Thread: grit

HELLO.. Does anyone know if a 6000 grit japanese waterstone is enough to get a straightrazor sharp enough before stropping?

Originally Posted by chrisuk

HELLO.. Does anyone know if a 6000 grit japanese waterstone is enough to get a straightrazor sharp enough before stropping?

Welcome to SRP.

Short answer, no a 6k is not enough. For finishing before going to the strop, you want to finish on at 8k at the very, very minimum, however 10k+ is more suitable.

A standard progression usually goes, 1,4 and 8k followed by a final polishing hone, either man made or natural.

I remember reading that the guys in Germany used a 6K and a strop up until about 2-3 years ago when the 8K became more readily available over there. If you decide to go that route then an abrasive pasted paddle strop with 2.0 or 1.0, and 0.5 micron pastes would help a lot.

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

Welcome to SRP.

Short answer, no a 6k is not enough. For finishing before going to the strop, you want to finish on at 8k at the very, very minimum, however 10k+ is more suitable.

A standard progression usually goes, 1,4 and 8k followed by a final polishing hone, either man made or natural.

I recently recieved a 10K Japanese water stone, should I go straight to the linen then strop or use a polishing hone before stropping? Or do you have any other suggestions?

From 10,000 I would just strop and shave. See how you like it before investing in anything finer.

I think we often forget that there is a trade off when the edge gets to fine. The finer the edge the more often you have to sharpen it and the easier it is to screw up.

A 10k is a polishing stone. Just use the linen and strop.
Later you can add an abrasive pasted paddle strop for a finer finish to the edge.