Magnified edges

I've been playing around with my Veho 400x, and here are some before and after pictures. Enjoy!

OK I finished up the Union Cutlery Razor on the 30K pro, as posted in the SOTD. I was in a hurry to get shaving, and I wiped down the blade with a tissue. Sorry for the crappy picture... All pictures are before stropping.

Union Cutlery hollow ground before:



After Shapton 30K Pro:

Nice pics. Do you know what the finish on it before the 30k was?

Thanks, Ian!

The original finish is hard to tell, really. The effects of stropping and any touching up may alter the original finish. The bevel shows signs of circles being used, but the bevel looks pretty smooth just above the frayed edge. It reminds me of a super stone finish, but I'm not putting any money on that.

I can say with certainty, that the final finish on the bevel in the lower picture is tissue!

I like how you lighted the first picture. In the second, it looks like there wasn't enough light and (I'm guessing here based on having similar problems) the camera wasn't able to resolve things right because of the lower light level, and the software pixellated it oddly. That first one's nice, though, with a lot of highlighted detail. Do you have a second light? Even a desk lamp at some distance can change things a lot.

I took the picture in a hurry, as the kids were around - I'm lucky it came out as good as it did!

Here is another comparison. I think this one came out very nicely.

A Gold Dollar freshly honed on a Charnley Forest, and photographed right out of the package on the Veho 200x. The after picture is right off of the 30K Shapton Pro with no stropping taken with the Veho 400x.

Before: Charnley Forest finish (200x)



After: Shapton 30K finish (400x)

You may want to put down a piece of black paper or cloth to help increase the contrast of the edge against the background.

I have also found it useful to make a sort of "mount" for the razors I look at under my scope. I have made a wedge out of clay that holds all of the blades at a somewhat consistant angle to the microscope and the incident lighting.

I don't know exactly how the lighting works on the Veho, but I have found it helps to also use some sort of diffuser between the light source and the razor. A piece of tissue paper, or something like that should also give more consistant results.

Very interesting photos!

Soon you'll have a coticule-honed Sheffield wedge to compare too

EDIT: Sorry, got it wrong.
So it is:


1st picture comming from a charnley forrest, before going to the 30k
2nd picture after the 30k, right?

Seraphim said:

You may want to put down a piece of black paper or cloth to help increase the contrast of the edge against the background.

I have also found it useful to make a sort of "mount" for the razors I look at under my scope. I have made a wedge out of clay that holds all of the blades at a somewhat consistant angle to the microscope and the incident lighting.

I don't know exactly how the lighting works on the Veho, but I have found it helps to also use some sort of diffuser between the light source and the razor. A piece of tissue paper, or something like that should also give more consistant results.

Click to expand...

The black paper is a good idea. Thanks for the tip! I was using white copy paper. The vehos have light sources directly around the lens, but the 400's intensity is adjustable. My 200x isn't, although it looks like the newer ones are. I don't add any outside light sources other than the living room lights overhead. Perhaps I need to get more serious now

I realized that not all razors sit with the optimum angle of approach, so I think I should also get something thrown together to help.

honed said:

Very interesting photos!

Soon you'll have a coticule-honed Sheffield wedge to compare too

Click to expand...

You might not get it back!

LessLemming said:

EDIT: Sorry, got it wrong.
So it is:
1st picture comming from a charnley forrest, before going to the 30k
2nd picture after the 30k, right?

Click to expand...

Sort of - I shaved with it, then went up quickly on the Shapton Pro 2K, 5K, 8K, 15K and 30K, so it wasn't a jump directly from the Charnley, and it wasn't my normal method of honing - I did this kind of quickly.

After last night's shavewith the Gold Dollar, I want to start over from the bevel setting.

jendeindustries said:

You might not get it back!

Click to expand...

My wife would thank you & quickly fill the void with nail-polish

There's some simple things you can play with. Try keeping the main light on lower and/or diffuse it, and shine a flashlight or desk lamp from a different angle. The diffused light can light the surface well, while the light from the other angle can highlight scratches or whatever. You can also play around with color filters making the lights different colors. Find some colored transparent or frosted plastic presentation folders or cut something out from any colored plastic packaging you run across.

