Thread: Naniwa, make sense?

Hi,

I am fairly new to straight shaving and feel I am going to stick with it. After a little thinking I figured it would be nice to be able to maintain my blade by myself. I have been reading on the topic and found much more info on real honing than on maintaining. For what I understood a Naniwa super stone 10k or 12k would be nice.

Does that make any sense, or do you have other suggestions???

Thank for the advices.

Regards,

Both very nice hones but if your just looking to keep the a nice edge I would recommend you go a far cheaper route. Get a barbers hone and save yourself $80+ bucks.

I don't know about saving $80 with a barber's hone, given that the SS 12k is in the $70's, but a barber hone would be a less expensive option. Nothing wrong with the SS12k, though; it's a great hone and would do what you want.

The Naniwa 12k is a great stone to have, both as a touch-up stone and as part of a progression, as you'll undoubtedly want to get further into honing in the future. This dual purpose alone is sufficient reason to spring for the Nani. You won't regret it.

Thanks guys! It sounds like it will be the Naniwa 12k.

How hard is it to maintain an edge? Should I expect to trash my blade a few time?

Originally Posted by Guero

How hard is it to maintain an edge? Should I expect to trash my blade a few time?

It's not hard at all, assuming the blade was previously in shave ready condition. All it takes is a few light laps on the hone of your choice and you should be back in action. The lap count depends entirely on the type of hone and how far gone the edge is. With a hone like the Nani you'd probably want to to around 10-20 laps; with a natural stone it may take a few dozen or more. You have to experiment with your gear to find your optimal numbers.

Guero,

I tend to use the 'little but often' approach to edge maintenance.

Weekly the edge gets touched up on a CrOx pasted hard leather paddle, and monthly touched up on a Naniwa 12k. This works very well for me.

As everbodies needs are different (razor, whisker type etc), it will be a matter of seeing what is best for you

As the pasted strop uses the conventional stropping action, it is easier to start off with this.

When I started honing and using stones for edge maintenance, I got an old razor to practice on.

Good luck !

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

never used one myself, but I do have a Naniwa 3k/8k combo stone and it is really great. I am sure you won't be disappointed with a 10/12k. I also would recommend checking out the Chinese 12k (PHIG) from woodcraft. It's like 35 bucks, and I love the edge mine gives!

I have used one barber hone and have another that should be here on Sunday. I must say that I am not a big fan of the edge from a barber hone. Once I spent a fair share of time with my naniwas I found that they offer a very smooth edge. In all honesty though I probably didn't give the barber's hone a fair chance. I really didn't plan on using the new one I'm getting, but I will try it to see. Maybe Glen will teach me a little about them when I see him next.
BTW I got the hone because it has my daughter's name on it.

Ok my pricing is alittle off. But in the north and things tend to cost a bit more.
But if you don't intend on starting to hone all you need to maintain a edge is a barbers hone, which you can pick up for aprox. 20-40 bucks
With that said I do have a set of naniwa SS and there easy to use and maintain.