Thread: Honing mysticism

This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion, but there are often times I feel an inflated sense of mysticism is used when talking about hones/honing. I am in no way a honing expert or professional, but I would call my edges competitive. I find this mysticism usually circles discussions about natural hones and how they are difficult to learn and a methodology, generally, is useless. I think if naturals were all so starkly different they would never survive as a viable product. Certainly there are nuanced differences, but as a whole certain categories operate the same. Perhaps I have been lucky with my natural stones and should purchase a lotto ticket tomorrow. The only natural I bought and had issues with was the Zulu due to lack of research and strokes. I feel this attitude intimidates newish honers, which it intimidated me for sure even a few months ago buying my first Jnat. I was able to get a great edge off that stone the first time I used it and no it wasn't the best possible edge, but it certainly was better than most. Gssixgun has a blog post about the Nth degree of honing, which I don't think everyone is always shooting for their first time on a stone. I think Gssixgun brings up great points and it is a good read for honing commitment. I think if your mechanics are good and you understand the basic principles of each honing media you will be successful on attempt one... Will it be that Nth degree? Heavens no, but it will still be a pretty awesome start. These natural stones are awesome and at times mysterious, but not so much you can't get your foot in the door pretty easily.