So. Most people start on a 1000, 1500, 2000 grit synthetic as their "bevel setter".
How many people go lower for heavy work, like geometry fixing, extremely heavy grinds, large chip removal, and similar labors? If you do, what's your tool of choice?
I buy a lot of hone lots and most of the lower grit stones have gone in a box until it filled a large flat rate, which would then be eBayed for whatever it brings. A few nicer examples would get set aside for some coarse tool and knife work/experimentation... but a recent lot with a ton of boxed India hones got me playing around with them and some of my other lower grit hones, and I actually am really liking the feedback of some of them with razors; while the coarser DMT's (below 600) have never really felt great to me with razors. Then Lightfoot's talking about medium grit naturals got me picking around some of the more obscure and unidentified hones I've encountered. I'm thinking of doing some head to head comparisons with razors of my low and maybe medium grit hones that don't see them very often.
I started testing and was quite surprised by just how effective things like coarse/fine India and Crystolon combos were at putting a bevel on a razor. Now, I remember these edges looking quite ragged under magnification the last time I played with similar stones, so the practical test will be seeing how much additional work the following hones will have to do compared to beveling on a 1-2k whetstone... but it's intriguing nonetheless. It's making me curious if adding a coarser oilstone may prove an effective tool for razors that need heavy work on them, or maybe even as an extremely rapid beveling method on very rough edges like factory GD's. And seeing as these stones are practically free/worthless on eBay... if a jump from one to a rapid mid-range hone like a DMT 8k is possible; there's the potential for a very affordable "eBay special" honing setup utilizing them.
Tomorrow the plan is to trial beveling a gold dollar on a India vs a Crystolon vs a Washita vs a DMT and maybe throw a few oddity hones I've got in for kicks (Sadly no JGES Reform... already sold it, though I wish I could include it as I'm curious how it'd stack up). Traditional synthetic whetstones aren't getting in on the fun since the only one I've got kicking around at a low enough grit is a KING, which takes a great deal more time than the DMT, and won't reveal anything new; that already established. The DMT is mostly in there as a baseline measure. If time allows I'll also see how progressing off these bevels to the next step (8k) differs... at least for the hones that perform competitively. I may throw a Coti slurry and/or Botan slurry beveling in too, just as an extremely divergent baseline from the DMT... to sort of create a "range" of alternatives that people might actually use to bevel razors on if other more popular options aren't available... basically as an "If I buy a Jnat/Coti to finish on and can't afford a Beveler too... how much additional time am I wasting, trying to bevel on my finisher" test.
How many people go lower for heavy work, like geometry fixing, extremely heavy grinds, large chip removal, and similar labors? If you do, what's your tool of choice?
I buy a lot of hone lots and most of the lower grit stones have gone in a box until it filled a large flat rate, which would then be eBayed for whatever it brings. A few nicer examples would get set aside for some coarse tool and knife work/experimentation... but a recent lot with a ton of boxed India hones got me playing around with them and some of my other lower grit hones, and I actually am really liking the feedback of some of them with razors; while the coarser DMT's (below 600) have never really felt great to me with razors. Then Lightfoot's talking about medium grit naturals got me picking around some of the more obscure and unidentified hones I've encountered. I'm thinking of doing some head to head comparisons with razors of my low and maybe medium grit hones that don't see them very often.
I started testing and was quite surprised by just how effective things like coarse/fine India and Crystolon combos were at putting a bevel on a razor. Now, I remember these edges looking quite ragged under magnification the last time I played with similar stones, so the practical test will be seeing how much additional work the following hones will have to do compared to beveling on a 1-2k whetstone... but it's intriguing nonetheless. It's making me curious if adding a coarser oilstone may prove an effective tool for razors that need heavy work on them, or maybe even as an extremely rapid beveling method on very rough edges like factory GD's. And seeing as these stones are practically free/worthless on eBay... if a jump from one to a rapid mid-range hone like a DMT 8k is possible; there's the potential for a very affordable "eBay special" honing setup utilizing them.
Tomorrow the plan is to trial beveling a gold dollar on a India vs a Crystolon vs a Washita vs a DMT and maybe throw a few oddity hones I've got in for kicks (Sadly no JGES Reform... already sold it, though I wish I could include it as I'm curious how it'd stack up). Traditional synthetic whetstones aren't getting in on the fun since the only one I've got kicking around at a low enough grit is a KING, which takes a great deal more time than the DMT, and won't reveal anything new; that already established. The DMT is mostly in there as a baseline measure. If time allows I'll also see how progressing off these bevels to the next step (8k) differs... at least for the hones that perform competitively. I may throw a Coti slurry and/or Botan slurry beveling in too, just as an extremely divergent baseline from the DMT... to sort of create a "range" of alternatives that people might actually use to bevel razors on if other more popular options aren't available... basically as an "If I buy a Jnat/Coti to finish on and can't afford a Beveler too... how much additional time am I wasting, trying to bevel on my finisher" test.
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