoy ”Honing Compendium for Newbies” has been obscured. It is a great research and write-up.
Lots of ways to get to sharp and that is good. I enjoy them all for the right intention. But I prefer weeper sharp and butter smooth. For me, there are a few ways I can get there, but not as many as just getting sharp.
These things are 100% opinion and preference. Never understood pushing one way or the other or the idea there is only one method to an excellent shave. I hope you all find the best of many options for you....and even better.....learn some of the many others ways (stones styles etc) and signature nuances amongst the many options out there for the discerned.
Hope to see more pretty stones but if it is wood then hope it is aesthetically pleasing.
Here is a big green stone and a couple of coticules with peeking blue.
These things are 100% opinion and preference. Never understood pushing one way or the other or the idea there is only one method to an excellent shave. I hope you all find the best of many options for you....and even better.....learn some of the many others ways (stones styles etc) and signature nuances amongst the many options out there for the discerned.
Hope to see more pretty stones but if it is wood then hope it is aesthetically pleasing.
Here is a big green stone and a couple of coticules with peeking blue.
Really not sure what you’re getting at here, Steve? I did a search and it’s the first thing that popped up. No one lost access to anything, it’s actually on the first page in this forum as I type and has many more views now since it has been unstuck. If you are having trouble finding it please pm me and I’ll see if I can help.
My razor did not feel "sharp" but if I was not using the right angle or if I made any motion other than straight (slicing for ex) I would be bleeding. Edge felt great other than that and just had to be toned down. Send your edge out to 5 people known for great jnat edges while also trying their edges. Then I will feel better about your comparison. Would be interested in all of their opinions on the method edge as well
as to keeping the thread on track here is a recent coticule that I think looks nice
Thanks. Could you send me the link? I’ve searched several ways and have been unable to locate it.
Yes sir give me one sec.
I only have two razors honed to this quality right now and I want to make sure I can consistently produce it. I guess I got a bit excited with this development. I will be re-finishing razors as I rotate through them. I’m not a “hobby” honer and look at honing as a task that must be done I suppose. I do 50 laps on .1um balsa and 50 on leather after every shave so I’ve never had to re-hone a razor. I’ll have more than thirty to go through now. If you like, PM me your address and I’ll make a note to send you a specimen when I feel safe going to the Post Office. I’m 70 years old and well sequestered now. What size blade do you prefer? I use primarily use small blades but I do have a few 5/8 and maybe one 6/8 but I’m not sure. By the way, that is a beautiful stone. After struggling through a semester of Geology in college, my interest in stones waned. Lol.
Steve
Well this thread strikes me as though it needs a comback! Here are some pretty green and blue stones.
Glanrafon:
Not sure, but I suspect may be a kind of Glanrafon or something quarried nearby:
Funky patterned Idwal:
Blue Tam with clouds (not a razor finisher, but I just finished a knife with it, so it counts
):
And not forgetting of course...
Glanrafon:
Not sure, but I suspect may be a kind of Glanrafon or something quarried nearby:
Funky patterned Idwal:
Blue Tam with clouds (not a razor finisher, but I just finished a knife with it, so it counts
):And not forgetting of course...
Is the last stone flat? That is definitely a wild stone! Very nice!!Well this thread strikes me as though it needs a comback! Here are some pretty green and blue stones.
Glanrafon:
View attachment 1382434
Not sure, but I suspect may be a kind of Glanrafon or something quarried nearby:
View attachment 1382421
View attachment 1382797
Funky patterned Idwal:
View attachment 1382801
Blue Tam with clouds (not a razor finisher, but I just finished a knife with it, so it counts
View attachment 1382799
And not forgetting of course...
View attachment 1382438
Haha... it is actually flat yep, but has some trippy 3d effect to the surface eh!
It’s a Moughton Whetstone from Yorkshire, historically popular with the nearby Sheffield industry. The groovy purple banding is from oxidation of ferrite iron within the stone apparently.
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How could I forget this big old chunk of Charnley Forest I found at a market recently! I’m developing a bit of a thing for green stones...
That Moughton is the damndest thing I ever saw.
Really? We hadn’t noticed….
Just realized the first stone in this thread is a Glanrafon apparently it was sold as a Tam.After a lot of work at honing I can finally say I'm very happy with the edges I can put on with a few different stones. I have successfully achieved 2 or 3-pass BBS shaves with a number of finishers, including several different coticules, a couple different Thuringians, a Charnley, a Tam O'Shanter, and several different barber hones (with the Frictionite 00 and Lakeside being my favorite).
Now, even though I prefer my Charnley edges to others that I have done, I still use the others stones often just for enjoyment or aesthetic purposes. So that got me thinking about how if I can get acceptable or even good edges out of a bunch of different stones, then the visual appearance of a stone really starts to matter (at least to me). My question is this: If we were to define a finisher as anything that improves the edge of a Norton 8k, what is your best LOOKING finishing stone? I would love to see some images of real beauties and exemplars from a lot of you, and if you're like me I know you have some pride in the stones you have collected, harbored, and maintained and many have considered this question before.
Then maybe we can have a poll for who owns the "Helen of Troy" finishing stone. Oh, and Seraphim if you want to post some of your gorgeous "lapping film"...go ahead
My best looking finishing stone is my Tam O'Shanter (yes, it's a finisher).
View attachment 292715
Yeah I noticed that... I've seen a few old threads on SRP where they were misidentified as Tams: Green UK stone - https://sharprazorpalace.com/hones/77232-green-uk-stone.html
This local silver and pink slate, or "A-Nat" is pretty wild.
Everybody likes a Charnley.
And this mystery (probably some sort of Suita) J-Nat.
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