Here's a Boker Edelweiss. It was a tough shot since the edge was rounded over from stropping. There were also a couple of issues with the initial bevel. The picture shows just how smooth the Diamond and Chromium Oxide stuff can make the surface of the metal. After shot is off the 10K Chosera, then .5 Hand American Chromium Oxide Powder on Balsa wood.

Both shots were on my Veho 400x without stropping.

Before



After - 10K Chosera and HA .5 Chromium Oxide powder

Correction!

The Gold Dollar is a Double Arrow - my bad!

I was busy... I did a Boker Red Injun up to Naniwa Super stone 12K, then did it up to 30K Shapton. I got two different lighting setups of each. Very interesting.... All pictures off the Veho 400x. It's clear that I need a consistent set up...

First 2 pictures Naniwa Superstone 12K




Next 2 pictures Shapton 30K

That Nani 12K looks to shave with.

I've heard some trusty people, including Martin at rasurpur saying that the 12K naniwa scratches far worse then the 10K. How come

The 30K Shapton on the other hand looks so nice (& I know it is )

The 12K Super is uncharacteristically "hard" for that series. I think the major difference can be seen in the edge "crispness" of the Shapton vs. the more rounded of the Superstone.

I'll get the Norton 8K in a few days.

Tom can you make 100x mag pictures?
thank you

jendeindustries said:

The 12K Super is uncharacteristically "hard" for that series. I think the major difference can be seen in the edge "crispness" of the Shapton vs. the more rounded of the Superstone.

I'll get the Norton 8K in a few days.

Click to expand...

The rounded edge off the Superstone 12000 really threw me for a loop, It looks like a secondary bevel almost. Being used to stones that cut very straight lines (Thuringians, coti's on water, Oilstones), I've been taking some time trying to get an eye for inspecting the edges off the naniwa. A big thing I'm noticing is that the naniwa is VERY unforgiving about lower grit scratches you haven't cleaned up. It hones right over those scratches and punches them out at the edge, giving you a microchip... basically means I will have to spend a good bit more time on my intermediate hones vs finishing on a Thuringian (about the same polish, but doesn't seem to push in as much at the edge). It does make me see why people using these stones like pasted strops so much, that'd probably be the easiest fix for this.

SliceOfLife said:

The rounded edge off the Superstone 12000 really threw me for a loop, It looks like a secondary bevel almost. Being used to stones that cut very straight lines (Thuringians, coti's on water, Oilstones), I've been taking some time trying to get an eye for inspecting the edges off the naniwa. A big thing I'm noticing is that the naniwa is VERY unforgiving about lower grit scratches you haven't cleaned up. It hones right over those scratches and punches them out at the edge, giving you a microchip... basically means I will have to spend a good bit more time on my intermediate hones vs finishing on a Thuringian (about the same polish, but doesn't seem to push in as much at the edge). It does make me see why people using these stones like pasted strops so much, that'd probably be the easiest fix for this.

Click to expand...

The 10K leaves a much nicer edge IMO.

In the German forums, the 10K holds a very nice reputation & the 12K is more or less frowned upon.

But it takes some work to get a truly shave-ready edge of the 10K, you really have to max it out. But if you do, the shave is a real pleasure!
The quick fix is of course 10 or so laps on CrOx.

Any one of you who bought a Le Grelot from Rasurpu,r has shaved with a "straight from the 10K nani" edge. Since that is the method Martin always uses.
And since everyone raves about the great shaves from the Le Grelots straight out from the box, the 10K must be good

honed said:

Any one of you who bought a Le Grelot from Rasurpu,r has shaved with a "straight from the 10K nani" edge. Since that is the method Martin always uses.
And since everyone raves about the great shaves from the Le Grelots straight out from the box, the 10K must be good

Click to expand...

I have mixed feelings with that. My TI came unbelievably sharp off of the Chosera 10K from Martin, and I think 'crisp' is definately a word that I would use describe it. But, it really wasn't my cup of tea in terms of skin feel.