Thread: 12,000 grit specialty stone

Does it make sense, to get a 15000 grid stone as well?

What grid of stones would you recommend, in order to get a cheap razor to shave ready?

Originally Posted by Neunerball

Does it make sense, to get a 15000 grid stone as well?

What grid of stones would you recommend, in order to get a cheap razor to shave ready?

Personally I have and will continue to maintain that until you can get a CCC shave (Clean-Close-Comfortable) shave off of an 8K hone your pouring money down a rat hole by buying a finer grit hone.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If I were to drop and break my Naniwa 12, or any of my other finishing hones and didn't have the funds to replace them I could live off of my Norton 8K edge for the rest of my life. However if I were to drop and break that Norton--I'd eat peanut butter sandwiches 3 times a day while I saved up the funds for a new one. And that the truth!

Originally Posted by Neunerball

As a newb, I've read a lot of threads. However, there's on thing, that still confuses the hell out of me, which is "Bevel setting". I saw several videos and pictures, showing all the names for all the parts of a straight razor. FYI, English is my second language. Does "Bevel" refer to the sharp edge of the razor blade, or what?

Hey, glad you are here on the forums. The bevel in knife terms, as well as razor terms, refers to the angle of the polished edge of your razor, which is formed by the angle between the outer edge of your spine and the tip of the edge of your razor, or more technically, the side of the edge of your razor, since the side of the edge follows that line formed by the spine and the edge of your razor, when you lay it flat on a stone.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Personally I have and will continue to maintain that until you can get a CCC shave (Clean-Close-Comfortable) shave off of an 8K hone your pouring money down a rat hole by buying a finer grit hone.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If I were to drop and break my Naniwa 12, or any of my other finishing hones and didn't have the funds to replace them I could live off of my Norton 8K edge for the rest of my life. However if I were to drop and break that Norton--I'd eat peanut butter sandwiches 3 times a day while I saved up the funds for a new one. And that the truth!

Exactly this! I've gotten stellar shaves off of that Norton 8k; I don't know if it makes any difference that I have one of the old/good ones that are supposed to be superior to later ones produced overseas. Roy and many others of us consider that (or its Naniwa equivalent, which has kind of eclipsed it in popularity on the forums as many consider it a better hone) to be the benchmark. "Do not pass go" with all of the fancy higher-grit synthetics or exotic naturals until you can nail it consistently on the 8. Heck, for that matter, I've gotten some incredible shaves off of just my Chosera 1k after maxing it out and following up with some judicious stropping. It's all just hobbyist-level obsessing beyond a certain point (but isn't that part of the fun?!).

Having said all of this, my current go-to finish is generally a Naniwa 12 followed by some work on an Arkansas progression on WD-40, then sealing the deal with a progression on my vintage shell strops.