Thread: Naniwa Chosera and Super Stone opinions, please

Well, let's see.......

I own Chosera's, Naniwa SS's, Norton's, Shapton Glass, Kings, Kitiyamas and a few others, Coticules, Escher, Charnley Forest, Nakayama Maruichi, Asagi, Spydercos, Arkansas, barber hones, Chinese 12K's, Slates, Turkish and on and on......

To me the Coticule is not the end of the world or even the best of what is out there. I know some folks like them and I think that's great. Personally, I like the results from a finishing standpoint better on my Escher and Japanese naturals. That said, I do think the Coticule is a very viable alternative when honing although I have never had any affinity for the bbw stones.

Now from a pure comparison standpoint, the Chosera and the Super Stones actually produce pretty similar results. I actually get similar results from the Naniwa Super 10K and 12K and the Chosera 10K. The Chosera stones are a harder stone and do need to be soaked in water before use. As indicated, they do have trouble or have had trouble when left soaking for an extended period of time. The Super Stones only need a spritz of water or a thin film to work properly. The Super Stones are a resin bonded stone and do have a softer feel than the Chosera. For some this may feel gritty or provide a sort of feedback, but to me, it just feels softer. I actually like this on the Super 1K as it does a great job setting bevels, but doesn't seem to wear as hard on the spine of the razor for some reason. I have not found that either stone works any better or worse on stainless blades vs. carbon. I do normally find that a few more polishing strokes at higher grits help with stainless blades or those with higher rockwell's. I find the feel of my Nakayama silkier than the Chosera 10K, so again much personal preference or technique here.On lapping, I lapped all when new and typically lap or clean with a DMT 325 or GDLP after every use and have not found either to be any harder or easier to lap and keep flat. Both accumulate swarf about the same in my opinion. I find no differences in using them after lapping with either the DMT or GDLP.

From a price standpoint, the Chosera stones are definitely more expensive than the Super Stones. They are more on line with the Shapton Glass and maybe a little more.

The fun part for me is getting to play with all these stones all the time. Lately, I have been setting bevels on a Naniwa Super 1K followed by the Norton 4K/8K and then the Escher as a finish, then pasting with .5 diamond on felt or chromium oxide on felt. I like switching up the Naniwa SS, the Shapton Glass and the Nortons alot. I do try to look at what works consistently, what can be learned easily, what can be repeated and what can be obtained on all budgets to get good results and I have played with films and sandpapers too. I wish I could remember half the stuff I try when honing razors just for the sake of trying different hones and media.

I hope that when people read this stuff, especially the new guys that they are really getting our preferences and hopefully actually comparisons of the things being questioned vs. thoughts on things not tried just to come back to preferences.

I probably spend about 4-6 hours of almost every day honing razors and can only pass along what I experience which I hope has more value than just what I think........

Lynn

Interesting comment on the 1k SS and how it works with stainless/carbon. I have only tried that stone on knives and it definitely did not work well on stainless but it worked very well on carbon. I still did not like the feel,for me the Chosera provides more grip (sucks the blade to the surface better if you like).
By the way the Chosera and the Super Stones have the same abrasive, it is more concentrated in the Chosera, and its not resin bound.

FPizza, what is it that you did not like about the Shaptons? Or are you simply looking for a change of pace?