Thread: Soliciting Opinions on My Thoughts of a Hone Purchase

my setup ran almost EXACTLY like GSSIXGUN, as long as you get a shaving edge of a norton 8k a few turns on a GS16k give a beautiful smooth edge IME, but the shapton took a little getting used to lol

You may as well finish your Norton set, IMO. I also like my Naniwa 12kSS for its smoothness and feedback.

i would go Shapton 1k, Norton 4/8k .
later when you learn and know what are you doing switch more fascinating stones naturals,expensive synthetics etc.
hope this help.

Regarding the original post, you'll have to try to get past the idea of "best." You will find that practice and skill will give better results than purchasing the "best" hone.

This is not meant to be a cop out answer. You have a Norton 1k/4k. You could complement that with a Norton 8k, or a Norton 4k/8k, and one of any number of synthetic or natural finishers. Instead, you could complement that with one of the many synthetic 8k and 12k hones. Also, as you and Glen pointed out, you could jump to a single natural, like a coticule, after the 4k. We can't make the decision for you, only partly because we don't know enough about your intentions. How many razors do you think you will hone per year? Do you intend to do restorations or many eBite razors? You said money didn't matter, but does time? Are you enamored with the Norton? Though they are fine, you could easily sell your hone and go with an entire series. Then again, you could keep the Norton and still do that.

I just plan to hone my own razors and possibly buy some here and there, test them out, then keep them if I like 'em and sell 'em if I don't. I like the idea of just selling what I have and starting with a complete system but the 1k/4k probably isn't worth much in it's present condition. I'll just have to take a leap on something and see how it works then go from there.

I hand't realized that it may be (challenging?) to switch between different makes -- norton to shapton, etc.

I started out with a set of Naniwa SS.
I initially bought the 2-5-8-12K stones.
I was a bit afraid the 1K would be a bit to risky for me. I didn't wanna ruin anything.
I found lots of info, spent many hours reading about how to use these stones, and eventually I learned to keep my razors good, and even hone my new acquisitions.
I like these stones a lot. They don't see much use anymore, but that has nothing to do with their abilities as hones. They are great!!

Birnando,

Thanks, I am actually thinking of just going for a nice set of Naniwas to begin also. My main drawback is that it seems many who are experienced in honing tend to shy away from them in time. Obviously they are great stones but what is it that makes people eventually switch to a Shapton, natural, or other?

ats200:

I don't think that has anything to do with the quality or abilities of the Naniwas.

For me it's simply because I really enjoy honing, and are interested in all the systems out there.
Both synthetics and naturals.
I'm no honemeister, I have only a couple hundred razors under my belt, but from my experience I feel I can say this:
A good honer can do magic and then some on the Naniwas!
In other words. Many systems will work beautifully, Naniwas are just one of those.

I have the norton 220/1k, 4k/8k, and the nani 12k and a c12. I could hone happily ever after...something tells me that I'll end up with a natural finished at some point whether it be a thurry, escher, or charnley forest. At the moment, I'm happy with what I have. The others will come with time. I'm certain.