Jnat, Asano nagura honing

[mhharsta]

For the last week I have been starting honing a few razors on the Jnat, using Asano Naguras on the hard Jnat with different results. All of them not good enough for a comfortable shave. I did the honing in the evening, and did a testshave with the razors, only on the cheeks, WTG, as I do a full shave in the morning. Just not enough sharpness, and a raw feeling.
This evening I started with a new bevel on the Worldmaster, 1,2,5 and 8K on the Naniwas, and then the progression on the Jnat with the Asano Naguras, Botan, Tenjyou and Mejiri.
I used less water and a bit thicker slurry than the other honing sessions this week, and kept on honing longer while also diluting with less water. It gave a different feeling and a better “look” on the process. After the Mejiri I made a light slurry with the dark nagura, diluting, and finished on clean water.
Under the loupe the edge looks more like satin polished than mirror polished, not even the slightest scratches,
And now for the testshave, incredible sharp and smooth. I can’t wait for the full shave tomorrow morning.
The result is probably a mix of a little bit more experience and a bit of luck, but I am a happy honer in the learning progress.

 

[Kingjack]

Good job !
I’am also playing with a Nagura progression, with a bit inconsequent results..

 

[Tony]

I have been playing with nagura for some time and have learnt that only your own experience will help you to find the way that suits you best. I usually set a bevel on synthetic hones, the Naniwa chosera 800 and 2k. That means that a botan will not be of much use for me at that point. A Tenyou is for intermediate work and Mejiro for pre finishing. A Koma is the most fine and can bring you very near to a final finish. I do not use the these Mikawa nagura very often because I prefer a synthetic setup up to 8k and then use a TBN (Tsushima Black Nagura) for pre finishing and then go to one of my Tomo’s and a final finish on water.
A possible problem with nagura is that they could miss the pure quality you need and have particles that are less fine than the rest. This could give unpredictable results.

 

[mhharsta]

With Tony's previous post in mind, this evening I took the shave ready (Charnley Forest finished, like almost all of my razors) Wade & Butcher Bow Razor, went back to the Naniwa synthetic 8K, followed by a Mejiro slurry dillution on the Jnat and then finished with a dark Tomo slurry dillution to clear water.
Then a 2 pas test shave (already had a shave this morning with the Worldmaster 164) with the W&B, and like the Worldmaster, the edge now is by far smoother and sharper than all my other razors.........

 

[SammieM]

The quality stamps have more to do with colour and the shape of the naguras I think. The white irregular shaped is the lowest grade. Then comes the rectangular white nagura followed by irregular shaped yellow striped. And lastly a rectangular striped.
I get very consistent results with my progression.
After a bevel set on a 1200 grit I start with botan. I do 20/10/5/3/1 the dilute the slurry 3 times and do a about 10 laps on each dilution. Then move to tenjyou, mejiro and tomo with the same progression. Lastly run on clear water with very light pressure until razor starts to stick to stone and cotton and leather 40/60 respectively. It gives a very good edge for me...

 

[SammieM]

I know it might seem very lengthy considering Alex Gilmore does the job in 30 laps with Atoma slurry without naguras, but I enjoy the process...