Buy what you can afford and what like. as long as you can get the edge you are happy with I think a lot of this is a status think, Who can have the most and the nicest looking, etc. IF your just looking to get your shaver sharp get what you need, IF you want to collect and admire then buy all the fancy Jap and Belgian stones you want.
AFAIK, up until recently it was an article of faith that synthetics were meant for bevels and sharpening, naturals for finishing.
The search for natural bevel setters, AFAIK, continues.
I recently bought a Naniwa 12k SS, and I can tell you it is the equal of any of my cot is (6) thurris (2) or jnats (4), at least in my hands. I love these natural stones and will continue to use them, but functionally they are not superior to the Nani.
If a new honer were to buy DMT 325, 600, and 1200; then Nani 2 (or 3)K, 5, 8, and 12K synthetics, he would be well equipped to do anything with a razor.
From my personal experience it is a hard task to mine sharpening stones from the mountains where they occur most.
I only have man made stones, norton, naniwa and a swaty non of which are going to wear out any time soon as i havent uses the first 2 since last year when i was first learning to hone my own razors. Now they are all shave ready all they need is a simple touch up. Pity really as i quite liked the learning curve, eventually, and i dont buy razors anymore i have enough for more than my lifetime :)
ian
What about the Arkansas Noviculite stones from the good old USA. They helped build this country honing razors, sharpening tools. Their is an abundent supply of them and they are not expensive. Noviculite means razor stone.
russhi
Going rock fishing might be a little hard on your hooks. Might have to use the stone you find to resharpen.
Way to bring back a long dead thread.
for razors use a water stone they work well for most any cutting edge.
the liquid oil or water helps to keep the pores in the stone from clogging during use a clean stones cuts better.
for curved edges like a scythe, spokeshave or drawknives there are curved and rounded stones that work wonders on them some are natural others are manmade.
enjoy,
jim
Gosh, only 300?Quote:
Originally Posted by gugi
Did I miss the fascinating story in this thread of one of our members who took an idea found in this thread and developed it with hard work and creativity into a source of excellent quality natural stones? The Zulu my friends, it can be done and will be done again, the legends will take hundreds of years to mature.
Whoa, I got caught in a wormhole, it is 2011 in the beginning of this thread!Quote:
Originally Posted by WW243
I thought the same thing, but I saw the year of the threat and remember that the first Zulus weren't delivered until late August of 2012! However, first reviews came in June of that year. Double OQuote:
Originally Posted by WW243
With regards to the original post, the simple answer is 'supply and demand' - some things don't ever change. You can't begin to factor in a price for a hone stone until you know how much it costs to mine (or make) per unit, how much advertising and promotion costs, how much packaging costs, etc, etc, etc - when all bases are covered you have a break-even price, to which you add further overheads and your profit margin. To cover initial costs you need to sell a lot at a low price, or sell a few at a high price. I can't see what the mystery is, to be honest.
Regards,
Neil
I don't know if it has already been mentioned or not but if hones are talked up in the forums .... I mean old naturals, J-nats and like that, the price goes up until the chatter tapers off and the 'next big thing' comes along. I remember when the Scotch hones, tams and dalmore blues were a hot topic and they were going like hot cakes.
I think the mystery for some is one similar to the mystery I feel about the Vintage Louper Flamme on the Bay right now...it is a mystery to me why I made so many truly thoughtless decisions in life which now put me in a position where I can't at this time, even think of bidding on that beautiful razor, sniff. If something cost more than you can afford, you can always dig deep and ask yourself how the hell did that happen? Or you can scream like a madman and say: not worth it! Impossible!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil Miller
As someone wh has made a couple hones from natural rock found in less than a 10 mile radius the resources are everywhere. It's just way way cheaper for a company to order minerals than to cut a mountain of stone into little cubes. The synthetic whetstone industry killed the natural whetstone industry for that reason. Even in Michigan my home state there is a ghost town called grind stone city, which was once a booming town for jobs (making mammoth grind stones from natural rock) but it's demise layed blame to the invention of synthetic whetstones.
http://i1343.photobucket.com/albums/...pscd8a5eb1.jpg