New hone Naniwa Diamond Whetstone #3000 grit

[U]Naniwa Diamond Whetstone #3000
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The above photos are of a Naniwa Diamond Whetstone #3000 grit. It is an aluminium base (14mm) with a 2 mm layer of sintered diamonds bonded electronically to the plate. However it is technically a whetstone, differing from say, an Atoma plate, that has electrobonded clusters of diamonds spaced on a steel 1mm plate. It is model DR-7530. (there are I think four grit variations up to 6k) Today as appears in the photo I am going to try this stone out to set the bevel on the razor in the photo, a Dovo Encina 6/8 Stainless blade, which is brand new. I have examined the surface of this new whetstone, and I compared it side by side to a Naniwa superstone 3k, and the superstone feels a lot less abrasive, so I am going to experiment with it and see how it fares, especially with a stainless steel razor. This is an expensive stone, in Australia at least, and would be nearly $200 USD. As I mentioned it is a test, I saw the stone advertised on Japanese Tools Australia website, and it piqued my interest. The vendor also said it would be suitable to dress my harder Japanese natural stones. It also comes with a 400 grit conditioning stone. The instructions suggest it be wet when used, and treated like any other stone. I will update the results at a later time. Anyone who has experience with this range, your experience would be welcomed.
Bob

How does the flatness appear? Very interested if you can go straight to using it without running some steel to "dull" the high spots....

Good point. The stone comes with a #400 conditioning stone. I wet the surface down and let water pool on it. I then gave the conditioning stone a good run over the entirety of it's surface. Now, you can see the colour of this stone, and the conditioning stone did abrade some of the surface, causing a slight colouration in what could very loosely be called a 'slurry'.
I used this stone last night, and it does not feel anything like a diamond lapping plate as far as feedback goes. In fact it doesn't feel like a superstone 3k either. It feels quite fine and seems to be on the high side of 3k. I tested it against the superstone with and without slurry, and the slurried superstone was far more abrasive than this hone. To be honest I need more time on this hone to work out where it sits in my progression, if anywhere. I haven't used it like an Atoma, for lapping/dressing, and I doubt it would take a a lot of material off a jnat, so fine it is. Jury is still out on this one. I am going to dress the surface of my Wakasa with it, and just look at how fine it makes its surface appear. If it were really reflective or shiny, then it may be a surface you could use at the death, ie dress it with this stone and do half a dozen super light laps to end with.

PS, it's very flat, perfectly flat.

These are very appealing but just too dam pricey. I already have more stones than I could use in a lifetime. Hard to justify especially when there is so little info out there about them.

There is a Chinese version, (about $50), that some Knife guys say produce a finer edge than the Naniwa of the same grit. The Chinese version goes from 1k to 12k.

Personally, I don’t see where there is a benefit to a diamond hone, other than at 1k.

(1000 # 3000 # 6000 # 12000 # graining Professional diamond resin grinding stone knife sharpener sharpen grinding stone Whetstone HT325-28)

This post could be in the Hone of the day or the jnat thread, however my main reason for mentioning this is the Whetstone #3000. Yesterday I picked out a razor that was in shaving condition, a Friodur 7/8 Inox. In the past it required gentle coaxing to a good bevel as I found it to chip readily. I've sort of done lots of testing of stones lately, with the arrival of an Ozuku Asagi and a Wakasa natural stone, so I didn't really want to convert too many razors over to the new stone's edge. that being said, this Friodur I decided would have it's edge, re-done. Not silly breadknifing, but a gentle running of it's edge across the corner of a stone to dull it I suppose. (The edge was dull after this) I wanted to test the Naniwa Diamond whetstone #3000 in it's role as a bevel setter.
I used a layer of tape and I set about using x strokes with only moderate pressure. I don't count but I guess it received 7 or 8 minutes of honing. This is an interesting hone, as it's feedback is more like an 8k superstone than a 3k diamond hone. After that honing I tested it on leg hair, and it cut easy, at tree-top level. I'd have to say it was a better bevel both under the loupe and the tree tops test than any 1k Chosera edge I've used, and no chips whatsoever. I really liked the way the stone gave a tactile message as to it's quality. So much so that instead of progressing to a superstone 5k as the next stone I went to an 8k, no slurry, water only for no more than 15 strokes, with decreasing pressure, virtually blade weight only. I didn't test again, but I decided that I'd put it straight onto my Wakasa natural stone for finishing. (This Wakasa is very hard and fine. Obviously you can't assign grit to it, but is definitely a final stone for anyone.)
I am inexperienced when it comes to Japanese naturals, however I have honed for many years and I get the way things work. I spent 15 or so minutes on a fairly heavy slurry which I allowed to diminish and dry out as I went without diluting it as such. I used very little pressure, very little. I did not do any water only strokes, I just went to super light for probably 40 strokes, then I was done.
Anyway, the shave a half hour ago was much better than I had expected, and easily my best shave from my new natural acquisitions.
As far as the Diamond whetstone goes though, it did a great job on bevel setting. Admittedly, the bevel wasn't a bad one to begin with, but never the less it did need re-setting and this hone did well in giving me what I needed. So I was able to use three stones to get a nice shaving razor. It wasn't by design, I was ready to go 3,5,8, natural, but decided on leaving out the 5k.
Do I think this diamond plate, whetstone, or whatever it is, is a replacement for a 1k chosera? No, I wouldn't go that far but it does take the set bevel you get off a chosera 1k, to a higher plane. If you can imagine setting a bevel with a 5k stone, that would normally take a long time, and lots of pressure, then this 3k diamond stone does it in quick time, and little pressure. It's a pity they are so expensive as I'd love to try out the 6k version of it, as I wouldn't doubt it might surprise and give a shaving quality edge. Just for information, gentlemen, but when I took the razor to the bathroom this morning I took a spare stropped razor in case it was a tugging nightmare. I'm sure you honers out there have done similarly....lol, thankfully I didn't need the back up razor.