Thread: Gokumyo 20k One Stone Hone Experiment

Originally Posted by Hart

Well, you all should be proud of yourselves, you got me to spend another a wad of cash on razor stuff. Just when I thought I was doing so well staying away from razors.

Well done, mate. I think you'll be proud of yourself, it works really well, and on wedges! Did you get it from Tools from Japan? And if so, did you ask Stuart about the rubber?

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

Well done, mate. I think you'll be proud of yourself, it works really well, and on wedges! Did you get it from Tools from Japan? And if so, did you ask Stuart about the rubber?

I did get it there, much better price than eBay or Amazon. The web site says it comes with a solid rubber base and the 1k/3k slurry stone.
Funny thing, when I used google to convert ¥27,000 into Canadian it assumed Chinese Yuan instead of Yen, they use the same symbol, and I had a "this can't be real" moment.

I wonder if they are selling two styles... one with the 1K/3K, and one with the 400? I made the assumption that the newer stones came with the 400, but perhaps that is not the case.

Weird, though, regardless... since a 1K/3K cleaner is WAY less coarse then a 400! Big different to make, there, and it makes me wonder why they did it.

Originally Posted by Aldwyn

I wonder if they are selling two styles... one with the 1K/3K, and one with the 400? I made the assumption that the newer stones came with the 400, but perhaps that is not the case.

Weird, though, regardless... since a 1K/3K cleaner is WAY less coarse then a 400! Big different to make, there, and it makes me wonder why they did it.

I really don't know about the small stones that come with the 20K. when I got mine it had the 1K-3K with it and I've never used it. I use the
20k for a finisher only. I use 1-3-5-8-12K naniwa SS to hone and the 20K as the final finisher. with the coast of the 20K I could replace all my stones for what one 20 coast almost.

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

Well done, mate. I think you'll be proud of yourself, it works really well, and on wedges! Did you get it from Tools from Japan? And if so, did you ask Stuart about the rubber?

I plan on getting my stones from Stuart when I'm in Japan later this year.

I've been touching up my razors that were starting to shave not so well with a thuri slurry on 20K with great success. THat's the fun about honing, so many ways to come to a great edge!

Just got off the phone with Utopian.........
I have to thank you both for trying this and posting your results. It will benefit some people for sure.
The one question I had for Ron was...why use a very expensive finishing stone as a bevel setter ( and wear it out much faster) when there are so many other bevel setting stones available at a much lower cost? A Chosera 1k cost me $86, I think a King 1K is much less than that and a sheet or two of 500-1000 grit sandpaper is a couple of bucks.

Yup. It's fun to play with but it certainly is no better than using an actual 1k hone or using the same slurry method on a $36 Woodcraft Chinese hone.

Originally Posted by Aldwyn

I wonder if they are selling two styles... one with the 1K/3K, and one with the 400? I made the assumption that the newer stones came with the 400, but perhaps that is not the case.

Weird, though, regardless... since a 1K/3K cleaner is WAY less coarse then a 400! Big different to make, there, and it makes me wonder why they did it.

Actually take a look at the Suehiro toishi .com website , that will answer your questions as they show the SK's with 400 stones only now. But they seem to list their selection of artificial nagura stones separately for purchase as well. I've had my SK for only a few days but the 400 works well, good at cleaning the stone of swarf and making a slurry .

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Just got off the phone with Utopian.........
I have to thank you both for trying this and posting your results. It will benefit some people for sure.
The one question I had for Ron was...why use a very expensive finishing stone as a bevel setter ( and wear it out much faster) when there are so many other bevel setting stones available at a much lower cost? A Chosera 1k cost me $86, I think a King 1K is much less than that and a sheet or two of 500-1000 grit sandpaper is a couple of bucks.

In my case, I often move around/travel for quite long periods but I can't really take a lot of razor stuff with me. I'd rather take a few more razors and aftershave or soaps than a full set of naniwas. And I don't need a full set of stones either, but as I find myself stuck in a place and months start ticking by, I naturally start buying razors again, and then wish that I had a set of synthetic hones.
Looks like the problem's been solved. And you'd have to set a lot of bevels to start wearing the gokumyo down.