Name Your Favorite Finisher ..... Poll (multiple choice)

I've noticed many new members asking which finishing stone to buy. Of course there is an article in the Wiki ,"What Hone Do I Need," but for the more experienced members who've been at it awhile I'm wondering which finishing stones they've decided are the best in their personal opinion ? By best I'm referring to the hone that makes the edge feel the sharpest and the smoothest for you.

To me it is the naniwa 12k with the shapton pro 15k a close second among synthetics. Among the naturals the Escher yellow/green or blue/green are my favorites. Actually any of the Eschers regardless of color but some seem to cut faster than others. What are your preferences dear reader ? :) This is not a public poll but if you would expand on your choice, particularly if you pick more than one, it might be helpful to those trying to make a decision.

EDIT; If your favorite isn't listed feel free to post and name it .
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I love my Asagi. I recommend Nani 12k to new guys cause it's fast, reasonably priced, readily available, consistent and I love the way Nanis feel.

Others that I have used are my vintage Thuringian (no label, so I don't know if it's an escher), my coticule, and my C12k. I have pretty much only used my one coti and my one thurry, though I have used others' a few times. My point is that I don't have a lot of experience with Thurries or Coti's in general, only with my singular ones. Variation among naturals, yadda yadda yadda.

Oh, I should probably say that I prefer my Asagi over the C12k because of the speed, and I prefer my Asagi over my Thurry because of the feedback. The edges I have been getting are close enough that I myself cannot tell them apart.

I voted Naniwa 12k and Escher. I love the 15k and the 30k pro but I don't usually go there. The naniwa 12 gives me a sweet edge as does the Escher if I want to go there. Different strokes. :)

I have 10k Super Stone and it works great, I am sure the 12k is even better.
The super stones feel great too.
That being said , I finish on Asagi.

I go with an ESCHER

Coticule, for various reasons, the main one being that the only other finishing hone I have used so far was an Escher (which did not offer any improvement over my Coticule, actually quite the contrary). It might have made sense to encourage the participants in this poll to name the hones with which they actually have significant experience (in which case I would have abstained :)).

As an aside, a hone from the Free State of Thuringia (Thürigen) would be a Thuringian (Thüringer), would it not?

Regards,
Robin

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BeBerlin

Coticule, for various reasons.

As an aside, a hone from the Free State of Thuringia (Thürigen) would be a Thuringian (Thüringer), would it not?

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A rose by any other name is still a rose .... but you are right of course. :)

No write-in for a C12k? :D

Seriously, though, I love my Shapton Glass 30k, but not all of my razors seem to respond equally well to it, while I've found the People's Hone will invariably produce at least a good 'nuff edge after a few (hundred) strokes.

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Originally Posted by northpaw

No write-in for a C12k? :D

Seriously, though, I love my Shapton Glass 30k, but not all of my razors seem to respond equally well to it, while I've found the People's Hone will invariably produce at least a good 'nuff edge after a few (hundred) strokes.

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TBH it didn't pop into my head when I made the poll. If I had thought of it I certainly would have included it over the spyderco or the tam simply because it is a more commonly used stone. An oversight that was unintentional. IOW, not because of any negative opinion on the stone. :shrug:

We can insert C12k into the matrix and remove Spyderco. We have the technology...

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Originally Posted by holli4pirating

We can insert C12k into the matrix and remove Spyderco. We have the technology...

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Please do :)

Done9381293

For the longest time my favourite high grit synthetic was the 10k Sigma Power. I've seen it described as the poor man's Chosera, but I think that does it a great disservice. More recently however, I've been playing around with a 20k Suehiro Gokumyou line hone. I haven't stopped using the Sigma stone altogether, but the addition of the Suehiro adds a great deal of smoothness to the sharp (but sometimes harsh), edge of the Sigma.

Naturals are a different matter as I'm always experimenting with whatever obscure hone has been my latest acquisition. I have a Nakayama which the seller had rated at about 40k, but which cost a lot less than some of my Asagi/ Kiita hones. Sentiment plays a part in my attachment to this particular hone, it was the first really high-end finisher that I bought, and apart from the Bester hones I use for bevel-setting this is the hone I've had the longest and know the best.

I've always been partial to Charnley hones as well. I don't have a Charnwood hone from the Thringstone Quarry (yet), but my Whittle Hill CF's get a lot of regular use on my personal shavers.

