Whats your current honing setup?

Just curious as to what people are using these days

Just curious as to what people are using, im settled with what I have which is more than most but less than some.

I dont tend to stick with all synthetics or all naturals (well as all natural as you can go bevel setting options are limited imho in that area)
I dont even stick with one range let alone one brand when it come to synthetics.

Bevel setting is
Chosera 1k (work DMT when needed)

4k is the Naniwa Hayabusa 4k or the Dalmore blue.
If im struggling with a certain razor I use both

8k is covered for me with the Naniwa snow white or the Naniwa Fuji on occasion I do crack out the Norton 8k and sometimes I bridge the 4k-8k gap with my tam O Shanter usually when I have a chippy razor either of my Hart razors spring to mind

the next step for me is either a very fine slate hone (im assuming its slate I cant say for sure I know its not a Thuri but its past an 8k imho. before going to another step
But usually its the SG10 or the Naniwa 12k or both

Final is the SG20k or Charnley forest.

If Im finishing on either of my Cotis I either do the 8k phase or skip it it depends on how the razor is honing up imho.

I have other stones some ive hardly used but I will give them a proper try out at some point

200-300-400-600 diamond hone from Harbor Freight for bevel set.
6000 Japanese wet stone
20,000 Nadler finishing stone

Linen Strop with Theirs Issard strop paste
Leather Strop to finish

Does not sound like much but ask those that buy my razors how they like the edge.

Chosera 1k for bevel set and repairs

Coticule

Shapton glass

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Originally Posted by Badgister

Chosera 1k for bevel set and repairs

Coticule

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I love the simplicity of that, I maybe will give it a go when I get another razor to hone up

Naniwa 1K, 3K, 8K
Then I may chose some different routes from there.
Frequently Naniwa 10K amd then a Natural. I have HGH, Zulu, GoldFisch, Escher, and those are pretty commonly used. I also has a coticule, that I tray to finish with every now and then, but we are not really friends. I also have a 12K Naniwa, and I do use it sometimes as a finisher, but that is not very common either.
I would really like to get some Japanese rubbing stones to try as a progression on my HGH.

Shapton Glass or Naniwa Chosera ~ for 1k

Shapton Glass progression ~ to 16k

Finish :
True Hard Arkie ~ Most often
Escher
Hohenzollern
Apache Strata

Pete <:-}

Naniwa Chosera 1K for bevels

And just started usingwith excellent results: Shobu Mizuasagi Awasedo with nagura progression: Yae-botan, tenjou, mejiro, koma, tomo, water only

Just got an Nakayama Asagi Nomito, so that may get switched out with the Shobu, depending on its performance.

Norton 1k/4k/8k, then finish on a natural stone.

Naniwa Super Stones in 1K, 3K, 8K and 12K followed by stropping on a felt strop pasted with green a Puma stick. There is a large DMT 625 diamond plate for lapping the Naniwas and heavy work on the blades. Bevel set starts wherever the blades needs to start at, 325 DMT, 1k or 3K Naniwa.

Bob

Bevel work: Cretan hone or Finnish phyllite

After that: Coticule (mostly yellow, but sometimes blue) or Thüringer.

That's for both razors and kitchen knives. I just realised that, apart from some very basic hardware store grinding stone, I have yet to buy my first synthetic hone in almost ten years of honing and shaving with cutthroat razors.

Best regards,

Pieter

1) DMT 325/600 for lapping and any really ugly work that needs to get done
2) Naniwa SS 1000 for bevel setting
3) Naniwa Traditional 3000 -- it's smaller (2" x 6") and while fine, I'd like to replace it; requires soaking and is relatively slow.
4) Coticule (1.5" x 6") -- used with slurry and diluted to clear, often finished dry. If I'm feeling ambitious I can skip the 3000 and just used this with heavy slurry, but it's definitely more time and work.

This thread illustrates my signature quote pretty well. I'm pretty simple:
Chosera 1k green brick
Norton 4/8k (old school, but they work)
Nani 12k
Primitive Black Arkansas (which could change if I get some new natural to obsess over)
Stropping progression from rough-side kangaroo down the rack to my finest Japanese shell

I have changed things little with the recent opportunities of having time available to do so -
My go to is pretty simple - Shapton Glass stones - 1or 2-4-8-16k. Often I use the 12k kuromaku stone instead of the 16k and often finishing off the Zulu Grey and sometimes even on a tomo slurry.

