Thread: Honing with a Shun kitchen knife whetstone

I have some experience with the Shun 300x/1k, but not the 6k. It belongs to my work, so I mainly have used it for high end hair scissors and some of the nicer knives that come in for sharpening, but I haven't put a razor to it. I can't speak to the 6k, but the 1k leaves a very nice finish for the grit level and is overall a very high quality stone. I think they are getting an established Japanese stone company to produce them for them, not a Chinese company like a lot of other knife companies do.

If you have a razor other than your designated user that you don't mind making a guinea pig, lap both sides flat and smooth and give it a whirl. Given my experience with the quality of their stones, your main hick ups will probably be general hick ups that most beginners run into, not the quality of the stone.

Originally Posted by RefGent

I have some experience with the Shun 300x/1k, but not the 6k. It belongs to my work, so I mainly have used it for high end hair scissors and some of the nicer knives that come in for sharpening, but I haven't put a razor to it. I can't speak to the 6k, but the 1k leaves a very nice finish for the grit level and is overall a very high quality stone. I think they are getting an established Japanese stone company to produce them for them, not a Chinese company like a lot of other knife companies do.

If you have a razor other than your designated user that you don't mind making a guinea pig, lap both sides flat and smooth and give it a whirl. Given my experience with the quality of their stones, your main hick ups will probably be general hick ups that most beginners run into, not the quality of the stone.

I came into the discussion thinking it was very good quality. You can really feel the smoothness of the 6k side.

Question for all: For a new straight razor that is "shave ready", can I hone it up to actual shave readiness using just the naniwa 12k?

Originally Posted by manuelz

I came into the discussion thinking it was very good quality. You can really feel the smoothness of the 6k side.

Question for all: For a new straight razor that is "shave ready", can I hone it up to actual shave readiness using just the naniwa 12k?

If its shave ready all you would be doing is maintaining on the 12k which is totally do able, another option for that is a simple pasted strop. Way cheaper.

I think that the only way you will see where and if the stone fits is to try and meet up with someone with a good range of hones and physically compare the finishes produced, either that or if you aren't too worried about your razor just try it and see what happens. I 2nd definitely tape up the spine though.

However as has been said if you do a few laps regularly on the 12k the coarser stones will be redundant provided the edge doesn't get damaged. I have been maintaining a razor used 14 days out of 21 with either pasted strops or a barber hone and have done so for about a year.

Absolutely, make sure to lap your 12k flat, and look at the edge to see why it is not shaving well. A 60X lighted loupe can be purchased for $2-3. Look at the edge and what you see determines what you need to do.

Read the first 3 threads at the beginning of the honing forum. Do not just jump in and start honing without identifying what need repairing.