Thread: naniwa honing

Good day to you gentlemen. Just wanted to say hello and thankyou to everyone who had posted in SRP. It makes my life as a beginer much, much easier!
Recently I've started to refresh a few razors that I've let slip with pyramid honing with good results. My question is that as I have only got a 5k and a 10k naniwa ss would i do more passes on the 10k because I havnt got the 8k? And would I really benifit from getting the 8k? Finally how much difference is there with the 10 and12k naniwa, i just finish with cro ox and it seams to do the trick.
Any help would be greatly welcomed.

Mark

I have the Naniwa #1k , #5k, #8k, #12k and just from a personal point of view, it's not enough.

I'm waiting for tubes of Dovo green and red paste, as I've made some balsa strops.

I want the Naniwa #3k and the #10k as well as possibly a Shapton Ceramic #16000k.

This probably sounds strange, but once you start, you always "need" more "stuff"

Do you have a healthy budget ?....Can you afford to buy some more "stones" ?

Have you had a razor honed by someone else who has a full range of stones ?

I'm asking too many questions but I think you need some more Naniwas !!

Are your raazors new or ebay-type "vintage restores" ?

Sorry, too many questions and not enough answers.

Let us know how you decide what to do, and please buy some more Naniwas !!

Bongo.

I see you like naniwas!
All my razors have been honed by Steve from the invisible edge or neil from the strop shop so im just refeshing there excellent work.
I could afford both naniwas but I know there a difference between need and want in this game!

My suggestion is to spend more time honing and let the answer come to you. If you're struggling to achieve something, ask some questions, take some advice, and try again. At some point you will find where your set up is falling short. It might be at the high end, the low end, or somewhere in the middle. If you are getting good results with what you have, stick with it until you find another need. I have a different set up so I can't comment directly on your stones. But in answer to your question about more passes on the 10k in the absence of an 8k, I would first suggest NOT to do more passes. First, the traditional pyramid is described using 4k and 8k. You have 5k and 10k. I'd say that you are in the ball park with the grit differential, just a bit higher. Also, my higher grit Naniwai cuts very fast and to overuse it will destroy the edge. I'll assume that the 10K is similar but again, I can't comment directly as I have a 12K not a 10K. I would stick with what you have for now. I'd also attempt honing a new razor from bevel set up at some point. You'll need some practice at that to uncover any gaps in your progression. You won't know if the leap from 1 to 5K is too much until you attempt it. Later you may want to think about a finishing stone to replace the CrOx you are using. When you get to that point you will have many choices, both natural and synthetic. Hones are expensive so wait until you know where you are short before buying carelessly.

Cheers OCDshaver, I think once you have a basic knoledge of honing, its like you say, practice and experimentation to see what works best for you.
Once i have done a pyramid and if its still not quite there should I drop back a few levels to see if it helps? (I know im contridicting myself with the privious paragraph!)

I usually use the five, eight, and twelve. however, the jump to five and ten isn't that bad. rule of thumb for me is so long as it is no more than double its not too much. if you're doing 20 laps on your five, try 20 on your 10k then wash it off and do ten very light more. and 25 laps on chromeox. if you're finishing on paste the 12k isn't going to make a notable difference. for that I would say a natural or 16 or 20k stone would be needed.

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

Cheers OCDshaver, I think once you have a basic knoledge of honing, its like you say, practice and experimentation to see what works best for you.
Once i have done a pyramid and if its still not quite there should I drop back a few levels to see if it helps? (I know im contridicting myself with the privious paragraph!)

I used the pyramid method for a while and it does work. Eventually, you'll want to drop it and simply figure out when to move from one stone to the next. That's a little tricky and its not easily conveyed in words but it can be done. But to answer your question, if its not quite there try doing a shortened pyramid again. If you started at 20, try one at 5. However, if you DID start at 20 and it wasn't there after the pyramid, you might question the bevel at this point. Pyramids are helpful but they are really like driving with a blindfold on in the sense that you really never know where you're at. If you are refreshing your razor, you really shouldn't need a pyramid unless you let it get real bad. Normally a few strokes across that 10k and a few laps on the CrOx should do the trick quite nicely. If you feel that you need a to do a pyramid for a refresh, keep it short. Start with 3 or 5 laps. In most instances you don't need to strip off much metal for a refresh. Usually your higher grit stone and/or the CrOx should do the trick. Check out this Lynn Abrams video,