Thread: Getting started with natural stones

Does anyone know of any articles or links to good info for a beginner to natural hones? I am fairly proficient with my Shapton and Naniwa hones, but it seems that using a natural stone requires a new skill set and even vocabulary. This has to have been addressed here before.

Well there are many many to choose from. First I would think of what you might be looking for and then search within those parameters and then decide to stop and shop or move onto investigating the next idea. The very very best way is to go to a meet and try a few first. Honestly there are a lot to choose from and the prices are all over the board. Budget may also be a consideration. Try to narrow beyond just a natural hone, because oddly enough it is still incredibly vague.

My first natural stone was a Coticule. I enjoy using them. They are great once you figure them out as is any natural stone.
I also have some thuri hones as well.

I've never used any Japanese hones.

There are tons of information just about any hone/ stone on these forums. Ya just have to research them.

I love naturals. Since you are already hone proficient then you shouldn't worry about them.

There are some new stones that are well regarded, Zulu grey, Ardennes coticules, Vermio greek hones, And a whole world of Jnats.

There are also a lot of established old stones that can be picked up. Price wise the old rocks can vary hugely, And it's always a gamble.

There is such a wide variety of stones out there that no one can tell you what you will like the best. And even a perfect stone may not produce the edge you want.

My recommendation is the German Thuringian hone types. They give a really nice edge, and only need water to work well. They also work like most synthetics and do not have any real learning curve. Some have a grit under 12K but the vast majority will improve a 12K edge and give a very solid smooth shave. They often appear in the classified on here, and are very frequent sales on ebay. A boxed celebrated water hone is a good buy in most cases.

You always get the best deals on auction by buying stones that look dirty and used. Provided you are 90% sure it is what it is and it's a cheap buy then ebay gambling can be a fun way to build a natural collection. You just have to be prepared to take the odd hit when something comes that isn't expected. Most sellers do not know what there selling so natural descriptions tend not to be specific about stone types. Natural sharpening stone is about the best description most sellers can give, and even then some don't give you that much information!

The real trick is narrowing down a search. Look for stones of colour, in sizes that are known cuts. Decent pictures of the surface then make an estimate about quality. Set a budget and wait till the auction is almost over before you put in your budget price (10-15 seconds before end). It'll net you the cheapest prices and the least failure rates.

Not sure what the rules are on links here, (member at too many different sites) so I PM'ed you one that I think is very good and informative for beginners to intermediates.

Only thing new about naturals is likely to be your surface prep & slurry. Beyond that, they operate the same as your synthetic hones. Just takes a few more laps to get to the finish line. Seems like most synthetics you can lap with a 325 DMT and take the razor straight to them from there. Some naturals (Arkies come to mind) almost require you polish the surface finer, then burnish them with a kitchen knife or a chisel to get the most out of them. Some are good with water/shave lather, others might prefer oil. Some are pretty slow, others are faster. I don't think any are as fast as a synthetic. Most will feel better though, and that's what really counts.


Not sure if it'll help, but this will give you an idea of what folks are using as a finisher:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...lar-basis.html

On that list, the naturals are Escher, JNAT, Coticules, Zulu Grey, Chinese 12K (PHIG), and Welsh Slate. Arkansas hones are about the only common ones that poll seems to have missed.

On that list, JNats and Coticules stand out as being very reliant on mastery of slurry. It definitely helps speed things up on the C12K and Welsh slates, but you can get by without if you have a good 8K hone. I'm not sure how reliant Eschers or Zulu Greys are on slurry. Most of what I've read about them indicates that they're typically used as a splash & go water only finisher, but I could be mistaken there.

Arkansas hones are generally used with honing oil, and typically aren't slurried. Once they're lapped, prepped, and burnished you don't want to disturb the surface if you don't have to.

To make things more confusing, there are no hard fast rules in the world of naturals. Some people will stick to using their stones as described above. Others will use oil on their 'water stones' or water & slurry on 'oil stones.' I think I read a thread somewhere, and a user mentioned using a Nagura stone (Typically used in conjunction with Jnats) on an Arkansas hone.

Excellent info, thanks.