Thread: Fine honing stone choice question...

Hi HamburgO

All good sound logical advice from previous threads. Bevel set IS the foundation and your current set up is excellent for that. Guys were getting good shaves from the 8K synthetic stones just a few years ago. Learn your basics first so you don’t waste money. 150 years ago and before, guys were using natural stones to achieve final finish and getting truly great shaves. That’s the fun part, trying to improve on what you know is good.

I too was looking for the most super smooth shave as possible. You have the correct attitude, always look to improve and experiment. Practice, practice on as many old razors as you can find. Share your knowledge with the rest of us. How’s that old saying go? “Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” That’s what we are about here on SRP.

The Naniwa 10K or 12K is a fine synthetic water stone. A very affordable, consistent and known performer. A vintage 150 yr old Escher can be around 30K and will cost some bucks. It is a “final” finisher. Be careful with natural stones Escher’s, Coticules, J-nats, etc. There is much out there that is not suitable for finishing “razors”. If you decide to move in this direction, only purchase from a reputable source. Then HAD kicks in and we have yet another convert to the ranks. I am working on acquiring another super fine J-nat and nagura even now. Do I need it? NO. Will it improve my edges? Time will tell. You’ll never know unless you take the trip down the rabbit hole HamburgO. Please keep us updated on your discovery. Have fun.

Mike

If money is a factor, you might consider pasted strops after the 8k. I use a .5m chromium oxide strop following my shapton 8k (1.84 micron, the norton 8k is 3 microns), followed by a .05m strop. Pasted strops are considerably less expensive than a stone in the 12k range. The shapton 30k is .49 microns and costs around $300. .5m and .25m diamond spray on felt and lapping film are other options.

That being said, finishing stones are more fun to use than pasted strops, so if you want a finishing hone, go for it.