Help choosing finishing stone

About to send in my Wade and Butcher to get restored ( cracked scales ) and was wanting to get into shaving with the razor. At the moment I have a Norton 4k/8k stone a 220/1k norton stone, as well as a norton flattening stone. The lower grit norton I have for house knives.
I am also going to have to pick up a nice strop (taking suggestions for that too) but I don't want to rely on micron spray on back of strop. So I'm looking for finishing stone.

I was thinking of grabbing a Naniwa 10k/12k (not sure which although I'm guessing 12k if money isn't an issue) or a Barbers stone.
I saw a few franz swatys that looked to be in okay condition but I'm not sure if I would end up wasting money on a stone I couldn't repair/use correctly.

Open for suggestions of what you guys think. I have done some honing, enough to get decent shave with the 8k, but I'm not an expert and wanted advice on finishing stone

Can't go wrong with a Naniwa 10K or 12K. There's a reason they're so popular.

Barber hones can kind of work, but they're more of a maintenance hone than a finisher.

Alright I will go with the Naniwa then. Any reason to go with the 10k over the 12k if I am going from an 8k Norton or should I just go with 12k?

I have a Norton 4/8. Just picked up a Naniwa 12 k for my finisher. Go for it. You won't regret it. I also have two barber hones. For me- a waste of money. Once you finish with a Naniwa, a barber hone seems silly.

Nani 12K. That's the progression I use.

My vote is also for the Naniwa 12k. You won't be disappointed with that choice. The Naniwas shine as razor hones.

Thanks for the help everyone I greatly appreciate it.

Yeah, only reason to go with the 10K over the 12K would be if your razor, your technique, or your face just can't cope with the edge the 12K provides. My skin's a bit sensitive so I prefer a softer natural edge to a super keen synthetic one. But I don't think the 12K would cause that problem considering the wide range of people that can shave off the 12K comfortably. I've only seen a very few that have tried both, and prefer the 10K over the 12K. If you get into honing and razor stones, you'll find there's quite a bit of variety and a lot you can do to tailor the edge to your liking.

To further Marshals post.. If you go with the 12k and its too keen, stropping on Chromium Oxide seems to tame the edge..at least for me.

You can get a 3" balsa board from a hobby store for like 5 bucks, and a Cromium Oxide crayon from SRD (also cheap). Rub the crayon on the balsa and you have a Crox strop. That's the super low budget option..just in case.

The 12k edge on its own was slightly too keen for me and the Crox helped alot!

I have both the Naniwa 10K and 12K.

I can finish most if my razors razors on the 12K. It can provide a mirror finish bevel. However, there are two potential problems. One is that some find the 12K edge to the too keen. As has already been noted, you can smooth out the edge with CrOX if that happens.

The other issue is that on certain hard steels, the Naniwa 12K can seem quite slow. If you try to compensate for the slowness by using higher pressure when honing, you can get microchips in the edge. I doubt that you will have the chipping issue with your W&B Sheffield steel, or with German Solingen steel. However, the issue can occur with some of the more modern steels.

I have a Naniwa SS 12K. Great finisher. Also use a Zulu Grey. Kind of exotic and quirky to learn. Puts out an edge kind of between a coticule and jnat. Speaking of jnats, CKTG has a scorching deal on Ozuku Asagi Koppa stones right now. $70.00 shipped. Best deal on a natural finisher you're gonna find this week

Too late for the CKTG deal; they are all out of stock.

12 k plus crox is as good as it gets.

I say get the 12k I know you can go from 8k to 12 no problem really at this point you are polishing your bevel to create a smooth comfortable surface. I will stress light strokes. Light strokes are key with this stone you will get a crazy beautiful finish on the 12k if you use light strokes you will be very happy.

I use. 10k superstone and go to the Suehiro Gokumyo 20k. I have sensitive skin but go alright with that combination, and I do use a Chromium Oxide strop. You could go from the 8k direct to the 20k, but in my tests I've gone from a superstone 8k, it may be a touch finer than the Norton. So for the cheaper and possibly just as effective option, the 12k Naniwa might be your better way. I only mention it as an option. Lot's of us start out with the higher grit Naniwa only to be tempted by the Suehiro at a later date. Good honing.

Sounds like Naniwa is getting a lot of votes here. I have the exact stone set up that you are working with, and I've added a greek Vermio finisher after my 8k. I really like it, very easy to use and it makes the edge very comfortable to me.

Eh, I was just sticking to the hones the OP was already considering. There are a lot of great razor finishers out there.

I love my Shapton Glass 16K hone to finish with. Sometimes I tame the edge a little on my Coti. under running water. Just 4 no pressure laps on the Coti helps on some razors. I also have a vintage "Raven" Barbers hone for touch ups mainly but I sometimes I finish on it.

Slawman

If i could get only one finisher , i would go with the thuringian hone froom here

Thuringian Waterhones

The seller have perfect reputation and is one of the most knowledgeable members , abbout thuringian watterhones .
Prises are very affordable for the quality =
The other option is a Jnat koopa , assagi or kiita .
The third option is a good old fashioned barber hone - cheap and efficient .
There are a lot avaible options

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RusenBG

If i could get only one finisher , i would go with the thuringian hone froom here

Thuringian Waterhones

The seller have perfect reputation and is one of the most knowledgeable members , abbout thuringian watterhones .
Prises are very affordable for the quality =
The other option is a Jnat koopa , assagi or kiita .
The third option is a good old fashioned barber hone - cheap and efficient .
There are a lot avaible options

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Great folks to deal with.

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.

Quote:

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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.

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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

I've been tinkering with my new barber hones a bit. I can see why you like the Raven. Looks like the polish from that more or less matches my 12K stone. Might even beat it. I haven't had a chance to shave with it, but I can tell once I get the edge sorted out I'm going to really, really like this little guy.

My Raven came with the box & it warns to use very light to know pressure & only 3 - 5 round trips. The John Primble Barbers hone is close to the Raven as far as great edges go.
You would be surprised at how well just giving a razor a touch up with either of these hones even on Razors I just bought in the wi

Slawman