Thread: Best or Good stones

best? one of each is best.
edit:
perhaps this interest in straight razors will help you grow as a person. The word best is philosophical once you leave the sweat shops.

Originally Posted by Ditch Doc

best? one of each is best.
edit:
perhaps this interest in straight razors will help you grow as a person. The word best is philosophical once you leave the sweat shops.

Great comments, Ditch Doc. I could never have said it that well and agree with everything you've said.

I'll muddy the waters even more by saying that you'll never own "the best" stones. It's true certain stones perform certain functions. Even within each category, most specifically within the natural stones, there is subtle but oftentimes significant variation. Some Japanese natural stones can cost thousands of dollars. Some, by Mr. Yama.s.h.i.t.a and his son So, who own the largest collection of J Nats in the world, aren't for sale at any price.

If you do go down the path of collecting and using hones/stones, along the way you WILL most likely come across a few stones that you wouldn't sell (I have a few coticule combos that I'll never sell and a Tam O' Shanter). But with naturals will you ever have the best of a particular breed?

If you DON'T think you're interested in collecting hones/stones, you have a big budget and you just want a full setup you'd be happy with (after practicing and practicing and practicing) and would keep it's resale value if you don't like it, then the Shapton ceramic on glass stones are it for a full line of manufactured stones. No other manufactured line can touch it in the number of grits available (500 grit to 30,000 grit) and with that broad range, I'd say full performance (from bevel set through final polish) wise as well. A complete set along with the Glass Diamond Lapping Plate will cost you around or over a grand.

Welcome to our world.

Chris L

Oh, and I actually have TWO Tam O' Shanters. Someday, not now, but someday I may let the second one go. If I do sell it, at some point I'd probably throw it on the Bay and let it find it's new owner that way.

My humble opinion is that the most versatile stone (by far) is the coticule - as you can put a really nice edge on just about anything with it, you can use it with a slurry to cut fast, you can use it with water to polish, or you can even use it dry to refine the edge even more. Overall it's a great stone.

Beyond that though I agree with what most of the others have said - Japanese stones are the way to go, but big $$ for incremental gains above 16k.

my thoughts? a coticule + sharpton 16k and 30k should be enough for anyone to put a wicked edge on anything. But you can do it with a coticule alone.

Originally Posted by Adventurer627

gugi at the risk of hi-jacking this thread. What natural stones do you use in your honing progression?

For setting the bevel and honing out chips I use DMT Extra Fine, then I have belgians (blues and coticules), eschers (one is thuringian w/o a label) and a nakayama. I also have a norton and few barber hones that I almost never use.

The one thing you will need is advice on honing from the guys here. If you use either a Norton 4000/8000, or a Begian blue and belgian coticule, or a set of Shapton glass hones, then you will have a bunch of guys who have experience with those hones who can help you.

Belgians, blue is about 4000 grit, yellow is 8000-10,000 grit. Can be used with a slurry, water only, lather or dry. Slow cutters. Not good for restoring a damaged edge.
Easy to keep in working shape.

Norton 4000/8000 combo hone. Inexpensive, faster cutting than the Belgians. Has been used by many people on this forum.Lots of help available. Requires a lot more upkeep (soaking, cleaning, flattening) than the Belgians or Shapton glass hones.

Shapton glass hones. New kid on the block but getting some rave reviews. Easy to use like the Belgians ( no soaking required) but still require cleaning ( like the Nortons) and flattening. All hones require flattening from time to time but the Shapton needs a more expensive hone for flattening.
The durability of the hones has yet to be determined.

The basic hones are a 4000 grit and a 8000 grit.
A 1000 grit is necessary to remove visible nicks and old oxidised edges. Many of us use 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper for this.
A 10,000 grit and finer is a luxury, not a necessity.
Get the basics first.

Just my $.02,

Thanks for the advice. It sounds strange, but I love shaving with a straight razor instead of a regular razor. Straight razor shaving gives me a whhole lot of control to get the look I want.

Best Regards,
Robert

Originally Posted by keljian

My humble opinion is that the most versatile stone (by far) is the coticule - as you can put a really nice edge on just about anything with it, you can use it with a slurry to cut fast, you can use it with water to polish, or you can even use it dry to refine the edge even more. Overall it's a great stone.

Beyond that though I agree with what most of the others have said - Japanese stones are the way to go, but big $$ for incremental gains above 16k.

my thoughts? a coticule + sharpton 16k and 30k should be enough for anyone to put a wicked edge on anything. But you can do it with a coticule alone.

I couldn't agree more. I don't own the shaptons mentioned, but I recently purchased a Nakayama from Old_school. It surely lives up to its top notch reputation, but after two weeks of testing, it does not leave my best coticule finished edges far behind.

Bottom line:
-hands down, best and most versatile hone: a quality coticule.
-most fun to use & doing yourself a treat hone: a quality Nakayama from Old_School.

Of course, owning both, this is a highly biassed opinion.

Best regards,
Bart.

Originally Posted by riversalmon

Thanks for the advice. It sounds strange, but I love shaving with a straight razor instead of a regular razor. Straight razor shaving gives me a whhole lot of control to get the look I want.

Best Regards,
Robert

That doesn't sound strange to me at all. Quite normal actually.

The best! As everyone that replied stated that is subjective. As my late Uncle Mel once said “Buy the best of what ever you are going to buy so you are not wanting something better later. If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it until you can buy the ‘best’ wait until you can.” To me, the best is what meets my needs better that anything else I know of. To fine the “Best” hone you have to specify what you want it to do, how fast you want it to cut, what kind of effort to results you are looking for and the cost to result ratio that makes you happy. As Gugi stated, “most hones are good for a very specific task and not good for another”. Do a lot of research and decide what you want your hones and razors to do and how you want them to perform. Your post here is a good step in the right direction, but it should not end here. In the end, the better research you do in what ever you buy the happier you will be in your purchase and the closer to the ‘best’ (for you) you will come realizing that some time in the future you may find other information or you experience with the item changes your criteria and you item will no longer be the ‘Best”. Good luck on your quest.