Thread: Gokumyo 20k hone

Stuart Tierney at Tools From Japan is a class act. He was out of the replacement 400 Atoma "foil", and sent me the entire plate with aluminum backing for the same price, then sent it a faster way because of the delay.

Cheers, Steve

+1 on Stuart, I won't go into it but he really helped me out of a difficult situation. I can't recommend him highly enough.

Originally Posted by Steve56

Stuart Tierney at Tools From Japan is a class act. He was out of the replacement 400 Atoma "foil", and sent me the entire plate with aluminum backing for the same price, then sent it a faster way because of the delay.

Cheers, Steve

I have one on the way from Tools from Japan - do they need a great deal of lapping before first use?

Originally Posted by UKRob

I have one on the way from Tools from Japan - do they need a great deal of lapping before first use?

No, they are pretty much flat and good to go right out of the box.
I did lap mine initially, just to get to fresh grit and all, but it really didn't take much at all.

The thing to remember is that it is a 'final finisher' and to take a truly shave ready razor to it. Coming at it with a razor that is not yet shave ready might be frustrating and would be misleading as far as the qualities of the 20k. Same with the Escher and other final finishers. IMHO.

Originally Posted by UKRob

I have one on the way from Tools from Japan - do they need a great deal of lapping before first use?

Hi Rob let me know how you get along with the stone, as someone who's dying to get his hands on one would be the perfect synthetic lineup for me Chosera 1K, 5K, Snow white 8K, Naniwa 12K finished on the Gokumyo 20K sounds good to me. :-)

Originally Posted by celticcrusader

Hi Rob let me know how you get along with the stone, as someone who's dying to get his hands on one would be the perfect synthetic lineup for me Chosera 1K, 5K, Snow white 8K, Naniwa 12K finished on the Gokumyo 20K sounds good to me. :-)

Will do Jamie. I've read nothing but good reviews on the forum - including plenty of Japanese natural users. Strangely, the Tools from Japan website describes them as not easy hones to use yet that doesn't seem to come across in the reviews.

Originally Posted by UKRob

Will do Jamie. I've read nothing but good reviews on the forum - including plenty of Japanese natural users. Strangely, the Tools from Japan website describes them as not easy hones to use yet that doesn't seem to come across in the reviews.

I suspect Stu has put that in there for all the knife-honers out there.
Not that I know that to be true, but I do know he sells a lot of hones to knife-nuts
To them that hone is a very hard and new sensation.

I don't think Stuart would mind a quotation from an email to me that might help some in this thread:
The DMT will get the job done, keep the sandpaper away from it completely. It shouldn't need much flattening at all, and the best plan is to use the included conditioning stone to keep the surface fresh and flatten it out as much as possible. It's not a nagura type stone, it's used to keep the stone working properly so you'll need to wash the stone down after using the conditioning stone, but it's the best thing to use.

Also, a standard #1000-3000-6000 stone will work well as a conditioning stone is that's what you wish to do, but again, wash the #20000 down before using it. Contamination is very possible and very apparent with this stone, so be aware of it and prevent it by keeping the stone clean and clear as possible.

That, and a little practise with it will tell you what's going to work best.

Originally Posted by UKRob

Will do Jamie. I've read nothing but good reviews on the forum - including plenty of Japanese natural users. Strangely, the Tools from Japan website describes them as not easy hones to use yet that doesn't seem to come across in the reviews.

The hone is very easy to use...the trick is, as Jimmy already stated, is to make sure your razor is TRULY shave ready BEFORE you put it to this hone. For those that are not too nimble on their hones yet, the struggle is to get the razor ready for this hone. I know it's been said before but it is that important that it needed to be said again.