Thread: Me first stone! Naniwa, Coti?

Originally Posted by Wintchase

There are a couple guys on Oahu, you should throw a Hawaii post out there and wrangle them together. I lived there for 6 years, how are you keeping rust and mold off the blade and strop? The humidity is a killer.

Oh yeah, its horrible.. I made a habit of wiping my blade after each pass on my face, then immediately dry with paper and let dry in my other room on top of sheets of paper. Works fine but I have some camelia oil just in case.

And Bruno what stone do you use for finishing?/??

If I used a Coti solely for finishing wouldnt it be similar to using other stone since I don't need to dilute and all that.. or would say a 12k nani do best.. I have crox paste too

I have a nakayama asagi. A natural Japanese stone.
I wouldn't recommend a beginner to buy one of those.
Until you can get good shaves off an 8K stone, you should not use anything higher, because it will just be a waste of time and money.
And while I prefer it to the coticule I had before, it costs 10 times more as well. Japanese stones of that quality cost in the several hundreds of dollars, all the way up to 2000 $ for certain stones.

I don't say you shouldn't want to buy such a stone, but I would wait until you can shave comfortably off the 8K. At that point, figure out what you want to do.
For the purpose of just finishing the edge, you could use a Chromium oxide strop, and you would hardly notice the difference with a very high grit stone.
I know many people who do this, just for the purpose of maintaining their 1 or 2 razors.
If otoh at that point you feel like experimenting with stones because you like honing and you hone a lot... sure, have fun.

A coticule or a 16K shapton would be the ideal finishing stone from a cost / benefit pov imo.
That, or a pasted strop.

For a coticule I would email Jarrod at The Superior Shave and tell him what you want and he will pick you a great stone.

Currently in between emails with Jarrod at The Superior Shave. He too agrees a 3k/8k combo stone and a 12k would be a perfectly good.

Can you go from synthetics (naniwa) to natural stones (coticule) for finishing???

What about a bit on 12k naniwa for consistancy and then a bit on a coticule for extra smoothness at the very end??? Sorry if im going a bit overboard I just want everyones opinion

Originally Posted by eastoahu

Currently in between emails with Jarrod at The Superior Shave. He too agrees a 3k/8k combo stone and a 12k would be a perfectly good.

Can you go from synthetics (naniwa) to natural stones (coticule) for finishing???

What about a bit on 12k naniwa for consistancy and then a bit on a coticule for extra smoothness at the very end??? Sorry if im going a bit overboard I just want everyones opinion

Skip either the 12K or the coticule.
One won't add anything after the other.

Okie dokes folks. Been talking to Jarrod literally all day (while at work slacking off when I should have been working ;P) and finally came down to a La Grise combo stone. I will also be ordering the 3k/8k naniwa combo stone to start on, and work my way up to finishing on the coti after consisten 8k shaves.

As far as bevel setting, I know a good 1k aren't very pricey, but how long would it take to bevel set on my BBW side, or say my 3k naniwa???

(P.s. will I be able to use the BBW side for anything other than kitchen knives??? Lol

You will get some very smooth edges from the LG. They are a nice and soft stone. I have a LG bout and you can defiantly tell a difference between it and my other vintage coticules.

Originally Posted by eastoahu

As far as bevel setting, I know a good 1k aren't very pricey, but how long would it take to bevel set on my BBW side, or say my 3k naniwa???

(P.s. will I be able to use the BBW side for anything other than kitchen knives??? Lol

For bevel setting a Chosera 1k is money well spent. If you're planning on setting a bevel on a bbw bring your lunch.