Thread: Naniwa flattening stone question

I should start by saying that I am really new to honing. I have been using straight razors for about a year and have five in rotation.

I have had some success in refreshing them on a pasted strop, but recently decided to try my hand at honing.

I have a Naniwa 12000 stone and I find that it clogs up fairly quickly. I managed to clean it with some success with a nylon pan scourer. Recently I decided to invest in a Naniwa flattening stone. The idea being that I would need one sooner of later anyway and that it would help to refresh the surface of the stone too.

It worked great, the only thing now is that the flattening stone is clogging up. Is there a way to prevent this? Or a way to refresh it? I am doing my best to use plenty of water and keep it as clean as I can.

Maybe I am just doing it all wrong. I must say though that the blades I have sharpened are vastly improved and the comfort and closeness of my shaves with them have too.

I am only at the refreshing stage and certainly not what I would call honing. The bevels are all already set as I buy my razors shave ready. Maybe I will come to that later but will need coarser stones for that.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

IMHO, you need to just get rid of the flattening stone and take the advise on here many tines and just get a DMT325 diamond plate, once it's been prepped it's the best thing since sliced bread, or get a rubbing stone. But the plate is the way to go.

How much honing are you doing that your loading up the stone? If your just refreshing it only takes a few strokes,Mike on my razors I very seldom do more than 5 laps then shave , if it needs more I do 5 more. Then I just wipe the stone offender water and let dry. When I take t out the next time I spray it and do 4-5 figure eights with the diamond plate then spray it again and do my laps. Tc

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

IMHO, you need to just get rid of the flattening stone and take the advise on here many tines and just get a DMT325 diamond plate, once it's been prepped it's the best thing since sliced bread, or get a rubbing stone. But the plate is the way to go.

How much honing are you doing that your loading up the stone? If your just refreshing it only takes a few strokes,Mike on my razors I very seldom do more than 5 laps then shave , if it needs more I do 5 more. Then I just wipe the stone offender water and let dry. When I take t out the next time I spray it and do 4-5 figure eights with the diamond plate then spray it again and do my laps. Tc

Thanks TC, I did look at the rubbing stone but assumed that I would need the flattening stone. I will look out for a diamond plate.

In truth, I think I am probably doing too many laps. Partly due to inexperience and partly because I have put off this refresh for too long. I was afraid to ruin my razors.

I was trying the refresh then trying the hanging hair test and it just didn't seem to work. In the end I gave up on the test and just shaved with it and it was great.

I find that even on the first stroke there are grey streaks on the stone. Maybe I am pressing on too hard. I have read up on things and watched a ton of videos but still not sure on what I am doing. Having said that I am pleased with the results.

For refreshing on the 12k, you should not be pressing at all, and as TC said, you should not need to do more than 5 to 10 laps. In general, I can refresh the 12k just by wiping it with my hand while it is wet.

I got the flattening stone as well and used it until I was told by a mentor not to. Reason is that they also wear down and they are not flat. So after that I tried a little experiment and put the flattening stone on an Atoma. He was absolutely correct, that stone was not flat at all. I have not touched it since then and use the diamond plate.

Just wanted to clarify that the above is about the flattening stone and naniwas up to 8K which I have and not the 12K stone itself.

Ya In my limited experience that Nani cuts fast, lots faster than you think and if you add to much pressure it can wear out a lot of steel. And what Ron said, that's pretty much how I clean mine, hands and water. The pressure thing is what us hard to learn, when you need some and when you don't. This is why some say they get harsh shaves or too crisp a shave from synthetics, once you really learn your Nani 12k you will get nice soft smooth shaves from it.

Try not to let your blade go too long before refresh, instead of waiting till it needs it, go on a maintenance routine,, say every 10-12 shaves, take it to your stone for 5 laps very light, then strop and shave, if not there yet do another 5. This will keep it shaving without degrading plus you just won't need to do any heavy honing. Good luck. Remember " less is more". Tc

I still have much to learn.

At least I have much more of an understanding of the shave now and I can really tell the difference between a good edge and a bad one.

Thanks you all for your replies. I guess the flattening stone was one of those expensive lessons to learn.

Well it makes a good paper weight. Tc

The only issue with the flattening stone is that it needs to be flattened too. I've got a Norton flattening stone that will do fine for most applications. Once you have it flat it should serve OK, but a diamond plate is better. Comes flat, doesn't need to be maintained to ensure flatness. CKTG sells a 400/1000 for under 40 bucks that will do everything you want. Or there's the tried and true DMT 325 route.

I have a naniwa scrubbing brick too. I like the little fella, gentler on my hones and keeps the flattening stone/lapping plates away. You can also typically scrub the swarf free with your fingers like utopian suggested, I don't break out the Naniwa brick until the stone's so loaded up that finger scrubbing fails to refresh it. I only use the lapping plate when I see a stone starting to dish a bit.

By the way, if you pick up the scrubbing brick I suggest rounding the edges on the side you'll be scrubbing with. It's something I do with all my rubbing/slurry/nagura type stones to keep them from wanting to dig in and scratch the surface of a hone.

Is this the one I need? D8C Continuous Diamond | The Perfect Edge

Also I was wondering last night if I am having to do so much because I bought my razors shave ready. Maybe they were made shave ready using tape, and I am not using tape. I realise that the difference is very minimal but since I am using such a fine grit it might take more to get it to the point where it works well. Just a thought and I might just be talking nonsense here.

Thank you all again for you help, not just with this but with everything. I see the same people coming up answering all of my silly questions and I am very grateful that you take the time to help noobs like me.