Thread: Which stone for around 8k?

It sounds as though the OP only currently has stones up to 4k. While I own and love my Arkie finishers, I'm not sure he could reasonably bridge that gap with just a finisher Arkie. It would probably take a ridiculous amount of time. Possibly if it was a two sided stone and one side kept freshly lapped and the other kept prepped for finishing, but this may be beyond the purview of a beginner. I would recommend at least an 8k in between.

Of the remaining stones, I have only used the ILR, which I am currently testing. It is pretty decent, but the edges aren't quite as good as a properly prepped Ark or other superb finishers. Plenty keen, but not quite as comfortable for me. (Although I have pretty sensitive skin). Certainly shaveable though. As they are natural stones it's possible that others may be better or worse than the one I've got also.

I too have a Suehiro 20k, but have never used the 10k. I have heard good things about it from people whose judgment I trust though.

Is not that I am going from 4k to shaving - I am using after a 6k-12k stone a compund and than leather. As I sold my Chosera 10k - as a package with the other stones - I need to replace it, with something as good or better and in my budget.

8k I love my Norton............oh sure there may be some that are better by a tad but for the price hard to beat. I use my Naniwa SS 12K to finish on however and complete the honing process when I need to go from 4k-8k-12k. Touching up I use only the 12k with a leather strop with CroMox paste then hit the plain leather strop.

Originally Posted by rmihai

Is not that I am going from 4k to shaving - I am using after a 6k-12k compund and than leather. As I sold my Chosera 10k - as a package with the other stones - I need to replace it, whit something as good or better and in my budget.

Your post here motivated me to rehone my Hart Steel 7/8 today; it was more than a bit overdue. Rather than the usual Naniwa SS 8k-12k progression, I cracked out the coticule. Medium slurry, thin slurry, water; combination of little circules and sort of x-strokes. Maybe 15 minutes or so worth of work.

I had forgotten just how nice a proper coticule honing was. Got me thinking maybe the Naniwa stones may be history in the near future. We shall see.

Originally Posted by Phoenix51

Your post here motivated me to rehone my Hart Steel 7/8 today; it was more than a bit overdue. Rather than the usual Naniwa SS 8k-12k progression, I cracked out the coticule. Medium slurry, thin slurry, water; combination of little circules and sort of x-strokes. Maybe 15 minutes or so worth of work.

I had forgotten just how nice a proper coticule honing was. Got me thinking maybe the Naniwa stones may be history in the near future. We shall see.

The recommendations are leaning towards

1. Naniwa Snow White 8000
2. Naniwa SuperStone 8000
3. Arkansas Translucent
4. Yellow Coticule
5. Suehiro Gokumyo 10000

Naniwa Snow White - I am, just a little bit, doubtful about his one - I hope is harder and quicker than Chosera - which I just sold - or the Superstone. Chosera & Superstone, in my setup, was slower than Sigma Power (and than Shapton Pro for harder steels only). As for wear - Chosera AND Superstone both worn more than Sigma and Shapton Pro. Performance - No complains here - both Chosera & Superstone were able to produce the keenest and smoothest edge than any other stone I ever tried.

So my basic question is - is there a stone that performs as wonderful as Chosera/SuperStone but is quicker and less dishing prone (more stable, harder)? I was hoping Suehiro Gokumyo 10000 will be the one, but, for whatever reason, there are not too many people knowing it.

No on the MST Mueller or Arkansas.

Not sure where or why you chose those, but your best bet would be Naniwa, Norton, or Shapton (in no specific order). The Gokumyo would be a good stone if it's like their 20K, but I have no experience with their 8K...just 3K & 20K.

If you are asking this question, you should stay away from natural stones as each natural stone like a coticule is different & can take a while for an experienced honer to figure out.

The naniwa Snow White 8000 is the best 8000 stone I have used

Originally Posted by cubancigar2000

The naniwa Snow White 8000 is the best 8000 stone I have used

Is that stone still in production, or is it only available used or NOS?

On the other side - Mastro Livi uses Coticule and Arkansas ... learning how to use them is not an issue....

Like shooter said, unless you are ready for the learning curve that comes with naturals and the risk having to work around imperfections, I would go synthetic. You may be used to naturals, idk, but the consistency and the quality of many synthetics today, I would lean toward them. I am looking into going natural probably in the future but for now I have to learn my synthetics which because of consistency are what is recommended for most beginners. Not that you are one, I'm just stating that is what is recommended. Again my vote is for the gokumyo's. The gokumyo series was made and designed from the start to be their highest quality finisher. All the gokumyos are finishing stones and unless I am mistaken they don't make one less than 10k. Again I am only talking about the gokumyos, not any of the other series by suehiro. You would be hard pressed to use one in your lifetime if not your kid's lifetime, thus it takes a long time to dish. IMHO.