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- #101
Update on slates. I tried a lot of the suggestions for using my finishers, with not much luck. Mucked up a few edges and they’ll prob have to go back for professional honing. 2 ended up pretty bad off the PA Blue Slate. Lots of ‘sparklies’ along edge visible w/o magnification. 2 were just ok on the Black Shadow. Significantly less visible damage, shaved just ok. I was using such light pressure (not a lot of undercut) I’m pretty sure it was the pre-existing edge i ended up shaving with. Didnt even bother to try the ones off the PA slate. Ill see if i get them shaving better with film bf sending them off.
Only thing i can i think of is that film allows for the tiniest bit of cushion whereas the stones have zero margin of error? I also might see if someone will take a look these. Maybe Im not lapping them properly or in the PA slate’s case, its has an inclusion im not finding or just not an example of a quality finisher.
I think i was more attracted to the idea/traditional aspect of it. Have a stone, pull it out for a touch up when needed, put it away. Wasnt looking to spend this much time with a rock(s) , not to mention all the maintenance involved (lapping, etc.). Clearly, its not working, but ive learned a couple things.
1. Natural stones, whether expensive vintage or cheaper newly mined, offer me no real advantage over just using film/balsa. Some of the pro edges using naturals were better, but only marginally (some were worse) and my attempts were complete bombs. Guess I’m lucky it agrees with me. If the best pro edges are just marginally better, there’s no way i could expect to mimic that. Not really sure why i didnt think of that.
2. Without learning to bevel set, which im not interested in doing, it’ll be highly unlikely i can just occasionally use a finisher successfully. The process of honing is too precise/intricate for my big mitts and has too many variables involved with each razor.
Thanks to everyone though, for suggestions/pointers/insights.
Only thing i can i think of is that film allows for the tiniest bit of cushion whereas the stones have zero margin of error? I also might see if someone will take a look these. Maybe Im not lapping them properly or in the PA slate’s case, its has an inclusion im not finding or just not an example of a quality finisher.
I think i was more attracted to the idea/traditional aspect of it. Have a stone, pull it out for a touch up when needed, put it away. Wasnt looking to spend this much time with a rock(s) , not to mention all the maintenance involved (lapping, etc.). Clearly, its not working, but ive learned a couple things.
1. Natural stones, whether expensive vintage or cheaper newly mined, offer me no real advantage over just using film/balsa. Some of the pro edges using naturals were better, but only marginally (some were worse) and my attempts were complete bombs. Guess I’m lucky it agrees with me. If the best pro edges are just marginally better, there’s no way i could expect to mimic that. Not really sure why i didnt think of that.
2. Without learning to bevel set, which im not interested in doing, it’ll be highly unlikely i can just occasionally use a finisher successfully. The process of honing is too precise/intricate for my big mitts and has too many variables involved with each razor.
Thanks to everyone though, for suggestions/pointers/insights.