Thread: Jnat Finishing Routines--what are yours?

Just though I'd see what everybody does when finishing on their Jnats. Obviously they have widely different properties & we all come off different stones 1st, so let's share what they are.

My usual method on a lvl5+ Oozuku is:

• Good edge off the Norton
• Lights slurry from tomonagura, do circles, x-strokes until scratch pattern has been reduced (but not totally wiped out) in scope
• Clean stone, razor; raise lighter slurry, do circles until bevels start to stick (60 or so total), switch to x-strokes
• When sticking reduces, dilute--normally 3-5 stages to clear water
• Palm strop 20x, clean stone, razor well
• 10-20 ultra light x-strokes w/ water only
• Strop

Little side note: I'm obviously looking @ prepolishers & also something faster than the Norton eventually (torn between Shapton GS & pros), so I don't have to make a thicker slurry 1st, as I find that to be slightly less consistent (can overdo it or even slurry-dull). I can beat DE blades if I get everything right here, but I'm still slightly curious to try an old Atoma 1200 for slurry just to see what it does. (I know new diamonds will scratch, but I know Oz & Alx get good results w/ Atoma, so I'm curious.) If I don't like it, I'd go right back to tomonagura.

Right then, what are your favorite methods, gents?

My finishing on Jnat's is a bit too psychedelic to document but lately I've been doing something akin to Iwasaki san's honing instructions. I will do 5-10 light swipes on felt sprayed with 0.5 diamond then do 3 -5 strokes on my finest Jnat, dry , no water. Strop linen & leather after, of course.

Re the Atoma 1200 I only do 5-10 very light pressure circles on my finest Jnat to raise "slurry". The "slurry" is only slightly visible in the water drops on the blade. I may/may not proceed to water only after that.

The scratches from the Atoma are only visible on the stone because of the raised pimples on the plate. In effect less contact with the diamonds makes them stand out.

Re the side note. Very little experience with Nortons but I find my Kuromaku pro's are considerably faster than my GS stones.

I raise a slurry with the Atoma 1.2, usually light, and hone back and forth, diluting as I go, until it is basically just water. At that point I continue honing, but I gently blow on to the hone to evaporate the water until it I am dry honing. A few laps on the dry stone and I stop.

Other times I will just hone straight on the Jnats without slurry - it really does depend on the stone and the razor, and what I have done beforehand to get there.

On a side note with the Atomas, I managed after several years to kill my 1.2K. Well, it is not entirely dead but a portion of the surface is now diamond free. I have ordered two of the new Atomas - the ones with the replaceable diamond-embedded steel on top of a aluminium base held together with double-sided tape. It will be interesting to see how these go, and how cost-effective they will be in the long run with only having to replace the diamond top.

James.

Lately I have been having good luck with just a few drops of water on my Japanese finishers. No slurry, just a few no pressure circles followed by a few no pressure x's. I love these natural stones.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

...I've been doing something akin to Iwasaki san's honing instructions.

Where did you find his instructions? I'm curious

I have old atoma 1.2k and totally dislike it for slurry making, leaves too many scratches on the stone for my liking.
For finishing I have a very nice fine tomonagura that I make slurry with , then when the slurry is well worked and broken down I dilute to finish on water only.

Where did you find his instructions? I'm curious

JimR did a translation of his protocol-I think it's called "Honing Razors & Kamisori". Here's the link:

It's Finished: Honing Razors and Kamisori

Nakayama Asagi hone : 10-15 "X" stroke laps , with water .

For finishing, an old japanese barber hone that hasn't been lapped in a long time. 5 sets of circles with some pressure, then circles with no pressure, and then maybe 10Xs followed by bare leather. No slurry ever, just plain water.

It makes no difference how I get to the point of using that barber hone, every razor has come off of it with a nice smooth shave.

I do the same thing above about once a week to the razor (daily shaver, same razor all week - yeah, I know, boring). The stone is so fine I suspect it's removing less material than any strop/balsa with 0.5 micron compound, and it does nothing to alter the geometry of the razor so it's very easy to keep everything in good shaving shape.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Re the side note. Very little experience with Nortons but I find my Kuromaku pro's are considerably faster than my GS stones.

You've got me leaning toward the pros now: thinking 1,5,12 should do it. Do you soak them @ all or do you just spray water on them & hone? And how are they to lap? I guess what I'm asking is do they have a tendency to swell/warp like Naniwa SS sometimes can?