OK, here's what I THINK is happening with slurry on these hones.
I know that this is PURE speculation, it's not grounded on a whole lot of empirical evidence, but I think I'm on solid ground.
So here's the deal. In an old thread on another board, a member mentioned that the particles in a Japanese natural hone are kind of flattish, "like potato chips" he said. Later, I saw a picture taken with SEM of nakayama slurry and that was exactly what they looked like...They're sort of curvy plates, not spiky blocks or balls. Thus they don't gouge out pieces of steel, they scoop out pieces of steel. Thus the legendary smoothness of the hones--it's not a jagged saw, it's a smoother, wavy line.
However, I believe this can only happen effectively with slurry. If you're just dragging the razor over the hone, then you just have the particles sticking straight out of the stone--like a synthetic. The particles are very fine, but not able to orient to the steel in an effective way.
However, when we release the particles in a heavy slurry, then the action of the edge in the liquid helps flatten the particles in relation to the edge, and lets them do their job of slicing away the steel to leave a smooth, keen edge.
I ALSO believe (in a less firm way, but the idea is growing on me) that even with other hones with similar makeup--not necessarily flattish particles, but a fragile honing medium, i.e. Silica shale(for example, the Thuringian hones).
The release of slurry allows more particle contact, in a less rigid form and thus with less "damage" to the edge, for lack of a better word.
But again, this is pure speculation and I can't at all defend it against other attitudes. I only post it because, hey, why not?
What do you think?
: )
