What Did You Hone Today?

[EL Alamein]

I've been reading up on the spyderco UF and the marketing script says it's alumina ceramic made from man-made sapphires. Hmm . . .

I'll be interested to give this a whirl when it arrives.

Chris

[drmoss_ca]

Yes, sapphire is corundum (Al2O3) with a few pretty impurities. But since corundum is cheap and plentiful I doubt they actually make laboratory sapphires and crush them! I think the hone would cost a bit more if they did that.

[drmoss_ca]

Well today's shave was both exciting and unsurprising at the same time. The Giant Hart (a custom 17/16 Zowada in O1 steel) gave, once again, the best shave I have ever enjoyed. A slight velvet vibration as it cuts with a glassy smooth result. Certainly better than with the black Ark alone as finisher. Well, there go my romantic dreams associated with an all natural progression. This razor remains the king of the castle - the best I own.
Tomorrow I will use both Bergischer Lowes to see if there is a place for the black Ark before the Ultrafine, or whether the black Ark is a superfluous intermediary step. If you remember, I have the black horn BL honed on coticule, black Ark then Ultrafine, while the blonde horn BL is honed on the coticule and the Ultrafine. I may answer, hopefully once and for all, another question by then taking the blonde BL to the black Ark and comparing them again. That is to say coticule>black Ark>Ultrafine versus coticule>Ultrafine>black Ark. I'm pretty sure the 2k lapped Ultrafine ought to come after the Arkansas, and that would answer that definitively.
And just because I can't let things go, I have honed the silvery mithril Wacker damascus on the Ultrafine too, for whenever I get to shave with it. Its edge feels pretty good, and better than it did, after going through that (though not as fine on the thumb as the Giant Hart).

For anyone who has lost the thread of all this, I'm trying to get the best finishing sequence I can without sinking into the madness, and expense, of Japanese natural mysticism. I have a Shapton Pro 30k, and a Suehiro Gokumyo 20k, and they are left far behind the results that can be achieved with 2k lapped Arkansas and Spyderco UF stones and hones. All I'm doing now is sorting out the finer points of those two. I'm getting shaves like those from a new Feather DE blade used for multiple passes and polishing without any regard for ingrown hairs, but without the ingrown hairs or soreness. And while that is nice for me, the real point is that it might be possible to recommend a three or four hone progression that will either equal or beat any other way of doing things. I'm not going to say it is the only way - roads to Rome and cats to kill or skin are plentiful and varied - but it will be something I can vouch for, and has worked better for me than all the other ways I've tried.

[drmoss_ca]

Interesting result; the UF-only razor was as good as (or maybe sl. better than) the Arkansas + UF razor. No pair of razors like this will be perfectly equal, one always seems better than the other. There is one small possibility I don't want to miss, and that is this. The UF cuts quicker than the Ark, and might be showing itself as better because I don't spend long enough on the Ark, which might theoretically be a finer stone. If that were true, the UF alone would seem like a better finisher than the Ark alone, and might even hide the benefits of the Ark if the UF is used after it. So tomorrow comes another comparison:
Blonde horn razor: coticule then UF
Black horn razor: coticule, then UF, then black Ark.

If the black razor doesn't win, there really has been little point in this year's experiments until now. The Arkansas stones will remain very fine finishers, but not as good as the UF. If it does win, the Arkansas still adds a further level of refinement to an already excellent UF edge, and will not be banished to the basement.

Remember, both of these stones have been lapped to 2k, and neither is behaving the way they do when they come straight from the quarry or factory.

[drmoss_ca]

No benefit in following the UF with the black Arkansas. I'm back to where I started, as far as a finishing stone goes, and with a coticule as the single stone between it and the Chosera 1k.

The Arkansas stones have been very impressive, and for many a razor they will give as good an edge as the razor is capable of holding. Those edges will be very smooth and comfortable, too. The UF can take the harder steels to places where the Arks cannot (or maybe I don't put in enough hours!) and seem to work on softer steels too, of course. Jury still out on whether those edges are as comfortable and smooth shaving as the Arkansas edges. You can be both sharper and less comfy.

[EL Alamein]

I thought the UF edges were outperforming other stones on comfort?

Chris

[drmoss_ca]

I was disappointed in the black Bergischer Lowe today, and finished my passes with the big W&B chopper off the UF. It seemed a bit sting-y, but that might be the fault of the black BL that preceded it. Hence jury out. I know the 7/8 TI shaves with no sensation at all off the UF, as does the Giant Hart. I'll keep doing things this way till I get a feel for it with a few more razors. I have 17 shaves to go before I'm banned, but I hope to have a good sense of it all with them.

