Thread: Newbie Question ?

i have the Norton 220/ 1000 & 4000 / 8000 stone set up. looking to going to a 12k Naniwa .
Is that OK or do I need to do 10 & 12. And is there any need to go to 16 ?


Keep in mine I am just learning as well.

Thanks in Advance

A 12k will work just fine, no need for a 10k in between. Likewise, a 16k is not necessary at this point. When you have mastered getting comfortable shaves from the 12k you can revisit the question.

You probably know this already but 220 is pretty coarse for a razor. Set the bevel on the 1000. Lots of great advice from experienced people here I know they have helped me immensely.

I've preached and preached this for years now:

If you can't get a Clean Close and Comfortable Shave off of an 8K hone you are pouring your money down a Rat Hole buying higher grit hones. Period.

Oh and Yes 1K will serve you well for bevel setting.

Later on the lower grits come in handy for restoration work. However you need to semi master so much before turning to restoration. At least in my very humble opinion.

Enjoy!

Have you mastered shaving with a straight? Thats first! If not then leave the stones alone and have a pro take care of your razors. This eleminates one major factor in learning to shave. If you KNOW your razor is right, then your ability is the only thing to learn.
And if your good with the razor then what everyone is saying is correct. Heed what cudarunner is saying too. 8k will be plenty unless you really want to go finer.

Very good advice above. I'll just leave this here:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...on-2012-a.html

A lot of us get spoiled with our 12/16/20/30K synthetics, pastes down to .1 micron, Jnats, eschers/thuringians, coticules, Arkies (guilty), barber hones (also guilty), slates and such and forget how good a simple 8K edge can be.

Originally Posted by Marshal

Very good advice above. I'll just leave this here:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...on-2012-a.html

A lot of us get spoiled with our 12/16/20/30K synthetics, pastes down to .1 micron, Jnats, eschers/thuringians, coticules, Arkies (guilty), barber hones (also guilty), slates and such and forget how good a simple 8K edge can be.

I shaved off of Norton 8k edges with a finish on a pasted balsa strop for a while. It works fine just fine and produces a very serviceable edge. I recently got a Naniwa 12k Specialty Stone and have used it on a few razors now. It is a definite improvement for sure, but until I got good results on the Norton 1k/4k/8k, I doubt that I would have known what I was getting into with the 12k. It requires a very light touch that I needed to develop first. Keep working and don't rush.

For a slightly contrarian view: I started learning to SR shave and hone at the same time, and I wouldn't change a thing. Now two years in, I remember some of the awful honing jobs I did in the beginning and the tugging and pulling and bleeding. But I learned and improved, and today I hone all my own edges, except those razors I buy new and come shave ready. The new shave ready razors also proved a teaching tool; what an edge should be. As others here already said, learn the shaving process and honing through the 8k and you'll be off to a good start. By then you'll be wanting to branch into natural stone finishers anyway.