Annual 12k

...12K Naniwa stone that is. Every year I take all of my straights and refresh the edges on my 12K Naniwa stone. Hence my annual 12k. I have around 25 -30 straights and I use them in a generally regular rotation so I find an annual turn on the 12K finishing stone is sufficient to keep my edges in good shape. A quick turn on my leather strop and I am good to go for another year. So this week I started. I refreshed 7 of my straights and next week I will do another 7 until they are all done.
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Anyone else do annual edge upkeep?

I wish I were as systematic about it as you-I have about the same number of razors, as well as the same Nani 12k. But I'm always tinkering with different naturals and trying new techniques-still learning I suppose.

I did just rescale a vintage straight and hone it up to Norton 8k for my neighbor, who has taken to straights like a duck to water. I want him to shave with the 8k edge, and then see if he can improve it with my Nani 12 as he's just starting to learn. Like I told him, it's a great benchmark finisher that is probably the easiest stone to start on IMO.

Whizbang,
I'm curious to know. How do you prepare your Naniwa 12k? Do you just lap with diamond plate and get going, or do you burnish it in anyway before starting in earnest.

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Wow that is far too organized for me. I am in awe or your organization and you stable inventory.

I do something similar, but with a loaded strop instead of my 12k. I will probably have to drop to a stone eventually, but after 2 years of just the strop my blades are still good to go!

My regime is similar but I do a 4/8K then finisher and just do one razor a day starting on Jan 1, only have 12 razors in rotation so does not take long

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Originally Posted by JHBBlade

Whizbang,
I'm curious to know. How do you prepare your Naniwa 12k? Do you just lap with diamond plate and get going, or do you burnish it in anyway before starting in earnest.

Sent from my SM-N910C using Tapatalk

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I own a 1k, 3/8k and 12k Naniwa set of stones. I lap with 600 grit 3M wet/dry sandpaper. We have a perfectly level glass top stove. I wet the stove top, wet the paper. I put a light grid on the stones with pencil...and do circles, figure 8's until the surface of the stone is even. I don't have to do it very often...unless I strike it rich in the antique stores.

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Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

I wish I were as systematic about it as you-I have about the same number of razors, as well as the same Nani 12k. But I'm always tinkering with different naturals and trying new techniques-still learning I suppose.

I did just rescale a vintage straight and hone it up to Norton 8k for my neighbor, who has taken to straights like a duck to water. I want him to shave with the 8k edge, and then see if he can improve it with my Nani 12 as he's just starting to learn. Like I told him, it's a great benchmark finisher that is probably the easiest stone to start on IMO.

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That's good practice. I spent a lot of time trying to perfect my edges with my 8k stone. And learning what a good 8k edge feels like is good as well. I think for anyone starting out they should work with a 1k to set the bevel, then 3k and 8k to finish. Once you learn that adding in the 12k is a bonus. Your friend is lucky to have you close by while he is learning.

thought from the title that you were talking about running Whizbang. your post is far more interesting than that :)

You are far more organized than me. If I only honed once a year I would be afraid that i'd lose what little touch i do have... props to you!

I'm on more of a 'when I find a way to dull it, touch it up' routine. I don't think I have enough blades to just make it an annual affair. And I've got a few that get used for off the wall experiments so a lot of them just stay dormant for a while with relatively light use.