Thread: Required Stones

nothing wrong with a good 4/8 Norton , most of us have started on them and lots of help if you have any issues .. same with the naniwa stones ..

me personally would venture into a chosera 1k before the 12k but only if you plan on buying razors off of the bay or non shave ready razors that will need a bevel reset or some edge work .. if all you want to do is maintain your current edges and want to buy a finisher then the 12k is a good choice , but it is highly recommended that you learn that 4/8 or what ever system you want to use b4 you go after that finisher ! then after you get to a comfortable edge you will truly be able to judge many diff finishers and pick your poison least that's my opinion , I always tell everyone this about the walk before you run cause I ran before I could even craw and it left me with a longer learning curve and a lot of frustration when I started honing , now I enjoy it as much as shaving and still have much to learn !!!

Okay, in my shopping cart from SRD I have placed the Norton 4000/8000 as a starter stone, as the cost is about the same as one Naniwa stone. I also have a 12000 Naniwa for finishing and a Norton flattening stone.

Does this sound like a good place to start? See what I like and then go from there. I have always believed in crawl, walk, run but also believed in purchasing good tools.

I would get the dmt 325 over the naniwa flattening plate. The flattening plate will eventually not be flat, and a dmt 325 doubles as a very good low grit hone for really chipped razors.

Scrap the Norton flattening stone and get a DMT 325 (coarse) instead. Will last a very long time.

Originally Posted by apipeguy

Okay, in my shopping cart from SRD I have placed the Norton 4000/8000 as a starter stone, as the cost is about the same as one Naniwa stone. I also have a 12000 Naniwa for finishing and a Norton flattening stone.

Does this sound like a good place to start? See what I like and then go from there. I have always believed in crawl, walk, run but also believed in purchasing good tools.

Except for the Flattening plate it sound s good. The DMT 325 would be my NO. 1 choice. The other thing would be to watch the honing videos . the two people I have watched are Lynn Abrams and Ssixgun. Both are very informative. They helped me greatly.

Thanks to all who have commented sor far, the Norton flattening stone has been deleted from my cart. I'll wait til morning to place the order and keep checking for more input.

Sorry to "pipe" in again, but is the consensus that the Naniwa 3000/8000 would be a better choice than the Norton 4000/8000?

Thanks again

I wanted to say that but to each his own. I have found that for the Naniwa stones were much easier to use than the Norton. also the Naniwa is a 3/8 and not the a 4/8. I have the Naniwa system the 1-3-5-8-12K. I started out with the 1 for bevel set and then the 3/8 the finisher 12K. The combination of these stones did give a very good edge. And as I stated earlier for me they were very easy to use. I added the 5K later in the chase of the perfect edge. I don't know if I'll ever catch that elusive phenomenon (wish I knew what that word ment) or not the chase alone is worth it.

The 4/8K Norton is all you will ever need. If you have a 12K Super Stone, you really don’t even need the 4/8. See the 12K Super Stone thread I just posted in Advanced Honing.

If you have the 3 4/8/12k you are all set. A diamond plate is much better than the flattening stones.
Unfortunately, as a new shaver you will probably need to at least a touch up your razor, no matter who honed it or how good an edge it had on it.

The 12K Super Stone will easily keep you shaving for a long time. You might want to think about a Chrome Oxide paddle strop for maximum edge maintenance. Then you are really set…

Okay, cart has been updated again. I now have the Naniwa value pack, 5000, 8000 & 12000 stones. From what I've read I'll need the higher grits first and the value pack was only about 40 more than the 8000 and 12000.

Still open to ideas, but this seems to be sound. Buy once, cry once.

Still going to wait til tomorrow to order.