Coticule

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Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

I have one of those purple Welsh slates.
There's lots of info on here about them, so use the search bar for everyones opinions.
Personally I quite like mine, I lapped one side to a high grit and use Smith's honing solution for about 30ish feather light laps. It gives crisp edge.
I use the other side with a DMT card to create a light slurry then go to the high grit side if the edge is not quite ready for a finisher.

As mentioned your better of biting the bullet and get the 12k Naniwa, they cut fast and are easy to use.

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Hi, I have bought it. My thinking is that it's only about $30 Canadian delivered so if it's good I have a real bargain.

If it's bad then I haven't lost much.

I will get a 12k Naniwa eventually but I'm still a bit new and there are people that will think I'm mad even trying to use a stone yet. But, I just can't succumb to my RAD if I don't even try to refresh the blades and send them less often.

Never know, I might be able to learn to hone my own blades eventually!

As it happens I am English like you and we know that the good slate is from welsh Wales :D

Steve

It appears you are headed down the path taken by many a new honer/shaver. Starting with inexpensive low grit stones to learn to hone.

All, natural stones are made with quality control of nature, none. They are a mix of grits, grit size, of unknow additional grit and binder. So, they all perform differently, some very differently. Natural stones can not be grit rated, an individual stone can be compared to a known grit, but only for that stone and that can change as the stone wears.

So, beware of vendors that claim a natural stone is of a specific grit, usually excessively high. That alone says a lot about the vendor and the stone.

Can you get them to produce a shaving edge, maybe? But it only makes learning to hone much more difficult, because you are introducing a host of variables.

Many start with these inexpensive Natural stones then progress to know grit and performance, synthetic stones. Few stay with the low grit low cost naturals, because there are much better alternative with proven, known finishers.

If you want to cut your cost and learn to maintain/ hone your razors, go with a synthetic progression, start with a quality 8 or 12k stone to refresh. If you go with small inexpensive natural stones, you will make your learning journey more difficult, longer and more expensive in the long run.

A simple alternative for refreshing, is paste, a stick of pure Chrome Oxide can be purchased for about $10 and will improve most any edge. An inexpensive strop can be made from a piece of cardboard or clean new cotton belt and keep you shaving for a long time.

And when you buy a synthetic 8 or 12k finisher, and you will, if you stay with straight razors, you can use the Chromium Oxide to refine that edge further. Chrome Oxide is about .5um grit size, 20-30k.

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Originally Posted by STF

Hi, I have bought it. My thinking is that it's only about $30 Canadian delivered so if it's good I have a real bargain.

If it's bad then I haven't lost much.

I will get a 12k Naniwa eventually but I'm still a bit new and there are people that will think I'm mad even trying to use a stone yet. But, I just can't succumb to my RAD if I don't even try to refresh the blades and send them less often.

Never know, I might be able to learn to hone my own blades eventually!

As it happens I am English like you and we know that the good slate is from welsh Wales :D

Steve

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Learning to refresh a razor that was shave ready is no bad thing, learning to restore a beat up razor when you haven't learned how to shave or strop a razor is completely different.
As said multiple times the Naniwa 12k or 10k is the way to go. Everyone that has one has exactly the same hone as the next man, the same cannot be said about natural. And that is what makes things challenging, you can't say how the stone will perform and without any experience you are just swinging in the dark.
When you go to refresh your razors speak to Phil and Mike to see how they honed them. Did they use tape? What kind of stroke did they use? Etc, etc. This will cut down on variables.

Also stated, some quality Cro Ox is an easy way to keep a razor shaving nicely.

As I see it, right now you take stones pretty much literally. You obviously need some reference. So anything you start with, will be that reference for taking the next step. This is why most people here will recommend a known quantity, something you can compare and ask about. After, you can get anything you like and go wild.