Thread: Naniwa or Not Niwa?

Originally Posted by KindestCutOfAll

When I am honing I can feel occasional random lumps in the grit while honing. Larger on the 3000 grit and a few smaller on the 8000 grit. Not on the stone, it's smooth. It may be from the Duct Tape I am using on the spine, but I can't be sure.

Do the lumps go when you rinse the stone ? If so they are additions & not part of the stone ie they are dust or tape or hopefully not chunks of your razor.

what size is that stone? Looks a little narrow in the pictures.
The usual naniwa combi stone size is 210 mm x 70 mm x 20 mm or 8 1/4 inches long by 2 ¾ inches wide.

Do the Stones say "S 3000 and S 8000" on the front side?

Did you flatten the stones properly?

You know, I had a similar issue with a King Ice Bear 6000 grit stone that I bought off of amazon. I've seen a bunch of videos where guys ending on 6000 grit stones can hone knives sharp enough to shave with, so I thought that this King 6000 grit stone would do the trick, too. But no dice. The more I grind on the stone the duller my straight razor seems to get (to the point where it no longer shaves). Honing it on a belt loaded with chromium oxide seems to bring back enough sharpness to shave with (although certainly not comfortably).

So I honestly have to wonder if the stone I bought is genuine. I think there might be something to the idea that they are cheap knockoffs.

I doubt it's the duct tape. I've seen youtube vids where gssixgun sharpens a straight razor from dull to shaving sharp while using *duct tape*--my bad--yeah it is electrical tape, not duct tape, so I think it's unlikely that it is the duct tape.

Have a look at the vid: gssixgun honing for JaNorton 2012 1.wmv - YouTube