Thread: Why are honing stones so expensive? Has our planet ran out of its resources?

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

Originally Posted by gugi

i don't find the hones particularly expensive. the set of 4 naniwa superstones I got was $300

Gosh, only 300?

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!

Originally Posted by WW243

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.