Thread: Two week in with straights. Stones ordered.

Originally Posted by roughkype

I hope you'll never need that 220 side. You will, as Niftyshaving said, need a 325-grit DMT plate to flatten (or lap) your hones. You'll need to do this before you use any of them; from the factory they're not flat enough for razor honing. Norton makes a flattening stone, but it itself needs flattening. Most of us skip that hassle and go straight to the DMT.

Also, as Niftyshaving said, the Naniwa12k is a wonderful stone. I would entirely recommend it; it's what I go to after my 8k. HOWEVER, hold off on that purchase until you can get a smooth-shaving edge from your 8k. That's the advice of the wise honers on this site. Until you've established that edge, a 12k can't really add quality anyway. It would just polish the high ridges of your not-yet-smooth-enough 8k work.

You shouldn't need the 4k or 1k grits yet, either, if you're only two weeks in... unless you've done some rough stropping.

Do some research in the Wiki before you put steel to stone... even if you've done great work sharpening knives in the past, razors are a different task. I learned a lot about my own honing by monitoring my work with a good 10x hand lens. You can tell, for instance, how much progress you've made in just 10 strokes. That's important to learn early--how much actually happens in a small number of very light strokes. I know my own biggest beginning errors were too much force and too many laps. For me it has felt as much a process of maturing as of learning.

Good luck. What kind and grind of blade are you working with?

Thanks much all. I almost pulled the trigger on the Naniwa Super Stone 12k, but decided to wait a bit. I'll grab the 325-grit DMT as you say.

Good luck. What kind and grind of blade are you working with?

I'm not sure I fully understand the question, but I have one Dovo Tortoise and two Dovo Blondes honed at (http://www.vintagebladesllc.com------Lynn Abrams?) I also added a paddle strop. All are Carbon Steel 5/8 Full hollow. (I do have a Dovo Stainless on route with Stainless handle) Both of the new Solingens (Dovo?) are brand new and shave ready. They arrived today