Thread: Naniwa 5000 or 8000?

I'd agree that the 1K hone is a workhorse bevel setter if you are doing razors with chipped edges or a lot of corrosion on or near the bevel and that is doubly so as the grinds get heavier. That is a lot of heavy lifting to do.

The 3K hone is fine for edges in decent condition that just need a bit of work to reset them.

All I have ever used is a 1-3-8-12K progression or 3-8-12K on the better condition edges and that seem to cover most all eventualities.

Bob

Actually a progressives step from 1 to 3 is slightly less than a progressive step from 5 to 12. 1+1 = 2, 5 + 5 =10 so that leaves you 1K difference from 1K to 3K where 5K to 10K leaves you a 2K difference?

Originally Posted by BobH

I'd agree that the 1K hone is a workhorse bevel setter if you are doing razors with chipped edges or a lot of corrosion on or near the bevel and that is doubly so as the grinds get heavier. That is a lot of heavy lifting to do.

The 3K hone is fine for edges in decent condition that just need a bit of work to reset them.

All I have ever used is a 1-3-8-12K progression or 3-8-12K on the better condition edges and that seem to cover most all eventualities.

Bob

I would also agree with your choice of progression If there was a hone I had to leave out it would be the 5K, the 3, 8, 12K works really well I don't know many that go from 5K to 12K.

Lots of good advice so I will just chime in and agree with the recommendation for the 1000 Professional over the Super Stone, it's a very good stone and it does not clog up like the SS hones do when you are removing plenty of metal. Once the bevel is set on the 1000, the SS stones are fine the rest of the way up the ladder. I have the 1K pro and 3, 5, 8, 12k SS hones and love them all. I would have to agree with Utopian on the 1, 3, 8, 12 progression if you wish to keep it to 4 hones.

I used to have the 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16K Shapton Glass hones. I would have skipped the 2K except it's what I got first and I only filled in with the 1K later. I prefer the Naniwa hones based on feel.... it's a personal thing, both brands worked great for me otherwise.

If you can only afford 3 stones at the moment, skip the 12K and stop at 8K. Get the 12K later when you can afford it.

Once again, I will point out that you want the 1K professional and NOT the 1K SS, it will be your work horse and do the lions share of honing. Once the bevel is set, you should never need to go back the the 1K unless you damage the edge.


Regards

Christian

Originally Posted by celticcrusader

I would also agree with your choice of progression If there was a hone I had to leave out it would be the 5K, the 3, 8, 12K works really well I don't know many that go from 5K to 12K.

You can go from 5k to 10k in a heart beat, it takes me more or less 20 laps on the 10k to remove all stria from the 5k with pretty much all the razors i have honed. Never tried the 12 k though.

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

You can go from 5k to 10k in a heart beat, it takes me more or less 20 laps on the 10k to remove all stria from the 5k with pretty much all the razors i have honed. Never tried the 12 k though.

Probably isn't much different.

1 to 3k is only a 1K deviation from the usual multiply by 2 formula, but it's also 1/3 of the total grit, and half the gap you need to close. The extra 2k moving from 5 to 12 is only %15 of the total, and a little less than a third of the 7K gap. If you can jump 1 to 3, you shouldn't have much more trouble going 5 to 12.

I think I'm with Utopian. 1/2/5/12 is likely the path I'd go if I picked up a set of Naniwas. I think the reason most end up with 1/3/5/8/10 or 12 is because they start with a 3/8 combo and build from there. And by the time they've worn out the 3/8 - if they ever do - it only makes sense to stick to a known quantity and replace it with either another combo hone, or a 3 & 8 single grit hone, rather than ditch them both for a 2K and get used to making the 2 to 5, and 5 to 12K jumps. Absolute worst case scenario you find out you dislike the 25 to 30 laps it takes to go from 5k to 12K, and get an 8K stone anyway. Then your only deviation from standard is having a 2K instead of a 3K.

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

You can go from 5k to 10k in a heart beat, it takes me more or less 20 laps on the 10k to remove all stria from the 5k with pretty much all the razors i have honed. Never tried the 12 k though.

It also works just fine. You can set a bevel on the 12k, and you certainly can remove 5k scratches with it.

Originally Posted by celticcrusader

Actually a progressives step from 1 to 3 is slightly less than a progressive step from 5 to 12. 1+1 = 2, 5 + 5 =10 so that leaves you 1K difference from 1K to 3K where 5K to 10K leaves you a 2K difference?

Sorry, but I don't agree.

I can't lay my hands on the grit scale for the Naniwas right now, but based on the assumption that they are similar to that of Shapton hones, the following applies.

1k is 14.7 microns
2k is 7.35 microns
3k is 4.9 microns
5k is 2.94 microns
8k is 1.84 microns
10k is 1.47 microns
12k is 1.23 microns

A step from a 1k to a 3k goes from a grit size of 14.7 microns to 4.9 microns. So 3k grit is 33% of the size of the 1k grit.

A step from a 5k to a 12k goes from a grit size of 2.94 microns to 1.23 microns. So 12k grit is 42% of the size of the 5k grit.

That means the grit size reduction is greater in the jump from 1k to 3k than it is from the jump from 5k to 12k.