Newbie: Chosera 1k then what? German 3k/8k, Belgian 5k, or Chosera 5k?

Dear forum members,

I am new to straight razor shaving and honing. But I have read the posts here for a while.

Currently, I have acquired a Chosera 1k stone, and to complete the job, I still need the sharpening, polishing, and finishing stones, and equipments, such as lapping plate.

In order to start with not too much money but with less incremental investment (as I may eventually get the Chosera 10k), what I should get next?

My thinking is, I may get Chosera 5k and a diamond lapping plate, and then Chosera 10k, and then Chosera 2k in such an order. Or that I may get a Belgian 5k stone and a lapping plate - which may be interesting, and then invest on Chosera 10k later. The most economical option would be a combination waterstone from Germany Solingen with 3k/8k and then I can invest on just the Chosera 10k and even skip thinking about the Chosera 2k for a while.
By the way, I live in Germany, and stone brands such as Norton will require expensive shipping from the US.

Please let me know your suggestions.
Thanks!

- J

How long have you been shaving with a straight? It would be easier to suggest what to get if we know your experience level, hard to hone a razor if your not quite sure how to shave with one. But there are lots of good choices in all price ranges, and. It's even cheaper just to let someone else hone it for you ,, they don't need to go to the hones very often , if your shave technique and stropping are good. ,, as far as that goes if you have the 3/8 combo you have all,you will need , if you can't get a good shave on an 8k then you need to work on it some more. Tc

Welcome to the forum. I am just going to go with the understanding that you can shave well with a straight now and want to begin learning to hone. I don't have the Naniwa Chosera 1K stone but understand it is a highly recommended fast cutting stone so you have a good bevel setter. I use a Naniwa Super Stone 1K instead of the Chosera 1K. To save some money and still get very good results I would say go to the Naniwa Super Stones after that.

If you are not going to do many razors a Naniwa Super Stone 3K/8k combo could be next in your progression followed by Nanaiwa Super Stone 12K as a finisher. After that a balsa strop pasted with Crox before stropping on a regular strop. This is the set up I use and seems to work well for me.

For lapping your stones for use a DMT plate works well as does using wet/dry sand paper on a flat surface

Bob

I am with Bob - the next step (for me) would be the 3/8 as well. The Naniwa 3/8k.

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"The most economical option would be a combination waterstone from Germany Solingen with 3k/8k and..."

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Is this a synthetic stone? Or a natural stone?

I ask only because I would highly recommend you stick with synthetic stones at first, and then work your way into natural stones. Natural stones are great - but they have too many variables that have to be accounted for when learning I feel. That includes the Belgium 5K.

Welcome to the forum and wet shaving!

Your in Germany so this applies very much to you.

Naniwa Super Wasser-Kombistein Körnung 3000/10000 | günstig online kaufen | Knivesandtools.de

I've provided the German link.

It's the 3K/10K naniwa combination super stone. For the price you can't go wrong.

The only thing you may wish to add would be a 5K superstone as well to complete your rotation.

The 10K is regarded as a finisher, and you should be able to shave from it without a problem.

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Originally Posted by menuhin

Or that I may get a Belgian 5k stone and a lapping plate

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Are you reffering to the Belgian Blue stone? A coticule would be a better option imo. A coticule, slurry stone & bevel setter can take you from bevel set to finish but may require some patience.

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Originally Posted by Proinsias

Are you reffering to the Belgian Blue stone? A coticule would be a better option imo. A coticule, slurry stone & bevel setter can take you from bevel set to finish but may require some patience.

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True but I think the coti have a bigger learning curve. Which can be discouraging to a beginer at honing

With the Chosera 1k you have what many believe to be the best bevel setting stone available. With that, I'd pick up a Norton Combination 4k/8k synthetic stone. Now you have everything you need to create and maintain a superb edge on your blade. Once you believe you have (for lack of a better term) mastered the Norton and gotten all there is to get from it, think about maybe a Naniwa SS 12k. I started with a coticule; I would NOT recommend anyone else do the same. Not unlike learning to ride a bicycle on a Cannondale Super Six rather than a Huffy.

Norton stones tend to be more expensive in Europe than they are in the USA. Like DMT diamond plates we run at about 1:1 conversion rates with the dollar. So what is a good deal to you guys isn't always a good deal to us.

The cheapest Norton 4/8 I could find at a glance was at £90. So to factor that back into $ it's about $150. The cheapest on Amazon UK was £122 and that's a staggering $200.

The conversion rates get even more skewed when you buy in €. Amazon DE has the 4/8 at €128 so $166

In comparison SRD offer the 4/8 at $80. And that should translate as £50 or €61.

So I can't recommend a Norton 4/8 unless you can get it at a similar price.



The 3/10 naniwa on the other hand at €67 is $87.
The 3/8 naniwa on SRD is $90.

So we actually get a slightly better deal on them at this time. Plus the 10K stone rather than the 8K.

Don't even get me started on DTM's the price conversions just make me want to cry somedays!

I agree with Iceni on this one, the Naniwa's are a way better option for us price wise

@ the OP, the Chosera 1K is loved a lot and you made a good choice buying it the Chosera 10K on the other hand not so much, I haven't used it myself but have heard it produces a harsh edge

to bad that the SuperStone and Chosera series are discontinued and replaced by the Specialty and Professional Stone series respectively, this in and of itself doesn't matter but the 3/10 K combi hone is no longer available so you're looking at 2 hones again ...

