Naniwa SS revisited

[rcavazos1922]

I've been using one razor and two coticules for several months and I thought I was getting some good edges, so I decided to test them against the Naniwa SS. My Dovo Carre had a Coticule edge on it (by someone else ) so I thought I would use that one. I used 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, & 12k and some Chromium Oxide. I just finished shaving with it...Naniwa wins all categories

[feltspanky]

Something to be said for Man Made Honing Stones With A Scientific Grit Rating. I have a Shapton 30K and it has lots of friends and detractors. Once I learned how to properly use the stone to it's potential. I'm well pleased with the ultra smooth shaving results I achieve.

[rcavazos1922]

Something to be said for Man Made Honing Stones With A Scientific Grit Rating. I have a Shapton 30K and it has lots of friends and detractors. Once I learned how to properly use the stone to it's potential. I'm well pleased with the ultra smooth shaving results I achieve.

The Naniwas are so easy to use and the edges are so smooth and sharp, I think my Coticules are going to take a long "nap"...again.

[apipeguy]

I also have the Nani 1,3,5,8 and 12k's. Certainly all I need and I'm very happy with them. Made my entry into honing very easy and with great results.

On second thought, maybe a 30k in the future.

[BeJay]

Love my Super Stones. My Nortons have not been out once since I got them. I have though about experimenting with some naturals but I'm so happy with my Naniwas that I can't justify spending money on more hones.

[Utopian]

I have several series of hones, but the Naniwa SuperStones continue to be a favorite for me. That said, I still highly appreciate the "character" imparted by my various coticules.

Please keep in mind that what some of us fanatics on this forum have at our disposal for honing far surpasses what the average shaver of 50-100 years ago used. Do you think some farmer in Minnesota in 1910 had ever heard of a Nakayama Asagi? Most shavers probably never even had a hone of any sort and just got by with a strop, or maybe they dropped in to a barber every few years, or decades, for a honing touch-up.

The more sane members of this forum can get by with just a few or, God help them, just a single hone. You can learn to make the best of what you have, and if all you have is a single coticule or barber hone or whatever, then I guarantee that over a few years your edges will continue to get better as you learn how to truly understand what your hone can do.

Your honing improves with practice, not with more hones.

(But I do admit that I have had fun playing with a lot of hones.)

[celticcrusader]

I've always said if the Barbers of the past could lay their hands on Chosera or Naniwa stones they would never have picked up another natural.

[Pithor]

Once I learned how to properly use the stone to it's potential. I'm well pleased with the ultra smooth shaving results I achieve.

Eerrrm...this goes for any stone, really. Including naturals. Granted, learning to max out an edge on those might take longer to learn than it does on synthetic hones with grit rating that is made meaningful in a brand-specific way, according to people who use them a lot.

Then again, it might not be; it may be that the threshold to get decent shaving edges is lower. I don't know, as I never first learned honing on synthetics. Which, obviously, I cannot do any more.

[rhensley]

I've been using one razor and two coticules for several months and I thought I was getting some good edges, so I decided to test them against the Naniwa SS. My Dovo Carre had a Coticule edge on it (by someone else ) so I thought I would use that one. I used 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, & 12k and some Chromium Oxide. I just finished shaving with it...Naniwa wins all categories

The only difference in my set up is I don't have the 10 and I finish on a 20k. my results suit me fine. I have a couple of swaty's but don't use them any more. I do believe that Lynn Abrams was correct when he said that the naniwas was perfect for razors.

[sqzbxr]

I guess I'm the oddball here because I've sold off all my Naniwas and Nortons and am getting by just fine with a King 1k, two coticules, and an Escher. I work almost exclusively with Sheffield Wedges and heavy quarter-hollows and I used to get really frustrated with the synthetics quickly loading up with swarf. When I got my second coticule - which cuts very quickly with slurry - I realized that my synthetics were getting no use at all. I just sold my last Naniwa the other day.

Different strokes for different folks!