Nagura stones or sets

Which is the way to go? I'm wondering if it's better to buy individual stones or a set. I have one set but not sure about its quality. I also have a shubudani. Is the shubi a good start or should I add something harder or softer? Still learning natural stones and am getting better at synthetic stones. How does one know the quality of nagura stones. Any assistance would be deeply appreciated.

You may have a very capable set there. Mind showing us some pictures?

Your naguras may be just fine, but you need to figure out what they do. When you buy a graded stone, such as Asano stamped nagura, you know what to expect. If they arent graded, you just need to figure it out yourself.

I'd personally hold off with a new purchase, until it's crystal clear what the existing gear can do.

I've been able to get a good edge off of the combination. I will try to figure out how to post a pic nextAttachment 254792

I would say buy sets and individuals , if you can afford them.

To be technical; there are large ones , small ones, white ones , reddish ones, Asano ones, non Asano ones.

I have too many but I want huge monster ones :)

I get the idea, if we all had more funds, our collection of gear would be vast. I am looking at adding possibly another Jnat and possibly some other naguras, any suggestions

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?

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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?

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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.

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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 :)

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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.

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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.

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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

Agree, my next stones may come from TomoNagura, but working on saving up some funds.

I ordered from JNS. As i said, i get my Naguras tomorrow so ill give this a try this weekend. And i fully understand about the setting of the bevel is key. Its #1 in what HAS to be done and done right first. I just getting started in honing so im like a kid with a new toy this weekend. Hope it works out for the OP. I'll be watching.

What Stefan said is good advice.

If you want to know how good your shobu - or any hone is - just raise a normal or light slurry with a WORN diamond plate, hone and shave. Your slurry will be from the base stone only with a diamond plate.

Cheers, Steve

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Originally Posted by Steve56

What Stefan said is good advice.

If you want to know how good your shobu - or any hone is - just raise a normal or light slurry with a WORN diamond plate, hone and shave. Your slurry will be from the base stone only with a diamond plate.

Cheers, Steve

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Will do, I do that as the last step of my progression when using my jnat. I use a well worn 600


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How do you check the progress of your edges as you hone? Is it just based on the shave test?

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Originally Posted by mainaman

How do you check the progress of your edges as you hone? Is it just based on the shave test?

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I test my progress with arm and leg hair. When I all done shave test is my test

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Originally Posted by Gonzo4str8rzrs

I test my progress with arm and leg hair. When I all done shave test is my test

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How do you know then if the edge is progressing as it should? Arm and leg hair can be cut at the 1k level but that does not mean the razor will cut beard .
You need a method for monitoring the progress as you go up the grits. Visual ques are pretty good indicator of issues etc.

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Originally Posted by mainaman

How do you know then if the edge is progressing as it should? Arm and leg hair can be cut at the 1k level but that does not mean the razor will cut beard .
You need a method for monitoring the progress as you go up the grits. Visual ques are pretty good indicator of issues etc.

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Such as? What tests should I perform to monitor the progress of my edges. I'm very intrigued. What ques?

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Originally Posted by Gonzo4str8rzrs

Such as? What tests should I perform to monitor the progress of my edges. I'm very intrigued. What ques?

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A lot of folks like to use a scope to monitor the progress. If you are using TPT or other tests you have to learn to correlate the feel with performance of the edge , that is how you will develop consistency in your honing.

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Originally Posted by mainaman

A lot of folks like to use a scope to monitor the progress. If you are using TPT or other tests you have to learn to correlate the feel with performance of the edge , that is how you will develop consistency in your honing.

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Thanks for some suggestions.

I use a simple hand magnifier and check to see that the striae from each stone is removed by the next stone uniformly along the bevels, especially at the toe and heel. This is not as easy as it sounds when you're just learning how to bias the pressure during your stroke, and is a big part of what you're trying to learn.

And it sometimes happens to everyone learning a new razor. Many times I've looked through that glass and seen coarser scratches somewhere. You can have a little smile for example, that's kind of hard to see (at least for me), but the scratches don't lie.

Cheers, Steve

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Steve56

I use a simple hand magnifier and check to see that the striae from each stone is removed by the next stone uniformly along the bevels, especially at the toe and heel. This is not as easy as it sounds when you're just learning how to bias the pressure during your stroke, and is a big part of what you're trying to learn.

And it sometimes happens to everyone learning a new razor. Many times I've looked through that glass and seen coarser scratches somewhere. You can have a little smile for example, that's kind of hard to see (at least for me), but the scratches don't lie.

Cheers, Steve

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Thanks Steve, I'm guessing I need to start looking at edge progressions to take my honing to a new level.

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Originally Posted by mainaman

How do you check the progress of your edges as you hone? Is it just based on the shave test?

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My stones have a little hair-popping competition after each one. No strop, just to be clear, but I will wipe the blade a bit just see the cuts more clearly.

I have to agree with you on the visual tests, they are a must for me as well. I use all my senses, although I don't taste my steel yet, I'm not that skilled. So yeah, I just use the other 5... [emoji12]

I also use HHT after each stone and a half-stropping (10 canvas 20 leather) on a new or new-to-me razor.

Now to be sure, I am not using the HHT to determine shave readiness in the progression, but to test that the edge is coming up the same all along the bevel, heel, center, and toe. The advantage of HHT is that a hair is small and you can test every millimeter of the edge right out to the end of the toe or heel.

Cheers, Steve