Thread: Synthetic progression end result?

Originally Posted by Steve56

I used the brown biscuit for years, but like the King a bit better because it smoothes the hone. I've always thought that a coarser finish on a fine hone wasn't the best - the Arkansas effect - but I have no evidence of it. I still use the BB on coarser stones.

Cheers, Steve

How low do you go with this King 8k nagura? I purchased it btw.

Originally Posted by Steve56

I used the brown biscuit for years, but like the King a bit better because it smoothes the hone. I've always thought that a coarser finish on a fine hone wasn't the best - the Arkansas effect - but I have no evidence of it. I still use the BB on coarser stones.

Cheers, Steve

I'm of the same frame of mind with smooth stones. I think smoother is better, especially with high grit hones. All my naturals have had the stuffing polished out of them. Some of my barber hones too. I've considered at least smoothing out the synthetics but there's a lot of convenience in just scrubbing them twice up and down with the red biscuit and being happy with the relatively scratch free surface. It's not as bad as my DMT 325 was, or my EZE LAP plate which I believe to be about a 1K plate.

And so many here with far more experience than me just do a few figure 8s with their DMT 325 across all their synthetics and call it good. No Naniwa biscuit or other smoothing action, just hone right on the 325 scratches. So...who knows?

Originally Posted by dshaves

How low do you go with this King 8k nagura? I purchased it btw.

As far as cleaning goes, until the surface is cleared of swarf. For sharpening, I don't have that much experience with razors, but it's 8k slurry so you aren't going to set anything back. Try it out and let us know what you think!

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by Steve56

As far as cleaning goes, until the surface is cleared of swarf. For sharpening, I don't have that much experience with razors, but it's 8k slurry so you aren't going to set anything back. Try it out and let us know what you think!

Cheers, Steve

It will arrive on Sunday, I am thinking Mon or Tue I will be able to try it out! With my Shapton glass I will know right away if there is a difference. I will report...

If someone in the night pinched my 1k Chosera, and I was left with a superstone 2k, I'd not be devastated. It cuts quick, leaves the stria noticeably (to an average loupe) smoothed out. I have an old Naniwa stated as a Lobster brand, Deluxe stone 4k. It is 210 x 75 x 25 and is brown. So as far as Naniwa's go, I go Chosera 1k, superstones 2,3k. The brown 4k, then a superstone 5,8,10k. I've never used all of them at the same time or at least the same razor!

Full disclosure time: I'm so new to honing that I openly call myself a novice, I've had a lesson from Lynn but at lot of this is simply gaining experience.

So, I started by spending a significant amount of time here on the forums reading as much as I could about the synthetic hones. Circumstances made my choice for me as I had the opportunity to buy a used Norton 4k/8k and Shapton Glass 1k from the B/S/T. After my lesson with Lynn I ordered a Naniwa 12k and have had no complaints about any of these decisions, the price of the first set was decent and it's given me the opportunity to learn a few things. That last part is where I see the value along with the enjoyment I'm finding in honing.

Over the last couple of months I've used this progression with little complaint but have already come up with a few musings. The first is that I simply dislike the feel of the Norton 4k, particularly when moving from the Shapton. The second is the nagging feeling that an intermediate stone between the 1k and 4k could be easier/more convenient than the current progression.

I like both the Shapton and the Naniwa but at this point I'm more likely to take the later route as I know that Lynn has taken to recommending it and the obvious price difference between the two lines. If I do go this route I figure that I have two obvious choices to supplement what I have, the single Naniwa 3k to eliminate the 4k and fit between the Shapton and Norton or go with a 3-5 progression or, last but not least, buy the 3k/8k combo and simply eliminate (supplement more likely) the Norton altogether.

Thoughts, gentlemen? Want to talk me into the Shaptons instead? Keep in mind that I suspect, at this rate, I'll own a Naniwa 2k or 3k along with a 5k and 8k by this time next year.

Originally Posted by GreenRipper

Full disclosure time: I'm so new to honing that I openly call myself a novice, I've had a lesson from Lynn but at lot of this is simply gaining experience.