Now - i have started playing with coticules, going to coti after shapton 4k to finishing.
Even using a tomo slurry on the jnat after the coticule.

still got some more variations i want to try out

For edge repair prior to the bevel set proper, I have a variety of coarse synthetics including various diamond plates, but often I just use sandpaper on one of my acrylic blocks. For the actual bevel set and progression I have Naniwas from 1k to 12k, and also a complete range of lapping film. Sometimes I use one, sometimes the other. I also have an Awesado and three naguras that I seldom use anymore. Post finish I use lapped and pasted balsa, .5u, .25u, and .1u, and for routine post shave maintenance. the .1u alone will gitter done and keep her bristol fashion. Various hanging strops, cow, steer, and buffalo, and I just got some bull hide a couple months ago that I will try one of these days when I get around to making more strops. Sold my arkies and cotis about 10 or 15 years ago to guys who appreciated them more than I do. I had a King combo and I think I simply tossed it rather than inflict it on someone else. Ditto the Cnat I had that never really showed me anything at all.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pithor

Bevel work: Cretan hone or Finnish phyllite

After that: Coticule (mostly yellow, but sometimes blue) or Thüringer.

That's for both razors and kitchen knives. I just realised that, apart from some very basic hardware store grinding stone, I have yet to buy my first synthetic hone in almost ten years of honing and shaving with cutthroat razors.

Best regards,

Pieter

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I had a cretain hone a couple of years ago but sold it, I got a great price for it, but I sometimes regret selling it, that said I hadn't really used it so it didn't have a place in my rotation

I have a few J nats that make great edges. No 2 honing sessions I use the same: J nat barber hone, Ozuku Mizu Asagi or Nakayama, whatever takes my fancy.

Given the choice its 1k Suehiro then Jnats...

Today i'm going synthetics to Escher & Arkansa and im looking forward to it ..

Cheers

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Originally Posted by Pithor

Bevel work: Cretan hone or Finnish phyllite

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I would love to have naturals for bevel setting. Can you give an indication of their "grit equivalent"

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Originally Posted by Kees

I would love to have naturals for bevel setting. Can you give an indication of their "grit equivalent"

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It's really hard to say; as I said I have never used synthetics all that much. They're a bit porous, quite fast on slurry and I figure a bit on the soft side (at least mine wears relatively unevenly quite fast). I have done bevel repair work on it, but I have also had a decent, comfortably shaving off it. I'd say if you max out the edge it's a bit keener than a coticule after regular bevel work on milky slurry, which makes it a great pairing with coticules.

Bart Torfs did an extensive write-up on it back in the day.

Best regards,

Pieter

Mostly the Naniwa Chosera / Pro 1-5-10 into one of many Natural finishers

I still use the Naniwa SS 1-3-5-8-10-12 especially for some of the Finicky Chippy new Production and Custom razors :(

I use the Shapton GS 1-2-4-6-8-16-30 on rare occasions with razors that can handle it :)

Glen and/or others who go from synth to natural finishers... when finishing, do you use a tomo, diamond plate, or water only?

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Originally Posted by Aldwyn

Glen and/or others who go from synth to natural finishers... when finishing, do you use a tomo, diamond plate, or water only?

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I know you don't want to hear it, but

"It depends on the Stone"

In general, I use a light slurry to "Introduce" the 10K Hone edge to the Natural Stone how I make that slurry depends on the Natural Stone I am using, sometimes on the Slurry Stone / Nagura I am using on that Stone

The problem with Naturals is that they are by definition "Natural" so there is really no recipe that I use that will for sure work for you :(
The one constant is that I always use a light slurry when I come off the 10k

Naniwa SS for me, 1-2-5-8-12k. I’ll occasionally throw an ark finish on after the 8k or 12k depending on razor. The naniwas are just easy. There are definitely some little tricks you can do to get a little more refined finished edge but not required. For all the finishers and screwing around we do I always go back to the naniwas and a couple of laps on a hanging fabric strop loaded with optical grade crox. To make things easy watch Glens videos on the Naniwas he pretty much figured it all out for those stones so we don’t have to.

