Thread: 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.