Thread: Help with getting a hone set

Originally Posted by Double0757

I also think the posters here should state if you have experience with all three systems. As how can you recommend a system over the other, for a beginner, if you never used it?

I think that's what the poster is asking, but correct me if I'm wrong!

Double O

Indeed, a variety is avaliable. The OP was inquiring as to a good beginners set. I think the Nortons are best for learning as they can be soaked without distortion and constant flattening like the Naniwas, which also tend to confuse with the many numbers avaliable. The Shaptons are much more aggressive and costly and lend themselves to more experience. Of course naturals are an entirely different and individual animal. It is hard to get consistant advise on Naturals as they all have individual personalities and must be learned by the user.The poster wants to know recommendations on which to learn. Aso consistancy is key to obtaining advise from others here. IMO the Nortons with the 12000 Naniwa to finish is the best, most economical, and consistant set upon which to learn honing skills, IMHO. Slurry is not an issue with the Nortons for beginning honers, and YES, I have used them all!

I have honed thousands and thousands of razors on the Norton 4K/8K, the Naniwa Supers and Choseras and the Shapton Glass as well as Shapton Pro, Kityama, Sigma, King and a few other systems. Day in and day out the Norton 4K/8K, the Naniwa Super Stones and the Shapton Glass stones will provide excellent and consistent results. The Naniwa Super 12K and Shapton Glass 16K are excellent finishers. Using pastes or sprays sparingly can also finish a edge very nicely. I love the Chosera 1K for setting bevels. I will use either the Naniwa 220K or Norton 220 for repairs, but the Norton is really aggressive and thirsty as noted. Natural stones are great for the one stone methods and finishing, but maybe not quite as consistent. Still excellent results. You can mix or match any of the systems to what you determine works best for you.

The main thing is to pick out a set and get started. There are tons of stones out there and like with most things everyone has their preferences. The Shapton Glass stones have a harder feeling, but very nice feedback. The Naniwa Super Stones feel a little softer, but have excellent feedback. The Norton 4K/8K are in the middle to me from both a feeling and feedback perspective. The feeling and feedback from the Naturals is all over the place. I actually use the Naniwa Chosera 1K, Norton 4K/8K and either the Naniwa Super Stone 12K or Shapton Glass 16K about 50% of the time in my daily honing.

Have fun.

back in 2008 i started out with the norton 4k/8k, it never did me any harm.. from the synthetic range i would go with defanatley The 1k chosera i realy do like this stone .. 4k'8k .. when you get the max from your 8kb which btw should be pritty darn smooth and comfortable eventualy.. I think i'd be more inclined to get a nice ch12k natural stone

There is some good advice on this forum and thanks to everyone. I should have given a little more info on me for this question. I have used hones a good bit just I stop at the 4k stones. I use them at home and at my job. I think Lynn gave me more of the answer I was looking for in the personally of the stones at the finer levels. I have the technique in of honing I was looking for the quality of the edge from the stones on my shave. But this did turn into a great thread for any beginner new to honing. Which will not only help me but many other people. I'm still deciding on the combination that I want to go with but I have a better understanding now on the different combination of stones.

I don't have any personal honing experience with any synthetic stones other than the Nortons. I started out with nothing more than a DMT-325 and a Norton 4/8 combo with an artificial nagura as a slurry stone. I was hesitant at first about going with the Nortons since the Naniwas and Shaptons seem to get a lot more attention on the forums, but I don't regret my decision at all. If you're going to piecemeal a hone set like I did, most seem to recommend the Chosera 1k as a bevel setter. Otherwise, the Norton starter kit with a DMT-325 is a great way to go.

With all that said, hone preference is just as subjective as every other aspect of this hobby. You won't know what you like until you try them all LOL

I got a set of naniwas super stones from a member on here in the 400, 1k, 5k, 8k, 12k. Received them today and sharped up two razor that were in good shape and shaved witb them before work. I liked the feedback of these stones and the edge was great off the 12k just ran it over the strop as I normally would do before a shave and got a great shave out of both. Did one side of face with one and the otherside with the other one. One of the razors was my wifes grandfathers that has not been used since the 60's. Thanks for all the help from everyoneon here.

If you want some good stones to learn on get a King 1k which is an awesome bevel setter, very smooth and cheaper than it's worth and a Norton 4k/8k. Won't cost you much either, woodcraft.com has the best price on the King 1k and Lie-Nielsen Toolworks USA | Norton Waterstones has the best price and shipping on the norton 4/8.

You only need the essentials when starting so don't buy into everything, you'll learn better/faster with a simple setup.