[brothers]

Would it be advisable to lap only one side of the UF and leave the other side as original? Under what circumstances, if any, would someone intentionally use the non-lapped side on a straight razor engaged in the sharpening process?

[drmoss_ca]

Absolutely! Why do twice as much work? Plus you get to have the coarser side available for use too.

[drmoss_ca]

Used the W&B chopper again today - no problems with comfort, very smooth. Must have been the successive passes of the BL followed by more from the chopper.

[brothers]

Just wondering when the off-side should be used instead of the lapped side. I am guessing the non-lapped side is a bit more aggressive for occasions when the razor's edge is a bit less keen but not in need of a full step back to the previous stone perhaps? The user could mark the sides to keep track of the lapped side.

[drmoss_ca]

I put pencil arrows on the edge of the stone pointing up to the lapped side and write 'Bottom' on the unlapped side. Personally, I do not use the unlapped side, but it is as fit for purpose as it was when it left the manufacturer (or quarry in the case of an Arkansas stone). I don't know how Spyderco polishes their hones before sale, but I do know that Dan's whetstones polish their Arks to 600 grit before sale. There is a huge difference between a stone polished/lapped to 600 and one that has gone to 2000. I don't think unlapped examples of either the UF or the Arkansas are suitable as finishing stones for straight razors. Knives and chisels, sure, but not razors.

[brothers]

Ahhh, now I understand. I wasn't aware of the numbers. Thx.

[drmoss_ca]

Having enjoyed the Giant Zowada O1 so much after a trip to the Spyderco UF, I touched up the TI Eagle 5/8 with the horn bolsters. I got a very close shave from it - one of those that means I ought to shave a bit later tomorrow as my cheeks will still feel smooth tomorrow morning, but I can't say it was quite as comfortable as the TZO1. So, looking back among my wedges, I picked out three that impressed me with their shaves during my razor journey this year. The Abraham Knyn isn't really a wdge, but a very thick hollow. being only 4/8" wide, it will feel as stiff as a wedge. I also added the 1820's J.C. Cast Steel and the 1860's Mappin & Webb, which are both real wedges. All have had a ride on the Ultrafine and I'm set for a few days of fun!

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[drmoss_ca]

That little Knyn did a wonderful job today. Inspired me to dig out a razor that I associate with it, the 4/8 Spear Wedge with similar celluloid scales. It too has been Ultrafined. I'm spoiled for choice!

[brothers]

Speaking of hones, my son and I try to remember to ask one another what would we like for a Christmas or birthday gift. Sometimes we happen to have something in mind, and sometimes we give or receive the apple of our eye. He's recently been making pipes (thanks to the lockdown from you know where), so he suggested a very nice pipe case. I now have it and he knows it! So, I suggested a certain Belgian coticule! (6 x 2) Santa's definitely got it dialed in this year!

[drmoss_ca]

Pipes? That could start a new daydream. I hear Peterson's have taken over production of the famous Dunhill recipes. I'm not allowed it, but if I were, I would kill for a tin of Nightcap.

[Bill_K]

I dearly love the fragrance of a good pipe tobacco.

If I make it to 85 I might pick up my pipes again. (At that age I won't have a whole lot to lose.)

[drmoss_ca]

Fancied a coticule-only shave today. So I took my oldest Livi Damasteel 7/8 briarwood, and re-honed it coticule only under running water. A good stropping on canvas, suede and cordovan and I'm ready for business.

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[drmoss_ca]

As my SOTD posts have noted, the Livi gave a very close and sharp shave off the coticule, but not as comfortable as one likes: a bit raw. It got better over three days of thorough stropping, and is now giving close and comfy shaves. Not as sensationless as the big Zowada O1. Damasteel isn't dreadfully hard, but it is tough (a quality like rubberiness in metal). Since I loves me some O1 steel for razors, I thought to try the coticule-only shave on a nice straight O1 blade - the Purist. This is a short and straight edged blade, so there aren't the variables that come with anything that smiles at you. I honed it the usual way on the coticule, and stropped it on canvas, suede and cordovan, using 80, 40 and 20 passes respectively, which is 2-4 times more than I do between shaves. Based on my experience with the Livi, this one ought to shave nicely right away.

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