A True Honing Challenge

So the last time I went to the barber, he gave me a big job...he wanted me to hone his last razor, a Tamahagane Iwasaki.

He gave me a pretty good test result on the honing on my OWN Tamahagane, so he gave me his to put an edge on. Intimidating.

It a nice little shaver, considerably smaller than mine. Maybe a 9/16 to my 6/8?





I like the blade--it's a nice shape, kind of a French point, and it's a hefty grind. Maybe a 3/4 to 1/2 hollow.

The shave was OK, it pulled a little, and clearly needed honing. So tonight I took a try.

I got out the big Kiita he gave me and worked up a thick slurry.



This is about where you want it. The slurry here is a little dark because this stone is kind of soft, and it released a lot of the yellow into the white slurry.

I honed for a while, until the slurry started to go gray and get thicker.



You can say it's reduced considerably in volume. At this point I added water and brought the slurry back up to the beginning condition.



I honed again, and repeated this process two more times.

Finally, I let the slurry thicken even more.



I honed until the slurry was just a heavy paste and wiped the blade, and I DIDN'T polish on just water...I was finished.

I tested the razor on my arm hair, and very nice--the hair just lay down, defeated. I'm looking forward to the shave test!

Good stuff...