Thread: Suehiro Gokomyu 20K Waterstone

I apologize for my ignorance. I defer to your apparent expertise in this area.

Originally Posted by Utopian

The Nortons actually are excellent hones and you will gain little going to the Choseras. If you do want to make the switch, I would recommend the 3k and 8k, rather than 3k and 5k.

Have to disagree here - my go to stone was the Norton combination 4k/8k from the start of my honing experience. I recently changed it for the Naniwa 3k and 5k - I selected those because I already had a 10k, so now my 1, 3, 5 and 10k are all Naniwa and I go straight to the 20k gokumyu with excellent results.

I changed from the Norton just because of wear but have to say I much prefer the professional Naniwas (replacement for Chosiros) they are a considerable step up in price from Norton but much better in performance.

I usually catch my razors as they are just beginning to deteriorate so it takes a final polisher like the Suehiro and that's it. I have a few razors with very hard metal that do better with CrO instead of the Suehiro however they are few and far between.

It's a stone that does what it's billed to do. I don't, however, find it finer than an experienced user will create with a natural stone that is appropriately fine.

I had one for a while, but sold it (I can't remember where, I think it was here) because it ultimately doesn't do anything more than my finest naturals do. It does, however, do the same thing for someone who hasn't invested the time to learn how to use naturals properly.

In my opinion, for an experience shaver, the linen and leather are going to determine ultimate sharpness. That's not going to be true for a professional honer, because no pro is going to have a couple of weeks to develop an edge. That edge, to me, is still the most comfortable. Otherwise, I find the chrome ox edge to be not much different than the gok, but who wouldn't rather use the stone than a strop with powder? (though I don't use chrome ox powder any longer, either).

Hey guys,

This thread was started as to let people who don't know the intricacies of natural japanese stones which from all accounts are outstanding. I didn't intend to create any sort of competition between all these varying jnats, and some other equivalent synthetics. I think we need to seperate the average home honer, who owns a dozen or so razors, likes to sharpen/hone their own razors, with their own stones, not to hone a stone with an eastern Siberian stone made from a volcanic eruption four billion years ago....lol Us who like to hone a little, like the lovely Sueihiro 20k. We may never in years need to fully take any dishing out. So my view is relatively simple. I love my razors and hones, strops and the lot, but I don't hone for others for money or anything, I've only done my own, and I proud of my razors results, the shave is superb and my hones are in tip top condition too. So sure some stone worth thousands of dollars carved out of the left face of Mt Everest will hone well. With my feet firmly placed on the ground, I've spent enough on good synthetic stones including the Gokumyo 20k, and I'm thrilled with the results I get. I am not critisising those who follow that route I simply offer a different idea. Just as an example I got a $70 razor from Ron Spencer yesterday a Engels. It shaved well after a few leather stops. Different strokes for different blokes./

Regards bobski

What I like about the Gokumyo 20k is the fact that I don't have to spend a lot of time working it out. I have a young family and work a 50 hr week so a splash and go hone is ideal for my needs. When I retire I might go done the natural route, until then, which is a very long way off, im more than happy with my hone.

I've always thought the blue/green Eschers came from the right face of Mt.Everest, right near the very top.

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

You cant polish a turd. You can only smudge it!

Clearly you missed the Myth Busters episode where they did indeed "polish turds."

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&so...d_FTnOdzSa4OWw
I stand corrected. My humblest apologies.

I saw this episode and was unbelievable how shiny a turd ball can be.