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Originally Posted by jfk742

Naniwa SS for me, 1-2-5-8-12k. I’ll occasionally throw an ark finish on after the 8k or 12k depending on razor. The naniwas are just easy. There are definitely some little tricks you can do to get a little more refined finished edge but not required. For all the finishers and screwing around we do I always go back to the naniwas and a couple of laps on a hanging fabric strop loaded with optical grade crox. To make things easy watch Glens videos on the Naniwas he pretty much figured it all out for those stones so we don’t have to.

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That must be nice having such short intervals between grits.

1k Chosera ( green brick ) W/ brown turd (dressing stone)
for slurry.

Washita W/water

Lt. blue Thurigan. Slurry to water

Blue/green, barbers delight, slurry to water.

No stria at this point, just a hazy finished bevel.

Ooh la la ...! After the strops.

DMT 325 for worn and damaged blades. Shapton glass 1k, 2k, 4k, 8k, and finishing on a Shapton Pro 12k. Occasional finish on an Arkansas hard black if the Shapton Pro edge seems a little harsh. Sometimes, like yesterday, I'll do a quick hone on the good old Norton 4k/8k followed by the Shapton 12. The Norton 4k, when well broken in, can also serve as a bevel setter for blades that are just dull, rather than damaged.

Come on, where is the dude who hones with a 1k,2k,3k,4K,5k,6k,7k,8k,9k,10k,11k,12k ? I know you are out there.

I often go from 5K to final Jnat finisher. You don't need anything in between. It depends on my mood whether or not I use a tomo. If you don't use much pressure on the 5K the striae won't be deep so you don't need an 8K to remove 5K striae. I have a full set of 4 asano naguras but IMHO using them is a waste of time.

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Originally Posted by Badgister

Come on, where is the dude who hones with a 1k,2k,3k,4K,5k,6k,7k,8k,9k,10k,11k,12k ? I know you are out there.

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Nice...

Starting with JNats I used a 1K -> 4K -> 8k -> full mikawa nagura (botan through koma) -> tomo

But as I got familiar with the nagura I saw where I was going backwards, and where my steps could be skipped.

Still dialing in, but right now I'd say my routine is 1K -> 4K -> 8K -> JNat finisher with tomo.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pithor

It's really hard to say; as I said I have never used synthetics all that much. They're a bit porous, quite fast on slurry and I figure a bit on the soft side (at least mine wears relatively unevenly quite fast). I have done bevel repair work on it, but I have also had a decent, comfortably shaving off it. I'd say if you max out the edge it's a bit keener than a coticule after regular bevel work on milky slurry, which makes it a great pairing with coticules.

Bart Torfs did an extensive write-up on it back in the day.

Best regards,

Pieter

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Thanks for the link. I would like to have someone to talk to who can recommend me one or 2 stones. i like the fact that different sides of one hone have a different grit size if you like. Do they have customer advisors who know what you need for straight razors?

At the moment mostly Shapton Glass 500 (bevel), 3k, 10k, then a natural for finishing (translucent Ark, Jnat, coticule, Thuringian, Lyn Idwal, Zulu). For Jnats with full nagura starting after 3k works for me too).

Occasionally all natural : e.g. Cretan or Salm Rouge (bevel), Dalmore blue or Moughton (mid-range), the rest on coticule, Jnat or Thuringian. My Cretan is a fast cutter but I haven't yet figured out to max it into a finisher. The mid-rangers could be skipped but heck I might as well try and use what I own (aka the tyranny of owning too many stones :))

For some time now have I have been using the Naniwas 3 k 5 k 8 k 10 k followed by the 20kG.
I use the Escher now and then after the 10k Naniwas and the coticule.

I must say the 20kG is my favourite

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Originally Posted by gary haywood

I use the Escher now and then after the 10k Naniwas and the coticule.

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It's an interesting approach. I'm curious, what is the value of using the Escher after the coticule? What I mean to say is, why not just go straight to the Escher after the 10k? What does the coticule add in the equation? Cheers!

Sorry I mean I use the Escher after the 10 k . I also used the coticule after 10 k not the coticule after Escher or vice versa.


So far I have found the 20kG just improves smoothness and gives me a better feel during shaving. To be fair I like the 10 k naniwa shave it takes some beating.