Thread: Need some advice

I hope they work out for you. The best hones are the last ones you need to buy.

Originally Posted by Zephyr

...Snip
The questions I'm searching an answer for, or at least some guidance is:

1. Whether the 2K will give some benefits before the 5K, or is the 5K enough to go to straight from the 1K?

2. Will the Pro 12K (15K) give me any benefits compared to the SS 12K? (Except that it is a faster cutter)

You know, I have been going from a 1K to a 5K (Chosera)for a good while now, and I find that for the most part, that worked out just fine.
I have been playing around with a 2K SS in between the 1 and 5K Chosera, but haven't found much benefit in doing so.
As to speed, I find the Chosera's and the Shapton GS to be quite similar in speed,so I would guess that would be similar in that sense.
The scratch marks might be slightly finer on the GS so perhaps even less of an issue there?
Surely, it would mean a bit more work on the 5K, but acceptably so IMO.

I've only played around with the 16K GS, but that did not add much at all to a 12K SS IME.

The only synth stones that I've tried that adds anything to a good 12K SS edge are the following three:

Gokumyo 15 and 20K, and the GS 30K.
Of those, I find the Gokumyo's to be greatly superior to the GS.
No harsh edges or "over the top" feeling from any of those two regardless of steel, and the finish of the 20K stands up to a comparison from the 30K GS and then some

If you wanna play around with them, just give me a call, I could always do without any of them for a few weeks.

Thanks B. I think I might accept your offer when I've gotten to know the Pro's a little, maybe at the next meetup.

Originally Posted by Zephyr

The questions I'm searching an answer for, or at least some guidance is:

1. Whether the 2K will give some benefits before the 5K, or is the 5K enough to go to straight from the 1K?

2. Will the Pro 12K (15K) give me any benefits compared to the SS 12K? (Except that it is a faster cutter)

I'm trying to keep a little resistance to HAD (I really don't need a house full of stones), and if these two won't give me any great benefits in a progression compared to what I already got, I don't see no reason the spend money on them, and rather put them into a Jnat in the future.

Q1., I think you may end up answering your own questions better than any one else can.
Try the 1k-5k jump for a while & see how it works for you. You may need nothing else. Adding any number of stones to a progression usually puts less stress & wear on any individual stone & also means less lapping. It also allows you a variety of starting points depending on how damaged the razors are e.g. Some I may start on my 320 grit Pro, others I can choose the 1k,1.5k or 2k as a starting point. These things may not be an issue for you but time will tell.. Sorry I'm just generalising here again but I don't own the Chosera 1k to be more specific.

RE Q.2, I don't see any benefit in the Shap 12k over the Naniwa12k once you reach 8k stage.

I appreciate your minimalist concept but for me I've only been able to pull it off with razors & not stones

Here is what I tell people when asked about the 1-3-5-8 question

If you are a new honer buy the 3k as it helps insure the bevel set which is a problem for new honers
If you are an old hand buy the 5k as it helps polish better

If you are named jimmyHAD buy both and gloat

I still use the whole set of Naniwas 1-3-5-8-10-12 when I use them, these are my goto stones if I have a Chippy razor in the line up, many razors it just doesn't matter, but I have found hard steel chippy razors are easily tamed by the Naniwa SS hones, and the small steps seems to help even more..

g

Thanks to all, I think I will stick to the Pro 5 & 8 for now and do some experimenting with the SS 3K before the Pro 5k to see if a lower grit stone is necessary or usefull.

If now just that 8K could arrive soon, it's been three weeks since I placed my order and I have still not recieved the package nor the tracking information, and the vendor have not replied to any of the four e-mails I've sent asking for shipping confirmation and tracking number

I'm not going to mention names, but needless to say it was the last order they got from me....

- Hmmm, it actually felt a little bit better to rant a little (My wife doesn't care so it's useless to let it out to her )

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I still use the whole set of Naniwas 1-3-5-8-10-12 when I use them, these are my goto stones if I have a Chippy razor in the line up, many razors it just doesn't matter, but I have found hard steel chippy razors are easily tamed by the Naniwa SS hones, and the small steps seems to help even more..

This is a great point. Coarse grained stainless comes to mind also.
As much as I love my Pro's & use them exclusively of late, there are some razors that need more refinement at the end game. i.e. post 8k or 12k stage. I compensate with various naturals at that point as the sometimes softer or "rounder" particles are more forgiving but a 'softer' synthetic progression is a sensible alternative. Horses for courses.