Buy Locally?

I'm sometimes more old-fashioned than some people twice my age. Given the choice, I would gladly pay a dash more cash for something I can walk out the store with.

The question: What sort of brick-n-mortar business would I be able to purchase hones worthy of SRs at?
Chef supply?
Outdoor sporting goods store?
That run-down shack that sharpens "mower blades, etc." in the summer?

I'm not above buying the right tool for the job online, but any suggestions on local sources would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Crawler.

Lee Valley has B&M locations, and they have a few higher grit water hones. Anywhere that sells top end carving tools is likely to have hones in the higher grits, I think someone said you can get a C12K at Woodcraft, some of the high end knife shops will have some. However knife hones don't often go that high in grit. Of course depending on where you live you may have a shave shop near by.

Specialty stones generally require specialty shops. There are several knife makers in my area and after talking with most of them, none have stones with grits high enough for a razor. It looks like I will be shopping on the web and most likely so will you. Good luck with your search.

Edited to add; I notice that you are in Indiana, if you are near Fort Wayne, this guy may be able to help you out.

As mentioned, Woodcraft has the mislabeled 12k Guangxi water stone. Specifically it is listed as "natural water stone." If you get it, spring for the larger size.

Woodcraft also sells DMTs, Nortons, and even Shaptons. You will need to call the store closest to you to find out what they have on hand.

Woodcraft has King stones. The King 1k is OK as a bevel setter and the King 6k is a really nice midrange stone IMO.

Wood working , wood hobby stores,,,,,,,,

If you buy B&M, you will limit your selection.

On line offers an unlimited selection. Quality stones are a lifetime purchase, buy the best you can afford, that are proven Straight Razor performers from quality Straight Razor providers.

SRD is where I would begin my search, really just need a 1 and 4/8K to get started.

I'd go mail order with it. The only thing I'd buy locally would be a C12k that looks like it has stretch marks on it if you can find one at woodcraft.

We don't have lee valley B&M stores here, though. I'd probably buy stones they have as their selection of waterstones is a bit more up to date than woodcraft or rockler, and their prices better.

A lot of the kitchen stores are going to have private label kind of stuff that's marked up a lot from the brand stamp of the actual manufacturer (for example, if you get a naniwa stone, they may private label something for wusthof, who will add another 50% to the cost).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crawler

I'm sometimes more old-fashioned than some people twice my age. Given the choice, I would gladly pay a dash more cash for something I can walk out the store with.

The question: What sort of brick-n-mortar business would I be able to purchase hones worthy of SRs at?
Chef supply?
Outdoor sporting goods store?
That run-down shack that sharpens "mower blades, etc." in the summer?

I'm not above buying the right tool for the job online, but any suggestions on local sources would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Crawler.

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I am with you, but you are limited to a handful of B&M stores who have the quality stuff we need. Lets look at this the right way first. Decide on the stones you are wanting. Most of us recommend to stick with the tried and true: Naniwa superstones & chosera, or Norton.

DMT8C: this coarse 325 grit diamond plate is what most of us use for lapping and refreshing the face of our stones.

Bevel setter: The cream of the crop bevel setter is the Naniwa Chosera 800 or 1K, most everyone who sticks with honing ends up with this as their primary bevel setter. If you are on a budget, there are several others that work just fine as well...just ask and save yourself a little $.

Pre-Polisher: Naniwa superstone 3k or 5K works great and is forgiving. The Norton 4K is it's equal in every way. Which is better? Purely preference.

Polisher: Naniwa superstone 8K or Norton 8K polishes a edge very well. You should be able to get constant great shaves off either of these stones & until you do...you don't need any other stones.

What I do recommend is sticking with the same brand of pre-polisher & polisher as they work better together. You will notice I kept Shapton GS stones out of the picture. They are awesome stones, but I don't feel as they are as forgiving as the other two mentioned above, thus IMO not a beginners stone.

In summary, do your research on what stones you want & then approach the stores. SOme may order in what you want or you may decide to go online...this is purely your choice. Just don't do what I did and get some off the wall stones only to learn they aren't razor quality & throw your money away. There is lots of stuff out there that is good for knives, not so good for razors.

Thought I would update this thread.
Firstly: I want to thank everyone that replied. I thought I'd already done that, but it fell through the cracks of having a job where "hours will vary daily and weekly".

Update: Attacking the "woodworking" angle, my web-fu brought up about 3 options that weren't half a state away. I decided to visit the one about 15 minutes up the road from home, called Oak Tree Supplies. Seems like a fairly new operation, run by a couple of guys about my age. Bad news: except for a JNAT 8k for over $130 (that a person special ordered & never picked up), there weren't really any hones or fine crox & the like to speak of. Good news: after a visit from a group of blade smiths, they will be adding a great many things related to both that & metal working in the very near future.

I emailed them the week after my visit to ask "what, when" about the stones.
He said, in part: " I’m waiting on a call back from one of them as we speak. Hopefully we can get into it very soon, hopefully this month. (I’d also like to buy some myself!)

As far as grit goes, we will probably carry up to 8,000 but if we can carry Shapton stones they have 15,000 and 30,000 grit available – just don’t ask how much it costs, lol."

It's been a bit over a month, and as far as I know, they haven't expanded their inventory quite that far yet. But I'm not worried/hurried.

Looks like I got in at the ground level in my area. :y