Thread: Hone buying question

if you don't soak the nortons they don't work properly. i suspect it goes beyond just efficiency, if the binder flakes you'll get a damaged edge.

if it's 1000, 5000, 8000 naniwas i'd say take them as long as the difference is not much. I have not used the 3000 instead of 5000, so I don't know how it works in practice, just that it is possible.
For me the main advantage of naniwa is the softer feedback and the no soaking. The nortons will work equally well as far as function goes.

I have the 3k and 5k and in my experience one can do just the 3k or just the 5k, but I feel like one has to be be more patient and mindful jumping from the 3k, where as 1k to 5k is not bad. 1k->3k->5k is a nice progression though.

With regards to soaking I'm no expert so regardless of any problem issues it would be plain old annoying. You'll find quickly that honing on a dry stone is one feeling and works well with fine touch ups (barber hone) and honing with a lubricant is another, but when a stone is slightly wet it swarfs really fast and has a sticky, tons of "draw"/"feedback" feeling that just feels terrible. You'll know when you hone- as the stone dries out you add a little water and its all better.

Since the Nortons absorb water when you soak them then they are of course soaked. If you don't soak them when you wet them they just suck it up. And you rewet them. And they suck it up. Etc Etc until you have soaked them with a spray bottle lol. And its an inconvenience.

If someone has a different opinion I will gladly accept it. This has just been my very limited experience.

Here is another question? Are the grit rating on the Naniwas the same as the Nortons? I noticed a few bits of literature thati have read say that the Japanese rating system is different than the US?

This is debated but if they aren't they are both quite close. The Naniwas are definitely JIS (Japanese) and the Nortons are either JIS or old JIS. They seem to be used similarly so...

for the record 8k ANSI would be like, .00000001 micron or something really tiny. its like 2k ANSI=8k JIS or something.

If one were just going to have a Naniwa to keep up their razors inbetween having to send them out what would be a good suggestion?

Originally Posted by Bubba4422

Here is another question? Are the grit rating on the Naniwas the same as the Nortons? I noticed a few bits of literature thati have read say that the Japanese rating system is different than the US?

it doesn't matter if they are the same or not. you appear to be interested in buying them for their ability to hone razors, not for their grit rating.

Originally Posted by Bubba4422

If one were just going to have a Naniwa to keep up their razors inbetween having to send them out what would be a good suggestion?

I bet I could do it with the 12000, but will probably recommend the 8000.

Originally Posted by gugi

I bet I could do it with the 12000, but will probably recommend the 8000.

Gugi what about the 10k? Would that be a balance of the two? I guess looking to the future one needs an 8k and 12k in progression so a 10k might be extraneous, but if thats all one got, surely it would be a balance? What are your thoughts?

Well, I've never used the 10k, so I have no idea how it would work.

I just got a razor that is probably honed on a coticule, but I'd like it sharper, and I was going to do the naniwa 12000 so that I can post the experience this thread.

But then I decided that since the razor was likely coticuled it'll be fun to continue that, so I dusted out the ole coticules which I haven't really touched for 9 months or so.
I actually ended up not doing that razor but instead pulled another ebay win to hone on the coticules only and check that I still can do it. It was definitely a blast and it felt a lot more like an art since the slurry thing is not really very precise.
Took me about an hour or hour an a half and it would've been a 20min job on the naniwas, but I didn't care at all. I'll have to find some more time to mess around with few more razors on the coticules... too many stones too little time to use them