Naniwa 400

I've had a norton 4/8 since august of last year and that has been pretty much the entirety of my hone arsenal. I'm looking for a coarser grit stone because the 4k norton just isn't cutting it for some of the Ebay nicks i'm encountering--in short, I just dont have the patience to be doing hundreds of passes on the 4k complete with periodic lapping, etc.

I've read on here and elsewhere that the naniwa 1k is a good way to go for bevel setting (i'm also going to buy a naniwa 12k but that's a different posting).

My question is instead of getting the 1k can I get away with buying a naniwa 400 for bevel setting and then move right from there to my norton 4k? Will it take a ton of passes on the norton to smooth off the 400? I'd be interested if anyone has tried this progression with any success.

any help would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.

I think the 400 is VERY coarse, even for major bevel restoration it is quite intense. You will find that the Naniwa 1k (IME) does a very quick job of setting bevels and taking out small dings, chips, etc... and will go well with the 4k step. 400 to 4k is a very large- in orders of magnitudes!- leap.

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Originally Posted by BKratchmer

I think the 400 is VERY coarse, even for major bevel restoration it is quite intense. You will find that the Naniwa 1k (IME) does a very quick job of setting bevels and taking out small dings, chips, etc... and will go well with the 4k step. 400 to 4k is a very large- in orders of magnitudes!- leap.

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+ 1 IME as well.

+1, especially if you have a Nagura stone and make a slurry on the 1k. Your perfect tool.

some repairs and work on wedges takes forever on 1k stone, in this case for me 600 Chosera does the job. Sometimes I even go down to 325 DMT.

It depends on how significant the nicks are. Regardless, you should get a 1k before you start going lower. I have used the Naniwa 400SS and the 600 Chosera. Can't go wrong either way.

Thanks all, I was hoping for a shortcut to save a few bucks, plus SRD doesn't currently have the 1k in stock and I'm getting jumpy for hones.

+1

Besides, those low grit hones need a lot of truing-up. some you can literally see dishing-up before your very eyes. If you need to go lower than 1k a diamond plate is the way to go in my opinion. Cheaper and less time-consuming in the long run, plus you can lap your other hones with it.

Regards,
Neil

If your coarsest right now is the 4k then definitely go for the 1k Chosera. That stone actually gives a 2k finish by most other stones' standards, while cutting very fast. That said, for heavy restoration work the Chosera 400 would really speed things up. It gives a finish almost as fine as a King 1000, while cutting far faster.

The Superstone line I have in the higher grits, it's softer and dishes faster, but works great too.

While I agree that a 1k stone needs to enter the mix, I hope the impression is not left that a 400 grit stone is too coarse. A 400 is too coarse to be used just prior to a 4k but a 400 grit stone certainly has a place in the honing arsenal. If damage to the edge is visible to the naked eye, then I see nothing wrong with dramatically speeding up the process with a coarser hone. Once the damage can no longer be seen along the edge, then it is time to move up to the 1k to start setting the bevel. The great thing about the coarser grit hones is that they are much cheaper than the finer ones and they will save you a lot of time.

I use my Naniwa 1K all the time to set bevels and it's wonderful. I wouldn't use anything lower than that for just a bevel, maybe if you had a big chip or something in the blade then you could use the 440.

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Originally Posted by Utopian

While I agree that a 1k stone needs to enter the mix, I hope the impression is not left that a 400 grit stone is too coarse. A 400 is too coarse to be used just prior to a 4k but a 400 grit stone certainly has a place in the honing arsenal. If damage to the edge is visible to the naked eye, then I see nothing wrong with dramatically speeding up the process with a coarser hone. Once the damage can no longer be seen along the edge, then it is time to move up to the 1k to start setting the bevel. The great thing about the coarser grit hones is that they are much cheaper than the finer ones and they will save you a lot of time.

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I agree. Like most people, I used to use a 1000 to set bevels, but found that I was taking more than 5 minutes on one stone alone. After getting a coarser stone, I can do bevel-setting in 1/4 the time. It's a great time saver, especially for someone like me to makes their own razors.

Different strikes for different folks. I will occasionally go to a 600 DMT for an old Sheffield wedge or a blade in rough shape. Once in a blue moon a 325 for a big chip or frown but for most razors the 1k is my default and seems to work expeditiously. It is coarse enough to remove metal well while it doesn't create more work for me in the process. Just IMHO and I don't make my own razors so a different kettle of fish.

I've used the Nani 400 and the 220 for nick/chip removal. I have the DMT's too, but like the Nani's. 1k is fine for bevel setting, but I wouldn't want to do any repair work on one.

I have to say, the more I use then Nani 400, the more I like it, and then I use it more... The only thing that does bother me is that it needs to be flushed with water frequently because of how fast it releases grit. I bet I'd looooooooove a Chosera 600...