So What Grit ?

I'm looking at getting a hone for my razor. I've perused the Wikki and I think I'm going to try one of the Naniwa Super stones, however what grit I should use is under a bit of contestation? Right now I'm just looking for a stone that will keep my shave ready razor at peak performance (I plan on adding stones as I need them if and when I get to buying vintage razors). Will the 12,000 grit stone be best to keep my edge cutting well, or would that stone be overkill? And if so, what is the best grit for my needs ?

Also What would be the best grit for the lapping stone?

I seemed to miss the reference area in the Wikki. It lead me to some nice threads. It would seem that starting with a coticule might be the best place to start when dealing with razors that are already sharp and expanding from there for when I get into vintage razors. However after a search I am having trouble finding new coticule stones. I'm not well versed with Ebay but checked there as well. I don't feel good about buying a used stone with out being able to touch it and the like. It looked like they have a storefront there that sells new coticule stones for $42.95. Is that a good price ?

I'm not sure what you read in the wiki but a barber hone or any of the finishing hones listed here should work for you:

What hone(s) do I need? - Straight Razor Place Wiki

There are coticules listed in the classifieds:

Strops & Hones - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

A couple coticule related links:

Ardennes Coticule - natural sharpening stones from Vielsalm Belgium.
Welcome to Coticule.be

The experts will be by to give you more advice. I just wanted to throw a few things at you to ponder. If you'd paste the link to the ebay coticule you're looking at I'm sure someone can advise.

Good luck with your choice!

I agree Barber hone is the easiest and the cheapest option. Rest any final finishing hone you can use.depends how much money you are willing to spend.

If your razor is shave ready, you do not need to put it no stones, just leather strop.
I touch up mine on CrO strop and then Leather strop. Stones are more for sharpening a razor than maintaining. That is my opinion anyway.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LeeringCorpse

Also What would be the best grit for the lapping stone?

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There are many here who uses a DMT c (325 grit) for lapping, but there are also some who doesn't like the finish it leaves on the stones and uses wet/dry paper up to 1200 grit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LeeringCorpse

However after a search I am having trouble finding new coticule stones. I'm not well versed with Ebay but checked there as well. I don't feel good about buying a used stone with out being able to touch it and the like. It looked like they have a storefront there that sells new coticule stones for $42.95. Is that a good price ?

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I wouldn't buy a stone smaller than 6x2", and would buy it from either the classifieds here or a new stone from either The Perfect Edge or Ardennes Coticule depending on your location. The most economic way would be to get a barbers hone for touching up.

as you've read in the wiki, just about any finishing hone will do.
to me it seems that man made ones are more prone to overhoning, but i don't think it's that much of a concern.
barbers hones are cheaper than just about anything else, but the disadvantage is that finding a good one in good condition is not all that easy and lapping them generally requires lots of effort.

the only advantage a coticule has over say thuringian is that it can act as a much coarser hone when used with a slurry. the chinese hones are inexpensive too, but again lapping them is harder and they're much slower.

as far as naniwas the 12000 should do it, as long as you don't let the razor get really dull, but even then it's possible to pull it off, i think, since they're fast.

Naniwa Super stones 12K good choice. If I can't pick up a nice barber hone, then I am getting this.

Pabster

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LeeringCorpse

I'm looking at getting a hone for my razor. I've perused the Wikki and I think I'm going to try one of the Naniwa Super stones, however what grit I should use is under a bit of contestation? Right now I'm just looking for a stone that will keep my shave ready razor at peak performance (I plan on adding stones as I need them if and when I get to buying vintage razors). Will the 12,000 grit stone be best to keep my edge cutting well, or would that stone be overkill? And if so, what is the best grit for my needs ?

Also What would be the best grit for the lapping stone?

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This is the clue here in blue, to me it sounds as if you are going to continue in the hobby so yes the Naniwa 12k is a great starting place...
You can slowly learn the mechanics of honing by maintaining your shave ready razor and you can add lower grit stones staying in a great system as you need them... Wish I had that opportunity when I started...

+1 on the DMT 325 as a lapping plate now, and for serious restoration much later....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LeeringCorpse

I'm looking at getting a hone for my razor. I've perused the Wikki and I think I'm going to try one of the Naniwa Super stones, however what grit I should use is under a bit of contestation? Right now I'm just looking for a stone that will keep my shave ready razor at peak performance (I plan on adding stones as I need them if and when I get to buying vintage razors). Will the 12,000 grit stone be best to keep my edge cutting well, or would that stone be overkill? And if so, what is the best grit for my needs ?

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The Naniwa 12K should work well to keep your edge going for a long time if you take the following into consideration:
-The razor must be honed well to start with.
-Touch up with a few laps on the 12K at the first signs of edge deterioration. Don't wait till the edge is dulled out of reach of the 12K
-Don't touch up with a pasted strop. This introduces a slight arc shape to the edge. After that the very edge will not touch the flat surface of your 12K. It takes a coarser hone than 12K to make the bevel faces flat again. (note that there's nothing inherently wrong with touching up on a pasted strop, it's just not compatible with touching up on a hone)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LeeringCorpse

Also What would be the best grit for the lapping stone?

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In my opinion, the DMT-C (325 grit). It works well as a lapping stone and can come in handy if you ever want to get into razor refurbishing.

If you plan to get deeper into honing later, the advantage of buying the 12K is that it's part of a family of hones that you could purchase later on.

Best regards,
Bart.

+1 on any finisher, +1 on 12k

Its really up to you. If you know you're gonna want hones, get the 12k. I like the Nani's and am pursuing a full set, but I like natural finishers more. I touch up on anyone of: J-nat, Thury (Escher), or Swaty (Barber hone). It mostly ends up being whatever I finished the blade on (figure it preserves the finish?) or if its a workhorse blade that someone else honed, the Swaty does a great job 5 laps and you're done. I will say that I like the Escher's edge most, seems sharp but very smooth, but not really enough to justify the price. In retrospect, I have trouble justifying a lot of stuff though.

It depends on what size coticule it is and what grade it is. There's Select grade and Euro grade. The Select grade is what I've liked and used for years and they've been a standard for barbers for a few hundred years. The most popular sizes for razor honers is 6x2 followed by 8x2. We used to get a lot of 8x3 stones but sadly they're not coming from the quarry very much anymore.

Sorry I haven't replied, my comp has been down and out.

Thanks for all the info. I'll be taking it all into account. I still have some time before I need a hone so I'm going to take my time and mull it over.

i might add that i have a chinese natural waterstone that is 12000k and is very reasonably priced. it is around $44 including s/h from woodcraft. i have had it for about a month and it works great.

Thanks for the informative thread. I've been using a 12000 grit hone that a friend gave to me and it's been working well. I find that I don't need to use it very often if I strop before every shave.

I have a question however about an old hone that used to belong to my grandfather. It looks very similar to the hone that I've been using but I'd like to know what grit-value it has before using it. Is there a way to test for the grit of a hone? Can I, for example, use another hone with a known grit to compare with it? It also looks like it needs some lapping but that's something that's easily accomplished.

Best,

Steve

Great that your 12K hone is working well for you. Unlabeled stones can be hard to classify, especially true for the grit level of natural stones. Someone here may be able to help if you can provide any label info that may exist, dimensions, and good photos. You might try out your grandfather's stone and some sharpness tests and a test shave to see what happens.

I mostly work with pasted bench strops and suggest also giving consideration to trying CrOx and diamond spray/paste on honing leather etc. Bench strops are easy to make and inexpensive. I hope that you get additional responses as the date of the post before yours is September 2009.

HTH