Thread: Naniwa stone 12K changing grit?

Apologies if this has been asked before - couldn't find it with the search.

I touch up my razor about once a month with 15-20 circles on the 12K. When I'm done, I flatten it with a Norton flattening stone. (BTW, I'm flattening it because when I get it out, I touch up all of my knives, not just the razor.) When I got the Naniwa, and for the first few months, it was as smooth as glass. Now it seems much rougher, maybe about like my Norton 4K when I slide my fingers over it. Any thoughts? Am I doing something wrong? Can I get is back to its old smoothness?

Thanks in advance for the help.

how long do u soak it for? some nanis dont like getting too wet

You should be using 750 grit or higher for a 12k stone. Otherwise, it will feel rough after flattening. I flatten mine with 2000 grit sand paper on a certified granite slab. The result is smooth as glass. The Norton flattening stone is too aggressive for me. Fine for knives and their 1k and 4k stones, but not for a Naniwa 12k.

By the way, no soaking is needed for any stone above 5,000 grit. Just spray some distilled water on the surface and get busy.

Etorix, no soaking - I just wet the surface. Gammaray, thanks for the advice - it begs the question: where would one find a certified granite slab? I guess it also begs the question, what would use you to flatten my Norton 8K? Thanks!

Originally Posted by medicineball

Etorix, no soaking - I just wet the surface. Gammaray, thanks for the advice - it begs the question: where would one find a certified granite slab? I guess it also begs the question, what would use you to flatten my Norton 8K? Thanks!

You can order a certified flat granite slab for ~$40USD online.

I use the 2,000 grit on my 8k Norton combo with excellent results. I go down to 1k sand paper on the 4k.

Originally Posted by Gammaray

You should be using 750 grit or higher for a 12k stone. Otherwise, it will feel rough after flattening. I flatten mine with 2000 grit sand paper on a certified granite slab. The result is smooth as glass. The Norton flattening stone is too aggressive for me. Fine for knives and their 1k and 4k stones, but not for a Naniwa 12k.

By the way, no soaking is needed for any stone above 5,000 grit. Just spray some distilled water on the surface and get busy.

Some pretty interesting statement on your post, i use a dmt 325 to flatten most without any problems and furthermore soak stones above 5k as well.

I also use a 325 diamond on my 1k, 4k, and 8k stones for knife sharpening.

But I prefer the finer grit for my SR stones.

This is just a personal preference.

Woodcraft.com caries them, but for my money any piece of modern float glass will do at least as well for much less to free. However glass does flex so it needs to be on a sturdy backing such as plywood, or a counter top. A high grit dmt 1.2k or so is worth considering.

My barely informed opinion is that if you use the hone with dmt raised slurry, the slurry will smooth the scratches from a 325 dmt.

Jonathan

It would appear that I need to clarify the flattening process.

Most stones are not flat. Some have huge unevenness across the surface (KING brand).

My brother recently purchased a KING 1k, 6k combo for knife sharpening.

After making the usually pencil grid I took a few wet passes on the 2k with granite.

The variations were too great to continue.

Enter the 325 DMT to knock it down to level.

I then put the final finish on with the 2000 grit sand paper on the 6k stone.

This is not too dissimilar from why we finish our razors with a finer grit before shaving.

The thoughts about getting a high polish on the stones comes from using the Harder Stones in the old days of Knife and Tool sharpening.. New synthetic waterstones work by releasing and exposing new grit as they are used, so the high polish is just not really that important... This of course is your time so if ya think it helps go for it, I know I did for quite some time, then I found that Shapton, who actually has the highest grit (Proved) waterstone out there, recommends a 325 grit DGLP to lap it, I realized I was probably wasting my time with the high polish.. I have never noticed a difference in the final outcome since I stopped ..

As to soaking the Naniwa SS 12k, it seems that the issues come from drying the hone rather than soaking or spraying it down..
I do know they tend to swell when you first go to use them if they are DRY so you need to let them stabilize first before doing anything, IME.. I also know that if I am honing multiple razors, I am keeping the stone wet for quite some time so I can conclude that a 5 minute soak isn't going to dissolve the hone
Same as sparying the hone and waiting 5 minutes for it to stabilize..

Drying the hone:
I have been leaving mine hone down on a dry towel after I am done and I have had zero issues, I think it is because this allows the hone to dry slower but I can't prove it to be true... I just know it has worked so far (3 years)