Thread: Norton 8K vs. Naniwa 12K

This topic is very interesting becouse I bought Naniwa 12k recently and honed with it for the first time today. I lapped it on 600 grit wet-dry sandpaper and rubbed the surface smooth with Nagura stone.

Still 8k Norton feels significantly smoother. When touched with fingertips, some coarseness, yet very fine, can be felt on Naniwa, but Norton has very smooth, almost rubber-like feel on it. This can also be noticed when honing the razor.

I haven't tried to shave with this razor yet, but under microscope the bevel and edge looked good and the razor became sharp as hell.

I guess this "coarseness" comes from the structure of the stone. Naniwa may be a little more porous than Norton and it doesn't have much to do with the size of the actual abrasive particles that do the honing job.

I hone with both the norton 4k/8k and the naniwa 12K. The edge should be greatly improved after the 8k norton using the naniwa. The naniwa stones need to be lapped a lot and I refresh mine before every honing session. The hones may feel different to the touch, they're different makers, but that's irrevelent.

The 8k does feel like silk best way i can describe it. I have 10k naniwa i also have had 12k. i found the nagura stone made mine feel not so smooth. my dmtc smooth the surface, having said that they felt a bit graby to me . My 10k grabs a little , i should imagine that is the feed back they give. i like the nani very nice hone

The Naniwa line of hones are just great hones to get easy edges on. They really tell you what they're doing to the razor, definitely more so than a Norton does, which you have to be careful no to overhone on and check the edges often.

Its funny you say this, because my Shapton 16k feels rougher to the touch than the 8k, but I see the difference in the edge if I look under a loupe. The 16k looks much more polished.

The other weird thing is that the edge off my Naniwa 12k looks even more polished than the 16k Shapton.

And when I look at the edge off my Maruichi it looks much less polished than the 12k Naniwa, but it feels much smoother on the skin.

I lap them all with a 325 DMT. I have no reason for any of these things, its just quirks of the stones I guess...?

Originally Posted by Stubear

I lap them all with a 325 DMT. I have no reason for any of these things, its just quirks of the stones I guess...?

I think it's just the matter that different brands feel different and that's that.