Thread: First setup

For maintaining a shave ready blade a single fine stone should do the job, if it's just for occasional use you could further save by lapping on wet/dry paper in place of the D8C. For razors straight from the factory or off ebay there's often a lot more ground to cover, you may need to go down to 1K or below. D8C>King 1K>Coticule is my attempt at minimal stones & bugdet to get from butter knife to shaving sharp.

Originally Posted by Proinsias

For maintaining a shave ready blade a single fine stone should do the job, if it's just for occasional use you could further save by lapping on wet/dry paper in place of the D8C. For razors straight from the factory or off ebay there's often a lot more ground to cover, you may need to go down to 1K or below. D8C>King 1K>Coticule is my attempt at minimal stones & bugdet to get from butter knife to shaving sharp.

I see a lot of king 1k/6k combo stones on flea bay. Not terribly expensive

So it seems the consensus is to go with the Naniwa 12k & DMT D8C

Then if I decide down the road to go into restoration or bevel setting I can purchase a lower grit stone.

Originally Posted by doug954

So it seems the consensus is to go with the Naniwa 12k & DMT D8C

Then if I decide down the road to go into restoration or bevel setting I can purchase a lower grit stone.

Thats what i would do, but i am not the most experienced of honers,

As everyone has suggested grab the Nani 12k. If you decided to explore honing further and like the feel of the Nani 12k; I would say consider the 8k and 5k Nani vs. the Norton. The prices are similar, but the feedback/feeling of the Nanis is similar across the board. The Norton 4k, while quite effective, Has a very unpleasant, rough, gritty feeling. I love my Norton 8k though but ended up buying an additional Nani 5k to bypass the 4k side. That's if your like the feel of the 12k though. Good luck and keep us posted.

I received the DMT and the Nani 12k today. I plan on destroying a couple gold dollars this weekend. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Show those edges who's boss Doug.

In order to break in the DMT, roughly how many laps do I need to run the screwdriver shaft?

For mine it took about 15...you can feel the little "bumps" on the screwdriver when you start. When you're done the stone should stop hearing or feeling any inconsistencies.

OK, just did 15 laps and it seems smooth.
Thanks for the help