I think buying the loose 3 and 8 or 10 K Naniwa hones is still a good idea, after this just look at flea markets and stuf untill you find a nice thuringien waterhone ;) you live in Germany after all

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to bad that the SuperStone and Chosera series are discontinued and replaced by the Specialty and Professional Stone series respectively, this in and of itself doesn't matter but the 3/10 K combi hone is no longer available so you're looking at 2 hones again ...

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They had some stock left when I posted so hopefully the OP was quick on the draw.

If not then your back looking at individual stones or scouring the web for deals!

I have no idea how long it will be until Edenwebshop start to get in the combination stones again. I have not seen the specialty branding combination stones yet and this branding is the super stone replacement (same stone with better tolerances on the grit, But a new product that doesn't have a complete range yet).


The 2000/5000 stone is still available. It is not the same great bargain that the 3/10 was.

http://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/p...grit-combi.htm

If you were to do it with individual stones then the price is a lot larger.

If you were to get a 3, 5, 10 professional stone (chosera replacement) it's going to cost £250.

http://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/c...aterstones.htm

If you were to get a 3, 5, 10/12 specialty stone then the cost is £135

http://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/c...aterstones.htm

Going 2/5, 10 is going to cost £102

Or you could go 2/5, 8, 12 at £154

The whole product line is a little bit in flux atm, It may be worth sending the company an email, to see if the combination stones in the new format can and have been placed as an order with Naniwa.

Hi forum members!

Thanks for all the suggestions.
Hi tcrideshd,
I am relatively new to shaving with a straight - I have a bit less than 100 shave so far using a Dovo inox; however, I know what is BBS because I have been doing wet-shaving since 2000. My skill of shaving with straight can more and more often achieve the BBS smooth sensation, although the consistency from one day to another can have lots of improvement.

Thanks BobH, earcutter, Phoenix51 for sharing your setup! And thanks Iceni for looking up the German websites! :)
My decision went to (Naniwa) Chosera 5000 because it seems to be a harder stone, suitable for both razor and some other knives I will hone. And then I built a DIY balsa wood table top strop for the Chromium Oxide Puma paste.

This first razor that I honed is a Swedish Hellberg near wedge 4/8 (with an uneven triangular shape, i.e. angle from one side is smaller than the angle on the other side) and it also has a smiling edge and a Spanish point - so I encountered such difficult case as my first honing attempt.
So I set the bevel using the Chosera 1000, but when I tried to hone it using the most popular method I read from here - the Lynn's circle method, it did not work quite well. I had to read more and eventually used the pyramid method counting from 20, with rolling X strokes. However, I could not solve the problem of having the bevel a bit wider on one side than the other because the wedge is not of equal angles on both sides, and I only taped evenly on the spine.

I continued on the Chosera 5000 using rolling X and also in a pyramid counting from 20, and repeated the whole set with super light pressure. And then I processed onto the balsa wood strap with 180 rounds.

The resulting edge passed the HHT but not all along the whole edge: it cannot pass the HHT at the point when the edge approaches the heel at about 5-7 mm, otherwise it passes the HHT quite well, though not as easily as my full hollow Dovo Inox. And it shaves quite well.

My second attempt was also on a blade with Sweden steel, called 'EDV. Neiström', also a 4/8 but in a full hollow shoulderless design with a barber notch. It was just piece of cake to hone this one using pyramids on the same stones (but not with rolling X strokes of course). The resulting edge passing HHT everywhere easily and feels really dangerously sharp, and it shaves really well. Perhaps because it is even more hollow and in a smaller size, and the shave using this 4/8 'Neiström' is more sensitive with more feedback than even the full hollow 5/8 Dovo Inox.

However, I like the wedge better and perhaps I like the challenge of honing it and also the more solid piece of metal feeling of a wedge. It is also a bit more 'forgiving' because the edge 'Neiström' seems really quite dangerous.

Now I am looking into getting some finisher hones.
To start 'cheap', I am planning to get a Naniwa Superstone 8000 or 12000.

However, as Proinsias & nicknbleeding suggested, I may get some natural stones from here within Europe - Coticule for example. I actually really want to find a Thuringien as Bram suggested, however all I can find widely available in Germany are those MST (Müller) "Escher / Thuringien" natural hones, sometimes in dark grey color, sometimes in greyish green color and the only consistency of those stones are that they cost less than 30€ - I read that they are not as nice as the real Thuringien as a finisher.

With my own non-experience eyes, I won't be able to tell which one is a real Thuringien and even if a Escher hone passing in front of me I won't notice that is a nice one. Anyway, I shall keep looking and reading more on Thuringien identification.

Thanks again! And I have a lot more shaves to come! ;-)

Sounds like you are getting on to the honing pretty well. You have to love those razors with bad geometry, warps and twists for the challenge they present. To get those right gives real satisfaction once you get past the frustration. Good luck finding that finisher.

Bob

Yea, the 3/8k and 12K Super Stone, you will buy one anyway down the road, so bite the bullet and get the best all-around finisher from the start. It is a no-brainer finishing stone, perfect for the novice or experienced.

There is a guy on Ebay selling no name thin diamond plates in the 15-20 dollar range for a 3X8. The 600 and 1k work great.