Thread: Nagura stones or sets

Originally Posted by Srdjan

What you have there are seemingly (I cannot read the stamps clearly) Asano stamped Botan, Tenjyou and Mejiro. I think what you may be asking here is whether you should get some tomo nagura (so pieces of Awasedo, finishing stones) to further refine your edge, after Mejiro. Am I correct?

Have you tried raising slurry from your Shobu base stone?

I have built a slurry off the shubi. I do believe you may be correct about looking into Tomo naguras, but where and how to determine where and what to get. How does one determine the effectiveness of the set I have? I think they are ok, but refining my edge is desirable. Thanks so far for everyone's input

I think the naguras are only as good as the hone they are used on.
Defo get a tomo and give it time and experimentation .

How to determine if my shubi is any good? Not looking to spend a fortune, but wanting to try and take my honing to the next level. Thinking maybe a meetup to have someone try and test my hone setup to determine if I'm spinning wheels or it's worth investing more Tomo naguras to add. Any guidance would be appreciated

I'd say try to shave after Mejiro, try to shave after the Shobudani on slurry and try to shave after the Shobudani on water only. Not full shaves, just try cutting a little bit of stubble, on an area that's particularly tough. Don't forget to strop before! Try to keep no variables in the equation, other than the slurry stones, of course, so use the same razor and strop for the experiment.

EDIT: Obviously, it would be very nice to hear what you thought about it after

Before you can get the full benefit of any nagura, you need to make sure that your bevel is set correctly.
Nagura is nagura, they may vary in speed and somewhat in fineness, but the only thing that will render nagura useless is sand particles in the stone. The rest is proper honing technique.

Originally Posted by mainaman

Before you can get the full benefit of any nagura, you need to make sure that your bevel is set correctly.
Nagura is nagura, they may vary in speed and somewhat in fineness, but the only thing that will render nagura useless is sand particles in the stone. The rest is proper honing technique.

I've been setting bevels and still getting better at it for about three years. I do agree without a good bevel, you have a shiny turd. I believe each stone that comes into my home, makes me go back and learn more about honing. There is nothing easy about honing, even though some say it is. I know when I get a great shave with my steel wool beard, the edge is good for most of the community. There is no cookie cutter method that works on them all. If there was it would not take me so long on some blades to make them truly shave ready. Thanks Mainaman

Originally Posted by Srdjan

I'd say try to shave after Mejiro, try to shave after the Shobudani on slurry and try to shave after the Shobudani on water only. Not full shaves, just try cutting a little bit of stubble, on an area that's particularly tough. Don't forget to strop before! Try to keep no variables in the equation, other than the slurry stones, of course, so use the same razor and strop for the experiment.

EDIT: Obviously, it would be very nice to hear what you thought about it after

I will give this a go. The only thing i still will not know is the quality of this setup. I can get a decent edge out of most setups now. I'm no expert, but my beard is super tough and a bad edge or even questionable has no chance on my face. Thanks for your input and i will try this too. I do strop after each progression when using my Jnats for sure, but I have been adding it into my ammunition using synthetics too.

Strop after each progression? Is this right? I only strop in the end before shaving or after ive finished honing.

I cant help you but just wanted to say i bought the same stone it sounds like, and i ordered the same Naguras. Missing the Tomo like you. I havent got the Naguras in hand yet as they should be delivered tomorrow.

Please keep me informed on how this all goes. Im hoping to give this natural thing a try this weekend. Good luck!

Stropping between stones is not needed, but cant hurt. Do strop before shaving.

Did both of you buy from a known and recommended vendor?

You may pay a bit more, but you get the benefit of their experience/expertise and the ability to ask questions & advice. And they stand behind their stones.

Which when starting out in a new direction, can be more valuable than the stones themselves.

A lot of using slurry is technique, as said experiment.