Originally Posted by
JimmyHAD
Welcome to SRP. To begin with, you'll look long and hard to find a better finisher than a Naniwa 12k. Particularly if you are looking at a coticule. This is not to say that they are not out there, but picking one off of the shelf, so to speak, is luck of the draw. Second of all, while a natural combo is desirable from an aesthetic standpoint, it isn't necessarily going to be better, or even as good, as a glued stone.
I have an 8x2 from Ardennes that happens to be a good stone. A La Veinette, other than that, I have vintage stones of unknown mines/veins, and some are better than others. Say that to say, unlike synthetic hones, natural stones are not a predictable quantity, and no vendor can just pull one off a shelf and say 'this' is a finisher, or this is not. OTOH, if you watch the classifieds you may be able to find out from a seller, if one comes up, how it performed. IMHO.
Shaun (Rez) beat me to it, I was typing while he posted ..... great minds and all that.