Thread: Question from a new guy about hones and which to buy ?

Any of the 3 are good choices and will provide the same quality of shave if honed properly.

If you have a natural Guangix Chinese Stone, commonly sold as 12K, but are not really, they are hard stones and can be finished (burnished) to provide a finer finish than the grit of the stone, similar to a hard Ark finish. With any natural stone, each is different and here YMMV to a great extent.

Search finishing Ark stones in the search field. There is much written about them.

But really, you can get a great edge from the Norton 8K and leather.