Finally, I have an unusual Yellow Lake Oilstone, which is a siltstone, not the typical slate from the Melynllyn Quarry. Very fast cutting hone and also much finer than other Yellow Lakes I've got.

The above mentioned hones are my three regular finishers and they all get about equal use, so I really couldn't narrow them down to just the one based on performance. As mentioned earlier, I have a sentimental attachment to the Nakayama, but that is the only thing that differentiates it from the other two.

Two of my most recent acquisitions, however, may supplant the CF's and the YLO. One is a Virginia Oilstone and the other a hone-slate from Cape Arguille. I haven't used then enough to be drawing any definitive conclusions, but they are about as fine as anything else I've tried thus far. At the moment I'm still experimenting to get the most from these hones, but the Cape Arguille slate in particular, is looking likely to become a regular fixture in my honing routine.

Kindest regards,
Alex

I only have the Shaptons on glass at the moment and I finish on the 16k, which I really like!

After experiencing a Dubl Duck that Holli4 honed on Naniwas (such a smooth sharp edge, I love it!), I'm mad keen to get a set of those though to see if I can get anywhere close to that level..! And I'd also like to get a coticule as well. Oh, and an Asagi, and an Escher and.... :D

I was using a few, but I recently acquired a chosera 10k. It's very fast for the nice finish it leaves and is my current go to finisher.

I choose naniwa12 but only because I have yet to try anything else besides that and a coticule.

I didn't vote. I have not used all of the hones listed but I do have a few of them. But that's not why I didn't vote. I choose a finisher based on hoe fast the razor loads my 8k hone and which 8k I use if based on country of origin. The harder razors get a harder finisher and the less hard get a less hard finisher. That seems to give me the best results. Based on my limited hone selection I started honing all razors on a cheap 1k/8k hone I picked up at Wood Craft. I found that some razors created a slurry while honing and others didn't. When I went to Norton hones I found some loaded the hone faster than others. The blades that didn;t load the hone as fast created a slurry on the 1/6k hone. The one's that loaded the Norton didn't create the slurry on the 1/8k. From there I noticed a trend in the country of origin. Of course not all razors fell into the grouping but i knew what to look for now. The less hard steel goes onto one of the Escher types. The harder steel goes on the Ck12 because that is what I have on hand that works best. Every now and then I use my Charnley Forest, but I need more time on it to find where it works best. :)

I am +1ing with JoeD

Depends on the Razor and how it feels when I set the bevel.....

We need a "what's your favorite bevel setter" thread, eh Glen? ;-p

I like the YG escher for finishing and quick touch ups.

The Coticule and Escher are my go to finishers.

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Originally Posted by Disburden

I choose naniwa12 but only because I have yet to try anything else besides that and a coticule.

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Hey Nick,

Do you find that the Nani 12k has the "edge" over the coti? Significantly so?

BTW - I didn't vote since I only have a coticule and can't compare to the other hones listed, but I can't really complain about my coti either. It does the job....

I've got both the C12k and a coticule. I bought the C12k first, and thought it was great, until I tried a razor finished with the coticule. I get a MUCH more comfortable shave when I finish with the coti.

Fred

Japanese Naturals for sure. Asagi Rocks! I now view most of the stones in the poll as intermediates.

James.

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Originally Posted by Ryan82

Hey Nick,

Do you find that the Nani 12k has the "edge" over the coti? Significantly so?

BTW - I didn't vote since I only have a coticule and can't compare to the other hones listed, but I can't really complain about my coti either. It does the job....

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Well, they're both pretty different from each other so it's a real personal thing. I am more and more loving the naniwa stones though, I think they're extremely consistent and fast hones, but they're smooth too. I love my coticule too and I use it when I'm using methods I learned from bart and I really can't complain, it works very well. I think the reason I picked the naniwa 12 is its a keener edege and very smooth, the coticule wins in overall comfort though. Ymmv

Coticule baby!, but I also love anything that Glen or Sham choose to use on any given day for the finisher :D Their edges are always tops for me!

THanks for setting up this poll and thread, Jimmy.

JoeD: I find your post very intersting, but I couldnt quite sort out exactly how you were saying the chips (or razors) fall. I'd be very curious to hear you explain your experience on which kinds of blades work best on which hones?

For my money, my recent japanese natural takes the cake (a Maruichi Nakayama Nashiji Renge namito/possibly tomae) - the way it combines a super-sharp edge, like off a diamond paste, with lovely smoothness, is hard to beat. *AND* it is fast. I have a fondness for the coticule as a finisher, despite its slowness - there is a smoothness to the coticule polish that is quite unique. Not quite as sharp as some others, but so, so soft and smooth.

