Thread: Suehiro Kouseki 10k vs Gokumyo 20k

Does anyone have any experience with these stones?

Suehiro seems to make fantastic stones for razor honing and was wondering if someone has tried these two stones and could describe their differences, your experiences, etc.

Perhaps Steve56 will chime in.

Personally I don't have experience with the two stones you mentioned. However, on utube I follow a barber from England. His name is Gary Haywood. Over the last few months he has been conducting some really interesting shave tests with razors off the 10k, 20k and pastes etc. I'm not a big fan of a synthetic edge but Gary certainly has me considering a 10k purchase. Hope this helps.

I have the 20k and it is great synthetic, the best I have used.
From what I have read the 10k is very very nice as well with the 20k giving a little sharper edge, but I have not tried the 10k personaly.

Originally Posted by TristanLudloz1928273

Does anyone have any experience with these stones?

Suehiro seems to make fantastic stones for razor honing and was wondering if someone has tried these two stones and could describe their differences, your experiences, etc.

I have them both and have used them a good bit. The Kouseki is softer and more absorbent. I like to soak it for a few minutes or let water stand on the surface a few minutes.

The Kouseki makes a smooth edge that feels sharper than 10k, there was a discussion on B&B and most everyone agreed that it was slightly finer acting than a Naniwa 12k but did not act as fine as 15k. You can finish a razor with it no problems, and it’s fast. I like to use it before a JNat with a little shiro nagura slurry, which helps keep the stone from loading up. The ‘rubber’ that comes with the Kouseki is soft and fine - it’s usable for honing.

The Gokumyo 20k is harder, a lot harder, and it is finer. The edges are smooth and keen. The difference in the edges may be up to personal preference, and both Jamie Mahoney and Jerry King really like the G20 edges. It’s also a fast stone. One complaint that I’ve heard is that the honing ‘feel’ is plasticky whatever that means, if the stone does the job I couldn’t care less.

I use the Kouseki a lot more as a pre-finisher because I finish on Naturals. I occasionally use the G20k, mostly on request. If you want to final finish on synths, the G20k is difficult to argue with. If tou want a pre-finisher/finisher that acts a bit finer than the Naniwa 12k, go with the Kouseki.

Alternatives to the Kouseki: Shapton Glass 8k HC or 10k HR (I think the 8k HC is closer in performance), or the Shapton 0.85u 7 Series (this is a little finer acting)

Alternatives to the G20k: I don’t own the 30k Glass or Pro, but those would be obvious. The Shapton 7 Series 0.44u (or the 0.85u actually), or the current purple Pierre La Lune.


Hope this helps

Steve

Many thanks,

I have the 20k, but rarely used it because of natural stones in the past years.
I revisited it a few weeks ago and was very impressed.
I got a few crisp edges, but that seemed to have been caused by I think from stropping on a chalk pasted linen strop before going to leather post 20k honing.
From the 20k straight to leather seemed to not deliver those crisp edges, but very smooth, sharp edges that leave no alum sting whatsoever. But I have to re-test my experience that skipping the linen helps with my 20k, and otherwise my honing was faulty, too many laps or too much pressure probably.
Has anyone notice that skipping the linen helps for the 20k post honing, or doesn’t that make a difference?

I just received my Kouseki and honed on it, feel is different, but very nice.
I tried going straight to leather after honing, but after shaving half the face, I went back to the strops and did some laps on linen and then leather, for my Kouseki the linen certainly helped.

The Kouseki was very good though, very keen, smooth, forgiving.
I will have to hone 2 razors, hone one on the 10k Kouseki and one on the 20k Gokumyo and do a side by side comparison daily for a week.

Originally Posted by TristanLudloz1928273

Many thanks,

I have the 20k, but rarely used it because of natural stones in the past years.
I revisited it a few weeks ago and was very impressed.
I got a few crisp edges, but that seemed to have been caused by I think from stropping on a chalk pasted linen strop before going to leather post 20k honing.
From the 20k straight to leather seemed to not deliver those crisp edges, but very smooth, sharp edges that leave no alum sting whatsoever. But I have to re-test my experience that skipping the linen helps with my 20k, and otherwise my honing was faulty, too many laps or too much pressure probably.
Has anyone notice that skipping the linen helps for the 20k post honing, or doesn’t that make a difference?

I just received my Kouseki and honed on it, feel is different, but very nice.
I tried going straight to leather after honing, but after shaving half the face, I went back to the strops and did some laps on linen and then leather, for my Kouseki the linen certainly helped.

The Kouseki was very good though, very keen, smooth, forgiving.
I will have to hone 2 razors, hone one on the 10k Kouseki and one on the 20k Gokumyo and do a side by side comparison daily for a week.

I never use linen right after honing. Leather only.
It is actually recommended to not use the linen after fresh honing but rather only after the first shave, then linen and leather.(Barbering textbook)
I normaly do not use linen unless the leather itself will not bring it back enough. I also will employ a Boar hide strop in lieu of linen.

Also the 20k stone can cause a rougher edge if the cleaning stone is used - don't use it!.

I own a 10k Gokumyo & a 20k.
The 10k is irrelevant to your query but the 20k is superb. My 20 was very warped on arrival & a mongrel to flatten. It's a hard stone.

Very consistent & versatile finisher. Can be used dry a la barber hone for a touch up.
It's easy to overdo the laps if you come off an already fine stone eg 10k or 12k but somewhere between 3 & 10 laps will be the laughing clairvoyant.

I don’t have the ten. But I do have the 20. It sadly killed a lot of my participation in this group. It solved my issues for me and consistently has given me the edge I prefer. All of the other debates and discussions about how to use this hone or that ended when I got it. I’ve been happily set in my ways for a while now.

Thanks guys,

I could easily feel going from the 10k to 20k that the 20k was finer, I probably overdid the amount of strokes on the 20K before,
the first time I used my 20K and got an amazing edge was only by doing 6 laps or so on it.

Since I have both these stones and that 10k does feel really nice to hone on, it's a perfect pre-finisher for my 20k.
Shaves off of the 10k also did feel very good though, but no denying the 20k is, of course, finer.