Thread: Looking at purchasing my 1st set of hones

Originally Posted by shooter74743

I personally don't recommend natural stones for learning to hone as each one is different...they synthetics don't vary in "grit".

I'm a honing newbie, and I definitely agree with that. Because I'm using Naniwa stones, they're predictable - and when I talk about my honing, people know exactly what I have and are better able to help.

(I'm also saving the slates until I'm happy I have it sorted on the Naniwa stones first - my next purchase is going to be a Naniwa 12k)

Originally Posted by tbert33

Im currently searching the web for good deals on the above mentioned hones... so far there appears to be much more availability and better prices from the USA. They appear much dearer here in the UK.

I got my Naniwa stones from Dieter Schmid in Germany - prices were better than UK sources, and shipping was reasonable and quick.

EdenWebShops has Naniwa stones at reasonable prices (they ship from Germany), but apart from the combination stones they only have them fixed to plastic bases - I didn't want that because I want to be able to use both sides, use the edges for warped blades, and use my own holder for all my stones (and apparently it's pretty much impossible to get them off). I have bought other things from them, and shipping is quick.

Norton stones are very hard to find in the UK, and the only place I found was Classic Hand Tools. I've no idea how quick they are or where they ship from, because I went for the Naniwa.

(No connection with any of these companies - just a customer of the first two).

Alan