Thread: Seido Combo hones.

Doesn’t matter how your razors look. If you plan on shaving your face with them you will need a keen and COMFORTABLE edge. Cheap and aggressive may get a knife to sharp, but it won’t be keen or comfortable on a razor

You will need something in the 8-12k, pre finisher before the Ark if your Ark is a finisher and properly prepped or you are willing to spend some quality time on the Ark, to polish out 6k stria.

There is tons of great information on this site on honing, but if you have someone you trust, willing to mentor you, follow their advice and learn their way, with equipment they are familiar with and recommend, once you have master honing using their technique, then tweak your technique and equipment.

To quote a fellow honer, "Sharp is easy, smooth is hard".

Cheers, Steve

If it's anything like a Taidea steer clear. China makes things in quantity not quality...

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Doesn’t matter how your razors look. If you plan on shaving your face with them you will need a keen and COMFORTABLE edge. Cheap and aggressive may get a knife to sharp, but it won’t be keen or comfortable on a razor

You will need something in the 8-12k, pre finisher before the Ark if your Ark is a finisher and properly prepped or you are willing to spend some quality time on the Ark, to polish out 6k stria.

There is tons of great information on this site on honing, but if you have someone you trust, willing to mentor you, follow their advice and learn their way, with equipment they are familiar with and recommend, once you have master honing using their technique, then tweak your technique and equipment.

I'm between jobs now but I was looking at the Naniwa 8k SS and a DMT 325 when I had some disposable income again. Wetdry sandpaper lapped the stones but for making slurry its not very easy. I have a fairly comfortable edge with my setup. I know it could be better but it cuts the hair off and leaves the skin on. It does take forever on both the 6k and the Arkie. I have time and I don't have many razors so I'm not in a hurry.

Yea, leaving skin on is a good thing,

The jump from 6K to ark is a big jump. Your edge does not get straight until at least 8k. A 4/8 Norton or 3/8 Naniwa will solve all your problems. Make sure your Ark is Fully lapped and burnished, there are tons of threads on lapping and burnishing Arks in the hone and honing forum, you need loose Silicone Oxide, about $15 worth.

I gave up on lapping all the imperfections out of my Arkansas stone. I have it smoothed out to a 1k using wet/dry and burnished using a big kitchen knife. Its a pretty big stone at 7 inchs long and 2 inch wide. maybe an inch thick. I got it flat but there are some small pits in the last inch of each end. I just use the middle 5 inches like I would a small hone like a barbers hone. I have a barbers hone too but its not as fine grit as the Arkie. Its also chipped too much to fix. My ex-wife threw it at me once and destroyed it.

Well, that may be part of your problem. Arks are hard to prep, and if it is not prepped/finished well enough it will not finish a razor.

Gotgrit.com has all the loose Silicone Oxide you will need for about $15.

Post some Pics.