Thread: My head is in a spin

Originally Posted by RezDog

I am a little confused as to what stones are synthetic. Are all your hones synthetic except the Coti and Chinese 12K?
Step one:
Naniwa 1K until the bevel is set and the apex is perfect. Check it with a loupe and ensure it can cut hair. It should feel sharp enough to cut your finger prints off without drawing blood.

Step two:
3K until the scratches from the 1K are gone. Check this with your loupe frequently.
Step three:
5K until the scratches from the 3K are gone
Step four:
8K until the scratches from the 5K are gone.
Step five strop and shave
I could write on and on about the use of pressure and how much is enough and how much is too much. Basically if you have a light, misty slurry it shows you water movement in front of the blade really well. You need to use enough pressure that it clears the stone and not much more. Watching the movement of your water will show you things about how your stroke is doing and how your bevel is progressing.

The synthetic hones are the 6,000 and the 10,000 the rest are stone.i do notice at times that I use to much pressure while honing,so have to remember to use light pressure on 8,000,coc. and 12,000 stones.Thank you guys for all the help.

I don't know if mixing synthetic and natural hones in a honing progression is that good an idea, maybe it is. I would have thought the the the easy, uniform and simplified way to start would be with all Naniwas, 1K, 3K, 8K and 12K to finish.

Bob

Absolutely right ,but WOW they sure are expensiveAre they all stone or ceramic?

Do you own a lighted loupe. Seeing your edge under magnification will help you develop you honing skills. You will also be able to see the differences in the scratch marks and edge as you move through your stone progression.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Magnifying-L...item19f4e6ebc4

Confucius say: man with many hones and little knowledge have a nice rock collection.

Start with a basic stone and learn how to use it before buying more. The knowledge on how to use it is all over our site and this forum.

Originally Posted by semperfi6141

Absolutely right ,but WOW they sure are expensiveAre they all stone or ceramic?

Expensive? Maybe but you gain uniformity and know what the grits really are with Naniwa resin bonded hones unlike with naturals. With the mix of hones you have now you may not really know where they fit into a honing progression. This is one place where a more expensive up front payout has dividends in the long run.

Bob

Not all synthetic stone work well for razors, they may work for knives but only proven performers are recommended especially when learning to hone. And Natural stone are even more random.

Start with a proven 1k synthetic stone and learn to set a bevel, and a 4/8 progression. If you don’t do this you are in for a long and bumpy road… needlessly. Many that travel that road… give up.

Go back and read the first 3 threads in the Honing forum.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by semperfi6141

Absolutely right ,but WOW they sure are expensiveAre they all stone or ceramic?

Well they don't have to be super expensive, there are some good sellers on ebay and the 10 mm thick ones are definitely not too spendy.
It looks to me like for what you have spent on the shotgun spray of stones you have you could have bought a 1, 3, 8 and maybe 12k finisher of a known brand such as naniwa. It is also worth bearing in mind that most people say that assigning a definite grit rating to a natural stone is not really possible. I am no master honer or even anywhere near, just what I have read.

Ed, I am giving you a Like because of two things aside from general content: one is "a shotgun spray of stones" and the other is learning another Aussie expression: Master Hover.

Originally Posted by edhewitt

Well they don't have to be super expensive, there are some good sellers on ebay and the 10 mm thick ones are definitely not too spendy.
It looks to me like for what you have spent on the shotgun spray of stones you have you could have bought a 1, 3, 8 and maybe 12k finisher of a known brand such as naniwa. It is also worth bearing in mind that most people say that assigning a definite grit rating to a natural stone is not really possible. I am no master hover or even anywhere near, just what I have read.

Originally Posted by WW243

Ed, I am giving you a Like because of two things aside from general content: one is "a shotgun spray of stones" and the other is learning another Aussie expression: Master Hover.

Bill, much as I would love to say that "master hover" is an Aussieism unfortunately it isn't, I just got predictive texted