Thread: Full range of hones

30k stone? that sounds smoother than a dry kleenex

Originally Posted by ace

I get good results with 1K, 4K, 8K, 12K and then one of various finishers. I have the 16K and 30K Shapton stones but find I almost never use them anymore.

I sold my Shapton 30K GS and personally don't regret it. Instead for final final polishing I have been using a borrowed Zulu Grey- which is great. Mine is on its way from SA- just cleared customs. With the 16K Shapton GS you have to really use gentle strokes or it can give a sharp but kind of harsh edge. Gifted hands have no problem with the 16K but for most guys I think they will do better on the Naniwa SS 12K. It's must more forgiving and consistent. So currently my full range is this:

Chosera 1K
Naniwa 5, 8, 12K
Zulu Grey

(To support the fine hones above I use a DMT 325 continuous for lapping and chamfering and a DMT interrupted EF for raising slurries.)

Linen/Leather

Gathering dust for me but great hones/tools are:

Norton 4/8
Shapton GS 4,8,16
Shapton 1K
Unknown natural (probably 4K comparable)

I have Shapton GS 500-1-2-4-6-8-16-30. I have learned what works best for me is Chosera 1K, Shapton GS 2,4,8,16, followed by a natural finisher. Works every time.

Right now I am having great success with the

Chosera 1k
Shapton 4k, 8k
Naniwa 12K
Gokumyo 20k
Nakayama Maruichi Asagi from old_school

Jerry
____

'Mostly the same as Jerry - Chosera 1k [coti/low-grit thuri/norton 4/8] Nani12, G20k, Nakayama Asagi

Just to underscore a point being made here is that you can do very well and be very consistent using water stones. It's totally fine to stop there- that is until curiosity takes over. There will come a time where you are getting excellent shaves and then you will want to experiment. Experiment with your prep routine. Experiment with micro bevels. Experiment with more stroping. Mid shave stroping, etc. There will likely come a point where you want to explore other hones. You will then likely discover a final finisher or two that helps take you from excellent to wow. A quick and cheap way to do this would be a pasted strop. I think the best set up for that are spray on Crox or .5 diamond suspension on a felt paddle strop. But, that will likely only be a stage. In order to have a more enjoyable experience and to help prevent convexing your edge I would suggest a finishing stone. Most of these hones are natural ones; Escher, Thuringian, JNAT, Charnley Forest, Zulu Grey (I have one of these so I would be biased towards it), Suehiro 20K (a man made getting natural finisher results), etc... They will make your edge a little bit sharper but mainly smoother allowing you to have a close yet comfortable irritation free shave.

This point was recently underscored for me when I broke out my Feather Artist Club and shaved with it Saturday. I put a brand new blade in it and got a close shave but no closer than from my straight razors straight or recently off the hones. But, it was irritating to the skin. About an hour after the shave I noticed red blotches which indicated some irritation. It left a few hours later but the only way this would happen after a straight comes off my Zulu Grey would be because of poor technique or prep.

Once you dial in the right hone progression for you that is optimized for your razors and for your face you can reach a level that cannot be duplicated by even the industry's sharpest disposable blades.

The advantage of having many grits is less work on each grit. But if you are spending all of your time changing stones, you are not saving much time.