Thread: Naniwa 5000, 8000, 12000

Yes, they are a great set ,,,a 1000K & a DMT 325 to lap & clean them would be nice , if you have the money.

As long as every razor you get has a bevel already set. Otherwise your missing a 1k. I learned on 1 4 8 for a year before I went higher. Glad I did.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Yes, they are a great set ,,,a 1000K & a DMT 325 to lap & clean them would be nice , if you have the money.

Hirlau does the DMT need to be lapped as well? I thought I saw somewhere lap stones need to be lapped.

No, not lapped,, not the DMT,,,just broken in a little to remove any high points.

For what it's worth i have them in 1K, 5K, 10K and 12K and a DMT325 for lapping. i have honed about 50 razors on them now from touch ups to complete bevel sets, and breadknifing on some rusty blades. They are great stones, easy to use {comparatively} and have dealt with every razor i have thrown at them.
As Hirlau said - just add a DMT and a 1K stone to your set and you will be able to hone any razor. the stones will last for years. i lap mine at every use and still no appreciable wear visible.
Adam

Redcane,

If you want to save some money that would allow you to buy a cheap King 1K and a DMT 325, you could go with the Naniwa 3/8K combo instead of two seperate stones, the 5k and the 8K.

The jump between the 3/8K progression is pretty natural in my experience.

Either case, you *will* be happy with the Naniwas. I've got the 3/8/12Ks and, if I'm being honest with myself, that's all I needed. The shaves are still amazing coming of a 12K or when I had to go back and touch it up a bit.

I did get .3 CrOx and put it on felt and leather. It smooths things out quite nicely before stropping.

Cheers!

I would say if you have the Naniwa 8K then you don't actually need the 12K. The 8K edge is easily good enough to shave with, especially if your using crox as well.

It's also a better learning curve, The 12K doesn't do an awful lot to the edge, it's very much a polishing stone. If you can't shave from your own honing on the 8K then your definitely not going to get anything out of the 12K.

The other bit of advice is if your totally new to this go and get some cheap gold dollar razors. These razors should be seen as your learning tools. If you pick up 3, use 2 to learn on. Then the 3rd is your final test. You hone the 3rd when your confident your ready, You have the technique down, and your not damaging the edges. If you can shave from that 3rd razor, and you didn't damage it then you are ready to start working on the real thing.

My own RSO from my learning curve now looks like a Frankensteins monster. It has bits missing, excessive spine wear, an elongated bevel, Tang regrinding. And I'm very happy all of those mistakes happened on that cheap throw away steel, rather than something I actually want to shave with.

Originally Posted by Iceni

The 12K doesn't do an awful lot to the edge

I, respectfully, differ with you on this point. The difference between the edge at the 8K level and the edge at the 12K level *is* measurable.

I'm not going to bite

If your hone a lot then yes you can tell the difference, If your new to honing as the OP is then he should concentrate on the 8K edge. If you can't shave from 8K then you can't shave from 12K, And as such the 12K can wait until a time when he can shave from the 8K.

Originally Posted by Iceni

I'm not going to bite If your hone a lot then yes you can tell the difference, If your new to honing as the OP is then he should concentrate on the 8K edge. If you can't shave from 8K then you can't shave from 12K, And as such the 12K can wait until a time when he can shave from the 8K.

The OP was looking at the same set of hones that you have, I believe. I think I should have added to my post that if you have a Naniwa 12K, why would you stop honing at the 8K level??