I also have a blade honed by Lynn, that he finished (maybe his usual?) with a Naniwa 12K and then his .5 micron diamond spray, that is super-sharp and amazingly smooth for a diamond edge. I've been experimenting trying to replicate that, and there definitely is something to the diamond paste/spray edge that is unique.

Based on these responses, and much else, I'd really like to try an Escher - never honed with or shaved from one.

Cheers.

Didn't realize it was a multiple-choice poll. :o

+1 for the Shapton 30k

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mijbil

THanks for setting up this poll and thread, Jimmy.

JoeD: I find your post very intersting, but I couldnt quite sort out exactly how you were saying the chips (or razors) fall. I'd be very curious to hear you explain your experience on which kinds of blades work best on which hones?

For my money, my recent japanese natural takes the cake (a Maruichi Nakayama Nashiji Renge namito/possibly tomae) - the way it combines a super-sharp edge, like off a diamond paste, with lovely smoothness, is hard to beat. *AND* it is fast. I have a fondness for the coticule as a finisher, despite its slowness - there is a smoothness to the coticule polish that is quite unique. Not quite as sharp as some others, but so, so soft and smooth.

I also have a blade honed by Lynn, that he finished (maybe his usual?) with a Naniwa 12K and then his .5 micron diamond spray, that is super-sharp and amazingly smooth for a diamond edge. I've been experimenting trying to replicate that, and there definitely is something to the diamond paste/spray edge that is unique.

Based on these responses, and much else, I'd really like to try an Escher - never honed with or shaved from one.

Cheers.

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In general, and that is important to note, I find that Sheffield steel clogs my Norton hones faster than German and American steel. Of course there are exceptions to the rule like Fredrick Reynolds (ask Holli4pirating) that don't fit the rule. Based on the country of origin I start using hones that I would guess fit best. If it creates a slurry on the hone with normal honing I will go to a harder hone if I have one. If the hone loads up faster than usual I will go to a softer hone, again, if I have one and I will select the following hones from what I found in at the start.

Now it is important to note that this is just my preference and sometimes I just use what appeals to me or just don't swap hones out, but I do generally select my finishers based on the polishing results.

My thoughts on hone selection follow this though: The hone should have a grit particle hard enough to scrape the steel off the blade. The binder should be strong enough to hold the grip particle in place while the scrapping takes place. Once the grit particle looses it's ability to cut (dulling of the grit particle) the binder should let loose of the grit particle to expose a fresh/sharp Grit particle.

When honing a razor in a normal method, if a slurry is created I feel the hone's binder is too soft. If the hone loads with sludge with normal honing I feel the binder is too hard. Rubbing metal on metal creates high friction and no cutting, more friction and less cutting than dull grit particles would create.

Hope this helps.

I voted Escher, however, i would like to throw in the Charnley Forest as a top finishers too...i use it just as much as my Eschers, as a finisher.

Mac

Shapton 30K and Nakayama for me. I find myself going to
the 30K more and more due to the speed -- once I'm sharp
at 8k it doesn't take many strokes on the 16 and 30K to
finish.

- Scott

'fraid I've not used anything other than a Charnley Forest so haven't voted.

My Nakayama gives me a better finish than my coticule, CF or peoples hone whoes gritt is a mysterie:).

Skizzo

Coticule is my favorite, but I'm rather fond of the Shaptons as well. That 30K is a really nice stone

I couldn't vote. I'm a big fan of my Devonshire oilstone, but there wasn't an option for that.


Now that everyone's blood pressure and heart rate is up, I'm kidding. Of the finishers I've tried I like the slower coticules the best. But... that doesn't mean every coticule. Some I have are much better than others.

And, to be fair, I sucked at honing when I was using the Naniwa 12k as a finisher. I would probably like it much better now.

Finally, to avoid confusion; No, I don't own the elusive Devonshire stone.

Mac, you tease! Charnley forests are like mythical beasts - you've heard of them, seen pictures and paintings, and they're beautiful , but there is no way to go out to the forest and find one- *they* decide when to be seen.

I'm curious, how do CFs and Eschers compare to nice hard j-nat finishers , those who have tried both?

Joed: thanks for that, will respond soon.

I just use a Swaty. Sometimes paste but its not usually needed.