Straight Razor Place Forums - View Single Post - Another review of one of Old_School's Japanese naturals

JoshEarl · 07-07-2008, 03:09 PM

A few more observations to add to my original review:

This hone is every bit as good as my first impressions indicated.
It really, really loves Thiers Issard razors. I have honed two of them now, and they gave the two best shaves I've ever had.
The Japanese markings aren't very durable. I'm glad I photographed them, because they started to wear quickly. I finally just decided to lap the hone because it was painful to watch them slowly fade...
The original surface wasn't very flat. It was better than some of the Belgian naturals I've lapped, but it was definitely out of true. This didn't seem to affect the performance of the hone much, however.
Lapping is more difficult than with Belgian hones. A thick slurry forms quickly, and this made the stone stick to my DMT 325 lapping hone.
Going from the Belgian blue to the Japanese isn't too big of a jump. I've done this on about eight different razors now, and it works very well.
I seem to like using about 50 to 100 strokes. After 100, I don't notice any improvement, but it doesn't hurt anything. I'm going to try scaling back and see what the minimum is.
Ultra light pressure creates a better edge. Fortunately, the smooth surface makes achieveing ultra light pressure easier on this hone than on any other I've used.
The hone works for a range of razors, from Sheffields to Solingens to TIs. Every razor that I've tried on it has improved markedly.

Thanks again, O_S.

Josh

07-07-2008, 03:09 PM	#16 (permalink)
JoshEarl Status: Moderator, Razorsmith Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Western Pennsylvania, USA Posts: 2,575 Thanks: 5 Thanked 115 Times in 43 Posts	A few more observations to add to my original review: This hone is every bit as good as my first impressions indicated. It really, really loves Thiers Issard razors. I have honed two of them now, and they gave the two best shaves I've ever had. The Japanese markings aren't very durable. I'm glad I photographed them, because they started to wear quickly. I finally just decided to lap the hone because it was painful to watch them slowly fade... The original surface wasn't very flat. It was better than some of the Belgian naturals I've lapped, but it was definitely out of true. This didn't seem to affect the performance of the hone much, however. Lapping is more difficult than with Belgian hones. A thick slurry forms quickly, and this made the stone stick to my DMT 325 lapping hone. Going from the Belgian blue to the Japanese isn't too big of a jump. I've done this on about eight different razors now, and it works very well. I seem to like using about 50 to 100 strokes. After 100, I don't notice any improvement, but it doesn't hurt anything. I'm going to try scaling back and see what the minimum is. Ultra light pressure creates a better edge. Fortunately, the smooth surface makes achieveing ultra light pressure easier on this hone than on any other I've used. The hone works for a range of razors, from Sheffields to Solingens to TIs. Every razor that I've tried on it has improved markedly. Thanks again, O_S. Josh __________________ Please e-mail me with questions; I have PMs disabled for the time being.