Thread: Help with Naniwa set up

When you are as poor as me, you find a way. Right now I am just incredibly patient with my Swaty. I have a razor and some other stuff in the classifieds. I have a 2-line Swaty pending sale. If I can come up with $140ish I'll be golden. I've commited to buying a strop from someone ($40) and as soon as that is done I will probably be grabbing the 3k and 5k (90 some) from SRD. I can't afford to spend from my paycheck as what little is left after car insurance, bills etc. gets saved for buying my ****ing textbooks. Thats how lol. The only exception is deals I won't get again, then I dip into my savings and pray I still have enough for books.

Oh dear!
I understand! We need a student hone aid fund!

With your situation, being as you described, I would think that purchasing honing stones should be one of the last things you should think about. Truth is, and I think several here can attest to this, once you start down this honing path you can soon contract an OCD affliction that can be totally irreversible. Spending soon becomes uncontrolable and you will find yourself on a street corner holding a sign begging for help. JUST KIDDING!!!! Perhaps you should just take advantage of the free honing that is being offered on this site for awhile while until you can afford to dive into honing without any concern. I would be willing to hone your blades for you, if you like, and you just have to pay the shipping. I need to start gaining some more experience. If you are interested send me a pm.

Good Luck

Ray

EDITED for p***-poor writing skills. Like editing a paper.

Thanks for the awesome response, and I have taken advantage of free honing twice. Hi_bud_gl hone my first ever razor, actually my favourite razor now (kind of shifts, but this one is consistantly up there). Then I talked to Utopian and sent one to him, and he did a couple others for me at a reasonable fare considering my situation. I am still a NEWB compared to everyone here, and while I felt okay getting a couple of honings free, I feel at this stage I'm not ultra new anymore and it would kinda be like taking advantage of someone. Especially because I have mild RAD. I have 8 razors so far. (almost all <$15) and a set of workhorse hones is really what I need if the trend continues. I have spent a large chunk of birthday money on a J-nat, a Thury and a Swaty that has really been worth it as touching up my shave-readies on them makes a BIG difference. But I think I will need something to sharpen my ebay specials and flea market finds and antique store treasures. This is why you've probably seen threads for ever. I have no interest in HAD whatsoever. I want to find the best balance of price and effeciency in ONE SINGLE SET of hones. Here and there you'll see me ask about J-Nats and stuff cus I am looking for a great final finish, BUT I don't want duplicate stones (there's a thread asking about Karasu that I started for this reason, I'll only get it if it is better than what I have, or to pass on). So I *think* this is a worthwhile investment. $15ish per razor (+$3-10 shipping depending on how many I send out and when) so we'll call it $20 for honing, after 10 razors ($200) I may as well have bought the 1k 3k 5k 8k nanis. ($184 from SRD) An 11th (total $220) razor would justify the 400 for heavy bevel work (total $210 from SRD).

There is no duplicate hone!
(Among naturals)

The calculation is totally correct and justified by technical interest.

[QUOTE=0livia;428222]There is no duplicate hone!
(Among naturals)
QUOTE]
Don't start lol. That's why I have the Thury and the J-nat. HOWEVER... Since I can't feel the difference on my face between something that is 15k grit and 16k grit, I would only have one. 15k and 20k though, different story.

I think it really just comes down to whether or not you really want to learn to hone or not. Either way, you'll be happy.

Originally Posted by Leighton

I think it really just comes down to whether or not you really want to learn to hone or not. Either way, you'll be happy.

See... I'm not really sure I want to learn how to hone right now. I have a Swaty (3-line) and I've noticed how it does dial edges back in. However, sometimes I feel like I can't do the trick with just it.

In a lot of the threads it sounds like the underlying theme is that the N12k is a good barber-hone substitute (if not better alternative). If I needed more work than the 12k and wanted to drop down, would I have to go all the way to 5k to experience a noticeable difference or would the 8k be enough?

Sounds like a good move for somebody of my skill level would be the 3/8 combo stone and the 12k finisher. Is that too big of a gap between 3 and 8 for a pyramid?

Thanks.

If you are thinking of getting Nani's then I would recommend the 3/5 combination. The fact of the matter is, if you are not going to hone for anybody but yourself, then a 4/8k norton would be just fine too. You are hearing a lot about Nani's now, because all the honers are checking out something new. I believe that sooner or later everything will come full circle and we might be back to the nortons and the bbw/coticules again eventually. Just MHO.

ray

I like the Naniwas for there consistent results. The Nortons are also consistent but the soaking is a minor inconvenience. So far the Naniwas stay flat where my Shaptons need to be lapped before use every time. The Shaptons have a polymer binder and don't stay flat even if I don't use them. Another minor inconvenience.

If I were advising a hone setup I would recommend the Naniwa Superstones, 1k for bevel setting and the 3/5 for sharpening and finally the 8k for polishing and refining the edge. If more icing on the cake is desired the 10 and or the 12. I haven't had any experience with the last two yet even though I have them. Ain't enough time in the day.