Thread: Noob with a stone that he has no idea what it is. Please help!!

Hello, I'm new here and have never honed a razor. I know almost nothing about sharpening stones. I have gotten great results in the past on the knives that I have sharpened using a 2 stone technique. I had lost both of these stones during multiple moves, but last night I found my finishing stone. I don't know what it is that I have, nor do I know if I can / should use it on a razor. Here are a few pictures of the stone:

I can't read Japanese but I do see a 6.000 on the box. That may mean that it is a 6,000 grit stone but I'm not sure about that. I understand that you are supposed to use at least and 8,000 grit stone for finishing a razor so I'm not sure this stone will be useful. Please advise. Thanks guys for all your help.

That is indeed 6000 Grit King waterstone.
It is a stone of decent quality, but I would not use that as a finisher.
At least 8ooo would be what I would use to get a comfortable shave off of.

Hi Grover09
Only new to straight razors myself,i'd say that is a 6,000 grit stone and good for getting a good edge on a knife but just a starter for the straight before the 8,000 than the 10,000 or 12,000. cheers

Hey Grover,

I think this stone would probably be fine enough if you wanted to stop there. Most would express a preference for something higher grit for your finisher though. Check out epd's thread entitled "Beginners, the 1k shave" . We think we definitively showed that you can shave just fine off of anything as low as 1k grit. Now none of us are going to be doing that regularly, but it did work, and the shaves were more than acceptable. Check out Gssixgunns thread entitled "Dedicated bevel setting" though, and make bevel setting your first and foremost goal in life. Finishers really aren't all that exciting if you haven't maxed out your 1k stone. JMHO. HTH.

Thanks guys for all your responses. It sounds like I could shave off this stone but I'm going to want to go finer then 6k. I will have to pick up a 1k and see how goo of an edge i can get with it first.