Thread: Suehiro Gokumyo hones 10k, 15k, 20k. Update.

Suehiro Gokumyo series, 10k, 15k, 20k. Update from six months of use.

Gents, much has been said and written about, in particular, the 20k waterstone, and most agree it holds a place atop the ladder for synthetic 'finishing' stones. Suehiro Gokumyo were a series involving, a light blue 10k with rubber base with an unusual cleaning stone of sorts at 400 grit. This was more a cleaner of scum that had accumulated during honing and is not any type of nagura or slurry creating stone, in fact the entire series were not stones that used any slurry at all. The 10k was a very smooth, yet aggressive cutting stone, that was more 'spray and go' not requiring any soaking, drinking very little water at all. Like most higher grit stones, pressure is your enemy, but you don't need to be overly worried about using a fair few strokes. In reality, the 15k stone in this series, one could easily go without and head straight to the 20k. I, for the sake of completeness and curiosity acquired all three and I used the 'army light green' coloured 15k very lightly, but it's purpose was genuine.

IMHO, the white 20K Suehiro Gokumyo, has a genuine dual purpose. As the final stone in your honing regimen, it is lovely, and can say in reality that Chromium Oxide strops don't add a lot to it's finish. In addition, as a 'touch up' stone for razors that have sort of just come off the boil so to speak is terrific at restoring it to prior excellence. As an excellent example of this series taking honing to another level, I just finished a razor that was sent to me by a friend who had a tough time getting anywhere with it, a Dovo Grenadille 6/8 stainless full hollow. It arrived over-honed and un-even along portions of the edge. In any event, I started with a Naniwa SS 8k with slurry and tape, progressing then through the Suehiro's, and over a couple of sessions, and final persistence with the 20k, the thing popped sharp, and is now a razor that I look forward to using.

Just to conclude, it is noteworthy that when first using this series of stones, they are a little different to other similar stones, if only, due to the steel they remove despite their grit rating. But, once you get the feel of them you will find people get sick of you telling them how good they are. Put simply fellas, these are nice hones to use and give predictable performance over the range. As I said, in most cases, the 15k is probably not essential, but it's still a great stone, and I enjoyed the whole series. There is a video of hibudgl (Sham) on U tube demonstrating the 20k. He is well known to most as highly accomplished, and that video shows the power of the 20k. I guess, the best description of these hones, is 'measurable'. They perform consistently well over the range and take synthetic hones to a different level. The only thing that people say is that they are expensive. No argument, but in my view they are well worth it. Their durability is incredible. I have not detected any dishing on any stone. Not a bit, and I use feeler gauges and stainless steel straight edges to measure.

So if you want to give them a go, they are terrific.

Cheers Bob