- Joined
- Saturday June 25, 2011
- Location
- Taunton/Somerset
What's a Jnat??
U.K. Coticule honing
- Thread starter BlacknTan
- Start Date
I started straight razor shaving and honing quite cheaply (scored a straight razor lot at auction). My hones were off amazon for 60 quid (1k, 3k, 8k) I boosted this with a naniwa 1.2k (as setting the bevel is the most important part imo) and finally got a jnat 13k and Welsh slate to 15k. I now hone all my own razors and have honed other members. The final stages after the hone are equally as important to line up the 'fin' so I strongly advise a good strop (cordovan is worth it). Basically my honing equipment minus the strops probably cost around £120 which isn't bad going. Naniwas are great quality but I haven't had any probs with my current set up.
BigBoar said:
The main decision is between natural and synthetic stones - the issue is that, maybe with the exception of Coticules, no stone can be used for a whole progression from bevel setting to final polish. Natural stones have their own unknown vagaries in terms of where they sit in a progression i.e. one coticule may differ enormously from another. Bevause of this, its advisable to use synthetics becaues, even though they may not be directly comparable between brands, you know that a 1k Naniwa will duffer from a 3k etc. Using synthetic stones lets you know exactly where you should be so that if you have a problem you can discuss it with spmeone who has the same stone.
If you want a stone for touching up a blade then the 12k Naniwa is a good starting point. There are cheaper alternatives including a range of natural stones (Welsh Slate etc.) - however as a beginner you will have no idea as to what the stone is doing whereas with a synthetic, the stone will show you how much steel is being removed.
MichaelS said:
The only information I can give relates to my own set up which is a Nakayama stone with 3 slurry stones (naguras) and a finishing slurry stone (tomonagura).
A japanese stone can be used for a honing progression after bevel setting by using different grades of slurry stone beginning with soft and then through to the tomonagura which is as hard as the hone itself. The principle is that the softest stone breaks down into a slurry and begins polishing the bevel leaving a haze rather than shine. Working up the nagura stones improves the polishing effect and helps to erase the scratch marks left at the previous level, just as a progression frpm say 3k, 5k. 10k does on synthetics.
The final slurry stone (tomonagura) needs to be about the same hardness as the hone itself and is used to bring the haze to something of a mirror polish. Opinions then differ as to whether finishing on the stone with plain water adds further.
I'm no expert in these stones but I can say that the edge they leave is very smooth - you can see the difference in the edge using a loupe. They are a bit more effort than using synthetics but worth it.
- Joined
- Saturday June 25, 2011
- Location
- Taunton/Somerset
I know an old barber here, still uses straight razor to shave the neck only (he only cuts hair, but instead of shaving off the hair on neck with a fine clipper he uses straight razor). He uses Vaseline on the honing stone(looked like a coticule/Belgian blue combo to me) and cleans the stone with white spirit. Always uses Imperial lather as a lathering soap with an old boar brush.
Once I took few of the razors that I honed using tape on the spine, he said he never saw or heard honing a razor like that(with tape) the razors he honed has very very heavy hone wear on spine. But with that imperial lather and his razors never ever had an irritation on the neck.
Once I took few of the razors that I honed using tape on the spine, he said he never saw or heard honing a razor like that(with tape) the razors he honed has very very heavy hone wear on spine. But with that imperial lather and his razors never ever had an irritation on the neck.