Thread: Naniwa Super Stones

Hey guys, Just wondering if the Naniwas SS were worth buying in the 10mm thickness instead of the 20mm. This would allow me to buy a few more grits to get going. I realize they wont last as long but if I keep waiting until I can afford all large ones I don't know when I'll do it. I think I would get the 1K in 20mm then the 3,5,8K in 10mm. I think this is doable for less than $200 to my door. I appreciate any feedback.

Thanks, Jeff

If you only hone for yourself I would think the 10mm would last plenty long. If you intend to hone commercially the 20 would probably be the best bet. Razors don't eat much stone if honed properly. Knives or tools might wear on a waterstone but razors not so much. IMHO.

I've been using my Naniwa 1K 10mm for 2 years now and I can see it being used for another 10-20 years. It really got abused in the beginning and so far it may have lost 1mm. My recommendation, get it and get more grits. Who knows, maybe you'll want to try something different, like I'm thinking about the Shapton 2K and the Cretan natural to replace the SS 1K... so you see why it may last for another 20 years

Hi Jeff,

I had issues with my SP 8k not staying flat due to water absorption. Pretty easily fixed but if I had to by the stone again I would get the 20mm as people report less of this problem.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...blization.html

The lower grit hones are used a lot more and so will wear faster, so they are the only ones you would be likely to ever replace, unless you are doing pro honing. For that reason, yes, the 1k would be the best bet for the thicker option.

Now, as far as selection of hones go, Lynn has often said that both progressions of 1,3, and 8k, and 1,5, and 8k are viable options. He is of the opinion that you do not need both.

IF you do want a 4 hone progression from 1k to 8k, my preference is skipping the 3k and replacing it with the 2k hone. That means that I am recommending a 1, 2, 5, 8k progression. Even the grit of the 2k hone is half the size of the 1k hone and so I feel better about using a hone that is better capable of removing the 1k scratches.

Thanks a bunch. I will be honing for only myself at the moment and maybe a few buddies so I think I will get the 10's. I will stay semi-pro if you will. I will continue to finish on my ILR for now. Seems to give me decent results.

Thanks.

Another thought for you to consider.

I love the Naniwa SuperStones, but I do not love the 1k for bevel setting. It loads up with swarf faster than I'd like. For that reason, I only use the SS 1k to "condition" the blade in preparation for running up the rest of the SS series. I doubt if that is needed but it makes me feel better. I never use the SS 1k actually to set the bevel because I have several better options available for me to use. You would be much better off with the Naniwa Chosera (now Pro) 1k as a bevel setter and then do the rest on the SuperStones. If you do not like the price of the Chosera 1k, another great option at nearly half the price is the Arashiyama 1k.

I'm a huge fan of the Naniwa SS 2k between bevel setting and the Norton 4k.

I think it is a very rarely used option, but I'm glad to know I'm not the only one using it.

Interestingly, I was just having this conversation, about what I call a `transition stone. The 1k or whatever grit your bevel setting stone may be, is your grinding/shaping stone. The bevel setter flattens the bevels, sets the bevel angle and gets them to meet in a straight edge. To do so efficiently we use a low grit that quickly accomplishes the tasks, but leaves deep stria and a ragged edge.

The next stone is possibly the most important stone in the progression, especially so for novice honers, it makes the transition from shaping to polishing the bevel and straightening the edge.

Typically we go to a 3-4k-ish stone, but most are either too aggressive or not aggressive enough. The goal here is to remove or flatten the 1k stria and straighten the edge by reducing stria height, while keeping the bevels meeting without breaking off the ragged edge, but reduce it by honing.

This is where many novice honers have difficulty, polishing a bevel that has an edge that is very ragged and the transition stone is not aggressive enough, not flattening the 1k stria and leaving a ragged edge, or too aggressive leaving deep stria and a new ragged edge, and the novice move up in polishing grit and the edge is not completely meeting and has even less a chance of meeting at a higher grit.

The trick is finding the right stone or doing enough laps or fewer laps to straighten the edge. For all but the novice, we can read the edge and know when we have reached that point and/or what is needed to move to the polish stone, the 8k where the edge really become straight.

If the transition stone is not aggressive enough, or too aggressive, more time and effort will be required of the 8k. Usually just removing the 1k stria is enough to move to the 8k polish stone and still have a straight meeting edge.

I can see where a 2k stone can be a very good transition stone, aggressive but not too, and possibly better than the standard 4k, especially for the novice.

I have been testing a Nubatama 4k stone, it is very hard, yet agressive and produces a shallow stria pattern. It easily polishes with an 8K.

Another alternative is to bevel set on a higher grit stone, a 2.3 or 4K stone.