Thread: need stone advice

I'va done a couple of restores on a small 4 X 10 cm coticule which costed me 40 euro's and if I'm realy honest to myself, the other >100 euro's spend on hones after that was not realy nessesary.

if you go for a small coticule, ask for a hard hone and a soft slurry stone

Another shout for the king 1/6K combi here.

It fits a very nice price point, The 1K side is capable of setting a bevel, and the longer wider stand alone version is used in a few of Gssixgun's video's.

The 6K side is capable of taking the 1K edge and polishing it out to 6K without any problems. The final edge from the 6K will pop hair from the stone when you get the technique right. You should be thinking about a Crox strop to finish your razors.

I can't actually fault the 1/6K combi stone. For the price and the performance it's a winner. The reason people don't use it so much is it's narrow, and the stone likes a good bath before you hone. It's also pretty soft if your doing something heavy on it like scandi grinding a knife. And neither side have the buttery feel of either the Naniwa, Shapton or Norton stones.

Everything else is a step up from this stone, But if your after function and price and that budget is real tight you would be severely pushed to find a better product.


I shaved with nothing but a king 1/6 for 6 months before I upgraded to Naniwa super stones. And I will continue to use the 1K side until i purchase the Naniwa 1 and 3K stones later in the year. If I felt like the stone was a burden I would have sold it on and replaced it with something better.

The 1/8 you have posted cannot be vouched for. I don't know the make, and since it has no name they could be using badly graded material, poor binder, have poor QC in production. At least with the king you get a guarantee, And plenty of reviews.

I bought a very nice 1K diamond plate on Ebay (diamondtools30) from a place that sells diamond lapping plate. It is a bit thin, 1mm, but I put it on a wooded bridge over a piece of rubber drawer liner and it is fine. It is very nice even diamond distribution, looks and feels like a skinny DMT. It is a 8X3 plate for $13.80 with free shipping.

A 1K plate, a Norton 4/8K combo, a chrome ox strop and your good. You may have to spend more time on the 4k to get a nice smooth straight edge off a diamond plate. I find 1K diamond plate can cause micro chipping if too much pressure was used to set the bevel. Better to get the bevels flat and close to meeting on a diamond plate, then switch to a 4K to seal the deal.

The other good thing is free shipping and it got here in a little over a week. I bought 2 plates.

Buy full size stones, you will not regret it… especially when learning to hone.

Film is a very real possibility for you, especially with a 1K plate to do the heavy lifting. You could just do a 3 and 1um films and a piece of glass or marble tile. About 30 bucks for 20 sheets, 60 pieces you can do 4-600 razors. Less than 50 buck for your whole stone/honing setup.

Chrome Ox strop off a 1um film with a piece of paper is a very nice keen edge.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

I bought a very nice 1K diamond plate on Ebay (diamondtools30) from a place that sells diamond lapping plate. It is a bit thin, 1mm, but I put it on a wooded bridge over a piece of rubber drawer liner and it is fine. It is very nice even diamond distribution, looks and feels like a skinny DMT. It is a 8X3 plate for $13.80 with free shipping.

A 1K plate, a Norton 4/8K combo, a chrome ox strop and your good. You may have to spend more time on the 4k to get a nice smooth straight edge off a diamond plate. I find 1K diamond plate can cause micro chipping if too much pressure was used to set the bevel. Better to get the bevels flat and close to meeting on a diamond plate, then switch to a 4K to seal the deal.

The other good thing is free shipping and it got here in a little over a week. I bought 2 plates.

Buy full size stones, you will not regret it… especially when learning to hone.

I did similar except I began to despair with the diamond plate and now use it to lap my other hones. I purchased a dedicated 1k hone that was dirt cheap on ebay - $25 if I recall - and consider the investment worthwhile. Sets the bevel nicely and from that it’s easy enough to go through the 5k, 8k, coticule, Arkansas progression that I use.