Thread: Please suggest a finishing stone

Originally Posted by Slur

What’s the difference between Shapton Pro and Shapton GlassStone ?

About 10mm

On a serious note, structurally, the stones are a little different & the GS is aimed at specific steels ie A-2 .
The Pro is a little harder & the GS a little softer. For the few strokes used in finishing it doesn't matter.
In the real world your razors will be hard pressed to know which honed them.

You can't go wrong with Thuringian. I haven't me anyone yet who didn't like a Thuringian edge and you'd get one in your budget.

In my opinion, the yellow lake stone, is quite similar to the Chinese 12k. And pretty cheap. For something finer and a bit more expensive, Llyn idwals, Charnleys, thuringians or the franconian would be a good choice, although I haven't tested the last one. I read something recently about comparing naturals with synthetics. Someone said, naturals under 1000grit are not a good choice, and man made hones over 1000 grit are not quite as good as their natural equivalent. I wouldn't say I agree, I have a little experience on synthetic hones after all, but i can see a point there, especially for the higher grits. From the pictures I have seen under microscope, naturals leave a more uniform scratch pattern and are less prone to overhonning. That's my opinion, I'm sure many of you disagree, but I would go for a natural.

There is nothing wrong with the Chinese finishing stone. For the $$$$ they great hones.

I would advise you to try this: #1--keep in mind that people telling you what they personally like is what works for them; not necessarily for you. #2: try many different finishes yourself & see what you like. (For this, I'd recommend sending a razor out to various people who are known for being very proficient @ using a particular finisher. When the razor needs a touchup, send it out to the next finisher expert until you've sampled all the finishes you want to try. ) #3: Find a good, reliable, trusted source for your finisher if it's a natural--particularly a Jnat.

Avoid high-volume eBay vendors like Yersinia pestis!

Originally Posted by PA23-250

I would advise you to try this: #1--keep in mind that people telling you what they personally like is what works for them; not necessarily for you. #2: try many different finishes yourself & see what you like. (For this, I'd recommend sending a razor out to various people who are known for being very proficient @ using a particular finisher. When the razor needs a touchup, send it out to the next finisher expert until you've sampled all the finishes you want to try. ) #3: Find a good, reliable, trusted source for your finisher if it's a natural--particularly a Jnat.

Avoid high-volume eBay vendors like Yersinia pestis!

Only thing I can add here is that you should get all the different finishes from the same person. I got about a dozen coti honed razors from people who are regarded as good honers, and there was a VERY large gap between the best and the worst razor I got back. If you send every razor to the same person, the skill of the honer will be the same, with different finishers. In my experience, it would be meaningless to send the razors to different people.

Originally Posted by jeness

Only thing I can add here is that you should get all the different finishes from the same person. I got about a dozen coti honed razors from people who are regarded as good honers, and there was a VERY large gap between the best and the worst razor I got back. If you send every razor to the same person, the skill of the honer will be the same, with different finishers. In my experience, it would be meaningless to send the razors to different people.

The skill of the Honer is but one variable, the quality of the Coticule is the other....

Originally Posted by gssixgun

The skill of the Honer is but one variable, the quality of the Coticule is the other....

Well, thats one more thing if we talk about naturals

The only thing wrong with the shapton stones is that you really need to buy the shapton lapping stone to keep them flat...I never used anything else on my shaptons but someone might have an idea. Problem, The lapping stone costs near $300. I love mine but it is very expensive.

Oh yeah...I love my shaptons !!

buy them here:

[URL="http://www.theperfectedge.com/

Stingray

Originally Posted by stingray

The only thing wrong with the shapton stones is that you really need to buy the shapton lapping stone to keep them flat...I never used anything else on my shaptons but someone might have an idea. Problem, The lapping stone costs near $300. I love mine but it is very expensive.

Oh yeah...I love my shaptons !!

buy them here:

URL="http://www.theperfectedge.com/

Stingray

No you don't need the Shapton lapping stone, a DMT 325 works perfectly fine with them.