Hones and the home

[Elcs]

Hello everyone,

UK straight razor and kamisori user here. I need to do one of those introductory posts on the introduction forum but for now I have a question that I have the itch for an answer.

Hones I own:
Norton 4k/8k combo with Ice Bear Nagura
Chinese 12k with same stone for slurry

Between these, my two kamisori (which couldn't shave arm hair) are now a shave 'okay' (not what I'd like to use for a full shave but I love their agility and fine work for my horseshoe tash), my Baurmann solingen was also arm hair deficient but is shave ready and I received a free Feramaud? Solingen which has a chip that I'm slowly trying to take out.

Now I've gotten the feeling for this and I'm thinking of a low budget, lower grit hone to 1) repair straight razors if I find them cheap on my travels and 2) sharpen the kitchen knives because my family like blunt knives.A very quick scout around pulled up cheap'ish choices like an Eden 2k/5k, Naniwa 1k/3k and the Naniwa 120/1k...

Now the lowest I have is a 4k and I'll probably want to finish the knives on 4k tops, at least until the honing bug bites I need to purchase a couple of sharpening stone holders so I cannot afford to spend too much.

Any advice for a repair level grit hone for a razor that would be suitable for knife sharpening that fits in well with my Norton 4k/8k?

Thank you.

[DaveW]

If you're looking for cheap, you want a waterstone that will flatten with sandpaper (rather than a diamond hone). I have no idea what eden is, but look for a red brickish messy stone (could be king brand, suehiro, etc).

That's a stone you probably won't love, but it'll do the job and it should be about 15 quid and require nothing other than sandpaper to keep flat.

[UKRob]

I have a Naniwa 1k - also available from the same Eden Webstore. It's more expensive but well worth it as it retains flatness well and doesn't clog up with swarf. The last time I looked the Naniwa was on offer with free delivery as well.

[decraew]

I have a Naniwa 1k - also available from the same Eden Webstore. It's more expensive but well worth it as it retains flatness well and doesn't clog up with swarf. The last time I looked the Naniwa was on offer with free delivery as well.

+1
A Japanese 1k waterstone in general, Naniwa in particular, will do the trick.

[rlmnshvstr8]

IMHO. I like the shapton glass stones. Great for flatness. Easy to maintain and a quick cutter. And it's hard so it's good for both knives and razors and because of the hardness its a splash and go stone. It's around mid range when it comes to price (~$57).

The chosera. Also a splash and go is also good for knives and razors but it is a little on the uper price range but is an excellent stone. There is a lot of good reviews for it.

The last could be the Naniwa 1k super stone. It's great for razors but is very soft compared to the other two. It will require soaking. It can work with knives but because of the softness there is a risk of gouging the stone and would wear much quicker than the other two. But it is the lowest of these three choices running around $38.

If it was me needing something for knives. I would try to save the extra $20 if I can and get a shapton.

All prices I mentioned is without shipping though. Good shopping.

[JimmyHAD]

For kitchen knives 325 diamond plate is as far as I feel the need to go. Sharp enough for utility, but still a durable edge. I don't like my kitchen cutlery too sharp. Every now and again I come too close to the hand or fingers for comfort. The same plate laps my waterstones. For a bevel setter on razors the Chosera 1k is my top choice, Naniwa super stone 1k second choice.

[JeffR]

A "fine" (around 600 grit US/1200 grit Japanese) diamond plate is hard to beat for both general sharpening of things like kitchen knives and reshaping jobs like restoring a bevel on an old razor. If price is a concern than a regular "fine" grit silicon carbide sharpening stone can also be obtained instead. The dual-sided ones are pretty easy to find here in the 'states at stores that sell tools and such.

[Euclid440]

Really, any 1k will work, I would recommend, for razors and knives, Norton or King 1k, the Naniwa Chosera and Super Stones are too soft for knives, great for razors though.

Or as said an inexpensive no name Diamond plate, for knives. You can buy good 1k plates on EBay, in the 20 dollar range in 8X3.

Really you need 2 stones if you want the best of both worlds, but if you just want 1 stone, any 1k will work… though you will be lapping a lot if you use it for large knives.

Stone holders are nice, but not really needed, a 1x8x3 in piece of wood to raise the stone and couple of rubber drawer liners to hold the stone and block will work just fine, for knives you will not need the block.

[Elcs]

So, quite a bit of what has been said marries up with what I've learned from reading and watching around here and elsewhere.

I wasn't aware that there were cheap diamond plates of reasonable quality so that's a massive bonus. Some direction as to what to look for specifically (to avoid the duds as best I can) would be appreciated. I could even conceivably pick one up to keep my other stones flat.

As far as a stone holder goes... I love projects and making one sounds like a great DIY project but I still think that I might buy one as I cannot guarantee the quality and stability of one made by my hands as opposed to a manufactured one.

I'm still at work here as it's just turned 5 pm. I'll cut short my mobile phone update and catch up with more research and update later this evening.

[rodb]

You will need a 1k stone to properly set a bevel on a straight razor, you could probably do it with the 4k (with slurry) but it will take a long time. To fix chips, you might have to go lower than 1k depending on the chip/damage.

Before I got a 1k stone, I was using just a 850 grit diamond plate to set bevels, which worked but it was a big jump to the 4k