Thread: Help choosing finishing stone

One of their Thuris is next on my HAD list.

Good luck with that, Marshal. I went to the site to check on their prices, and after clicking on at least a dozen offerings that were "not available," I gave up. They should add an "available" filter if some are actually indeed for sale.

Originally Posted by Speedster

Good luck with that, Marshal. I went to the site to check on their prices, and after clicking on at least a dozen offerings that were "not available," I gave up. They should add an "available" filter if some are actually indeed for sale.

I did the same thing. Took me a couple minutes to figure out their "in stock" stones will have a price listed below the picture.

Jer

Yeah, they Kinda do the same thing JNS does. If the stone is available you'll see a price below. Once it sells, they leave the picture up but remove the price below the rock.

Hey Marshal,
Have you used a Shapton Ceramic Kuromaku 12k? If so, what are your thoughts on it vs the Nani 12k?

I see its about $20 less. I'm trying to track all these "finisher" threads as research.
I need more time on my Norton 4k/8k to learn the skill, and it gives me time to save up (trying to curb in my disorders).

Thanks for your thoughts,

Jer

Yeah, I've got a Kuromaku 12K. It creates a really keen edge that borders on too sharp. But that isn't hard to do with me, skin's fairly sensitive. On the bright side, most everyone seems to have Chrome Oxide on a strop somewhere and that can be used to tame the harshness.

I'm sure like every other synthetic stone, if you simply shave with it a time or two it wears in and becomes much more comfortable as well. But I've only been using one razor as a test bed for the 12K, and it's been followed up with CrOx twice and finished on .25 micron CBN so what I'm using now isn't a Kuromaku 12K edge anymore. And I only shaved from it once to see what it felt like, I didn't really give it a chance to wear in before going after it with pastes.

I'm still in the learning phase with the hone, but if you PM Onimaru I'm sure he can tell you more about it than I can.

Edit: I do like the stone though. It gets the job done, and it's quick about it.

The thing about staying with a 8K Norton for a while is than you won't have a finished edge so you can learn what a good edge feels like. I know many have shaved off of a 8K Norton & I have shaved off of my 8K hones but it was never that comfortable to me.
You might also look into the Shapton Pro line of hones. Less money than the glass backed hones but so far to me, just as good. I just got a Pro 1K bevel setter that I have only got to use a couple of time so far but the bevel it produced was done quicker & smoother than my 1K King. I am great for getting off track! LOL
I am looking to get a 8K Shapton hone in the future. Don't know if I will get a Pro or Glass model yet. There are many great finisher stones out there from different producers & with the finishers I have, I have found that less pressure is better. That is really true with the 16K stone I use.I have a couple of "Barber"hones that are real good for touch up's & finish honing. My favorite is a Raven Barbers hone & the other is a John Primble barber hone. Both are far & above better than a Swaty in my book.

Slawman

I agree there are a LOT of good razor finishers out there. Barber hones are by and large under rated IMO. The Swaty I view the same as I do my Norton 8K. Sort of baseline for comfort from a shaving edge. I think the edge from a Swaty is a tick better than the Norton 8K, but nothing special. It's a good working edge that can be comfortable if done up right. But there are better hones out there.

I need to revisit my American Hone Co. barber hone. I never really did any testing with that one. I had an opportunity to pick up a Raven, and cheap a few years back when I was first getting into hones. Crying shame I didn't know anything about them and passed it up. Well, maybe if I keep my eyes open I'll stumble into another some day.

An ILR stone will do the job and is not very expensive.

I have finished on my Raven several times & it does a great job. It only takes 4 to 6 round trips with little to know pressure. Really great hone for touch ups. I also have a John Primble barber's hone that does almost as good as the Raven.

Slawman