SynNat honing

My Revisor just didn't cut it( pun intended) this morning so I decided to start it over from scratch, resetting the bevel with the  Chosera 800. I have had a change in honing philosophy of late, switching over from the idea that I should use the natural stones for the entire process to the concept of using the synthetic stones to do the dirty work of steel removing when setting the bevel and achieving basic sharpening and then go to the natural stones to smooth out and polish the edge that the easier to use and cheaper synthetics stones  created.

I think the final stones are the ones your face feels, not the early ones, whether they be coti or chosera.

Plus use the right tool for the job. The coticule just doesn't seem to be a very good sharpener as if you don't play it just right you end up dulling the edge as you sharpen it. That hasn't seen to happen with the CHosera or the King 1000. Sometimes it seems they work so fast and get it so sharp that I could shave off that edge with just a stropping.

Have to try that sometime :))

But today the Syn Nat honing progression:
dull on glass
 Half strokes on the Chosera 800 until it shaves arm hair. Pretty quickly. Light slurry then rise and go to
Circles on the 800 with no slurry
X strokes on 800 no slurry_ getting sharp now.

then:
King 1000 no slurry
X strokes: 25 laps
this almost seems not necessary but I wanted to try it. Not much swarf.

Norton 4000
25 X strokes until very little swarf is coming off
test = sharp good  crispy sound

Deep Rock Coticule with light slurry ( estimate 6-8 k grit)
30 rep circles on slurry for 4 laps then rinse blade for 10 x strokes
rinse coti
30 X strokes on water

Chinese 12 K on light Tam o Shanter slurry, then water
15 X strokes on very light slurry
20 X strokes on water
I do love this hone. it always makes edges better on water

Oozuku on water
20 X strokes

Uchigumori on water
20 X strokes

40 laps linen
50 laps leather

tomorrow we see.

I can't wait to get my Cretan hone from Greece soon. Emmanuel said it's on it's way. It should take the place of my Norton in this progression ,although the BBW works well in this range too.

It could be:

Chosera 800
Cretan hone or Norton 4K
Coticule on light slurry
C12K on water
Jnat on water

Cretan hones!

SHAVE REPORT:


Most excellent! Not a perfect BBS shave but two passes got it done much better. Sharper is better and the sharper the blade the better a shaver I am. Still not perfect and I'm wondering if I should do a unicot on it? we'll see later but I even used my least favorite proraso soap with which I tend to get so so shaves and it was fine.


Update:


Decided to tape the Revisor and put it on the La Verte. See if I can get the edge one more level keen. :) I am now a fan of the tape :))


La Verte on water
3 laps of 30 circles
25 very very slow X strokes


40 laps on leather


Shave update:


Definitely keener  with the tape on the La Verte. Still pretty " noisy" on the shave but that's pretty much just the 1/4 hollow grind, I think. Could have called it a one pass shave but followed up with a second pass with my 5/8 New England Wedge. Love this blade.