Looking for a new set of intermediate set of hones

[Silents]

Ok guys, I've been honing for about a year and have about 250 under my belt. My current set- up is Naniwaa 1-3-5-8-12k's and a DMT 325 for lapping. My current budget is about $300. I've been looking at the Welsh stones that are on eBay and there are a few threads about them on SRP. They go for $120 for the three hones.

Any other suggestions within my price range? Or maybe just one or two stones within my budget.

[gssixgun]

You are going to be hard pressed to get a noticeable improvement from the full set of Naniwa SS hones that you have..

Looking at a "Different feel" I would look to Naturals, The Slates are a fun set, and J-nat would be excellent to have considering you just posted about Kamisori razors
A high quality Thüringen or Coticule would be a nice diversion also...

[Silents]

Glenn, what's your opinion of the Shuobudani 100 stone? Also they only offer the same stone as a nagura. Would you recommend a different stone? Or types of nagura?

[RonPopeil]

You'd have to stretch your budget for a large nagura. I'm guessing you're talking about the smaller ones. To my knowledge those are intended to be used as a slurry stone on top of a finishing stone. Not sure how that would work on your 12k.

Check out the JNS site. He has a few level 4 and level 5 stones for $180-230. That would be the next logical step unless you wanted to replace a step in your naniwa progression.

[Silents]

Sorry I meant nagura to mean slurry stone.

[gugi]

You really ought to start by figuring out what do you want another hone for.

- Something you have problem honing with your current set? You have to identify what's causing the problem
- Different feedback during honing? What kind of feedback do you want?
- Different honing procedure, i.e. grit progression using different slurry? Then you need a finishing hone and method to produce slurry in wide range of properties.
- Just another hone because you have a spare $300 and a new toy to see how much difference you can get out of it? Get small high quality thuringian, coticule, and/or japanese hone - whatever you can fit in $300.