Thread: ~16k natural stone options

Tab:
I have the Gokumyo 20K and love it, would be the cream after your current set up. Lots of people shave off of the 12k and like it, I want something more and get that with the Suehiro.
I use an all Naniwa progression leading up to it, 1k,3k Professional then the Gouken Hayabusa 4k, then the Gouken Fugi 8k, finishing with the G20k. The edges so far have been very keen and almost as smooth as the edges I can get on my J-Nats.
Max out an 8k edge and then 20 to 40 laps on the G20 and it's money. Very straight forward honing, this stone is a fast cutter but leaves a very smooth edge.
If you decide to swing by my place bring a couple of razors and you can try it out. Finish one on the Suhiro and one on a J-Nat see which one you like better.

Originally Posted by FranfC

Tab:
I have the Gokumyo 20K and love it, would be the cream after your current set up. Lots of people shave off of the 12k and like it, I want something more and get that with the Suehiro.
I use an all Naniwa progression leading up to it, 1k,3k Professional then the Gouken Hayabusa 4k, then the Gouken Fugi 8k, finishing with the G20k. The edges so far have been very keen and almost as smooth as the edges I can get on my J-Nats.
Max out an 8k edge and then 20 to 40 laps on the G20 and it's money. Very straight forward honing, this stone is a fast cutter but leaves a very smooth edge.
If you decide to swing by my place bring a couple of razors and you can try it out. Finish one on the Suhiro and one on a J-Nat see which one you like better.

Can't beat the offer... thank you. I have the same 4 & 8 k stones as well but picked up the 12k vs the 20k because it was a steal ($40) I'll have to make plans and take a little road trip.

Finishing out two nearly identical razors with different stones would be a great A/B shave test.

I have the gok 20k and love it Brought it so I didn't have to follow the rabbit hole. I spend enough already without trying to find the best natural

You are chasing the elusive 1 percent, but unless you have mastered the 12k to the point you are maxing it, out the chase will be pricy and may not be worth it.

Jnats, Eschers, Vintage Arks, Vintage Charnley and exotics, like La Lune, Vosigine, and Special Stones are all crap shoots and as said will take time to learn for a minimal performance improvement.

A better choice and separate rabbit hole is paste, Ferrous, Chrome and Cerium Oxides, Diamond, and CBN. Here substrates and stropping ability also will dictate results, but can be less costly with a better guarantee of performance increase and tailoring.

With naturals, it is a crap shoot.

Only stones I have that are over 16K would be Japanese, G-20, and Charnley Forest. My Escher is just below that...but not enough for your face to notice. I've had a Shapton GS 30K, but fewwer than 5% of the razors made will handle that edge.

As Stefan (mainaman) said, the Suehiro 20k is your best bet IMO. When you get into the naturals it is hit and miss. Not that you can't find one that is equal, but you probably will spend even more, and may or may not get the 'right' stone.

Nice offer by FranfC for you to try the 20k and the j-nat. You'll know what you want to do then .......

Suehiro 20k .....sbav sbav sbav sbav

What makes this rather pointless in a way is naturals are not graded so it really is up to you to decide what you like in terms of Arkansas, jnats ,slate from Europe, slate from America ,African Zulu hones ,Apache strata hones and on and on... what style do you prefer is a better question imo.

Bought to drop the same option. Gokumyo 20K... definitely an option. Don't have one, do want one, is not a natural.

Originally Posted by eddy79

I have the gok 20k and love it Brought it so I didn't have to follow the rabbit hole. I spend enough already without trying to find the best natural

If/when I go past my 12K and certain barber hones in a higher range, I would/will buy the Gok 20K.