Thread: Please suggest a finishing stone

Excuse me for opening this thread. I know most of you will find it boring and will advise me to read the hones’ section of the forum. Believe me I read hundreds of posts regarding the finishing stones but the more I read the more I get confused.

I am into razor honing for about 6-8 months. So I am a newbie. I have a Norton 220/1000 comb, a Norton 4000/8000 comb, some low grit naturals and the Chinese finishing stone.
I can say that I am satisfied with my Chinese stone, but at this point I am thinking of buying my second finishing stone.

Could you please suggest a finishing stone which in your opinion is better from the Chinese, and could be considered as the next step?

Please do not suggest very expensive stones, or stones hard to find in the market.
Thank you in advanced.

Hmmm... I usually don't venture beyond the 12k range but, if you want to a bit more keenness, thiers issard white paste is pretty good and crox is good for creating a more forgiving softer edge, but these are pastes and not hones...

Depends what more do you want from the edge? more keenness or a smoother edge. I shaved off a chinese 12k and it gives a pretty good edge. I use a Belgian coticule and they give super smooth edges but IME there's a big learning curve to get a good edge, but its really simple when you do. A naniwa 12k gives a smooth super keen edge, but IMO are a little expensive.

Have you had a honemeister hone one of your razors? you could find a honemeister to hone up a razor for you in the finishing hones your interested in and see if you like the edges. Thats probably the quickest way to see if you'll like the edge from a certain finisher without spending alot of money.

Thank you for your answer. But you didn’t suggest a stone yet

I am not asking for a stone to use after the C12k, but a stone to substitute the C12k. A finishing stone to use after the Norton 8k.

I had a razor honed by Lynn and I loved the edge. Unfortunately I don’t know what finishing stone did he use

Naniwa's 12k or Shapton 12\15k.

Next question!

You have a few options, Escher ot vintage Thuringian, Jnat, Charnley Forrest, 12k Super Stone.
It is hard to advise which is best as that is a personal preference, and you have to try edges from each to really know which one you will like.
Then there is the price side of the matter, Eschers go for a lot of money, vintage Thuringians are cheaper. Jnats are not that expensive for a smaller size.
12k SS is a nice cheaper synthetic option to a natural finisher, but you might need to compliment it either CrO or diamond spray to get the best edge coming off it.

Naniwa's 12k or Shapton 12\15k.

question answered. +1 on the Naniwa

Rather than buying a second stone at random or on someone's say so. Think about what you "need " from this second finisher. If you just want a bit more speed in finishing, any of the 12-16 k synthetics should provide that. Hopefully you don't consider them expensive but you will probably not find anything else for the price of the Chinese polisher.
You can pick very specific qualities in naturals but the price may also be high. You don't say what you consider a high price so it's hard to advise.

Originally Posted by JimR

Naniwa's 12k or Shapton 12\15k.

Next question!

By suggesting Shapton 12/15K you mean this one?
Shapton GlassStone 16000 Grit

Originally Posted by Slur

By suggesting Shapton 12/15K you mean this one?
Shapton GlassStone 16000 Grit

No, I'm referring to the Shapton Pro stones. I've never used the 16K glass stone but it certainly has its fans. I like the 30k but it's waaaay too expensive.

The reason I put 12/15 is that there is some speculation that the stone sold as 15K abroad is sold in Japan as a 12K...either way it's a quality stone.

Listen, you're going to get tons of opinions on this, and no clarity will come of it. The thing you should be asking is, what finishing stone should you NOT buy. The answer is: a cheap ugly Japanese stone off eBay.

Pretty much anything else will do you fine.

I prefer natural finishing stones. I've got 2 JNAT's, a Frankonian and 3 coticules that I use. Oz made a very good point. What do you want from the stone? That will help you decide.