So, I started by spending a significant amount of time here on the forums reading as much as I could about the synthetic hones. Circumstances made my choice for me as I had the opportunity to buy a used Norton 4k/8k and Shapton Glass 1k from the B/S/T. After my lesson with Lynn I ordered a Naniwa 12k and have had no complaints about any of these decisions, the price of the first set was decent and it's given me the opportunity to learn a few things. That last part is where I see the value along with the enjoyment I'm finding in honing.

Over the last couple of months I've used this progression with little complaint but have already come up with a few musings. The first is that I simply dislike the feel of the Norton 4k, particularly when moving from the Shapton. The second is the nagging feeling that an intermediate stone between the 1k and 4k could be easier/more convenient than the current progression.

I like both the Shapton and the Naniwa but at this point I'm more likely to take the later route as I know that Lynn has taken to recommending it and the obvious price difference between the two lines. If I do go this route I figure that I have two obvious choices to supplement what I have, the single Naniwa 3k to eliminate the 4k and fit between the Shapton and Norton or go with a 3-5 progression or, last but not least, buy the 3k/8k combo and simply eliminate (supplement more likely) the Norton altogether.

Thoughts, gentlemen? Want to talk me into the Shaptons instead? Keep in mind that I suspect, at this rate, I'll own a Naniwa 2k or 3k along with a 5k and 8k by this time next year.

I started with the Norton 4/8k, still have it, but disliked soaking the darn thing.

Knew I needed a 1k, so that was the second Nani after the Nani 12k I purchased.

Then saw the Nani 3/8 combo, and that was it....over the while I"ve added a Nani 2k, a 5k and was given a 10k Nani....for me, I like the idea of finishing on naturals, have a few different flavours of those, so with the synthetic progression, that I could say now I'm at an ability to consistently produce results, I know what further edge treatment I get is the flavour of the natural I'm using.

So in a lot of ways, LOL, what you wrote is exactly what my experience has been, right down to the last sentence....

Well, at least I'm on a known path! I don't really mind soaking the Norton as I can dump it in a container of water and leave it there for an extended period. The Nani tends to get about a five minute soak as well even though I know it is a splash and hone synthetic.

Naturals are a thought for the future but I'm wary of going too far down that rabbit hole. At this point the idea is to learn to use my synthetics effectively and after that I can think about branching out. The real driving point at the moment is that I just don't like the feel of the Norton 4k and I have trouble defining that outside that the grit feels coarse and loose compared to the solid, silky feel of the other hones I'm using.

I have found that after bevel set on 1k kuromaku if my last few strokes are super light pressure then I do a few circles on my 5k and follow with x strokes it seems to me to make life a bit easier.
I imagine there will be a couple people saying circles at that level are not needed but I do it on my 8k too and no I'll effect.

Originally Posted by GreenRipper

I like both the Shapton and the Naniwa but at this point I'm more likely to take the later route as I know that Lynn has taken to recommending it and the obvious price difference between the two lines. If I do go this route I figure that I have two obvious choices to supplement what I have, the single Naniwa 3k to eliminate the 4k and fit between the Shapton and Norton or go with a 3-5 progression or, last but not least, buy the 3k/8k combo and simply eliminate (supplement more likely) the Norton altogether.

Thoughts, gentlemen? Want to talk me into the Shaptons instead? Keep in mind that I suspect, at this rate, I'll own a Naniwa 2k or 3k along with a 5k and 8k by this time next year.

Thoughts? It's an awful lot of money to throw down on hones just because you don't like the tactile feed back of one. If you're already finishing on a Naniwa 12K nothing would really change as far as the final result goes. But if you already know you're gonna end up with a set of Naniwas, I'd pick up the 3K now, a 5K when I had the funds, and then round it out with an 8K later down the line.

If all you hone is straight razors, I don't think you'll get better stones than Naniwas. If you hone tools too and you're heavy handed like me, then I'd say Shapton is probably the better route to take.