Thread: Shinden Suita Hone.

My initial comment wasn't meant to put you or anyone off either. It's just there have been a number of members buying the cheap hones, such as yours, and then coming to realize that they are not suitable for razors. My comment was meant to be more like, don't get your hopes up type comment.

On a small side note, if your getting a slurry made from the Nagura and not actually from the hone itself, that is another fine indicator of how coarse the stone is. Nagura make the slurry out of the main hone (normally). The slurry isn't part of a Nagura, generally speaking, so it is possible, when you honed your razor, it was the slurry from the Nagura that made the edge good.

Old school,

I think you are correct to make the warnings and people should heed them.

This hone was not for the feint of heart. I now know the base would need a lot more work to get to a usable layer.

It has taken a few hours of lapping work to get an all over smooth surface suitable for a razor, but it now works and works well with just good old water. I finished my lapping on a 1500 grit wet and dry paper used wet. The hone surface is smooth and even with no intrusions and nicely edged all around.

I'm just about to post some scratch pattern photo's and I think you will be surprised at the results.

I still don't understand what is going on with the slurry. But it is academic in a way as the hone works without slurry and with just water.

Anyway, I'm pleased with the final result and I agree I may have been lucky.

hmm I asked this same ebay seller if he had anything capable of straight razor honing and he never replied. how did you get in contact with him?

I sent him an ebay message.

I saw the item for sale.
Asked the question.
Bought the item.
Then got the reply.
Only then did he post it.
So I suppose if it had not been good for razors, he wouldn't have posted it and given me my money back.
I think he only does it as a hobby and so you have to give him time to reply.

Try again and see how you get on, but try the ebay route.

I have sent him messages at different times and not responded to. I thought he was mad because i said the eye of the hammer he sold me was crooked
you can also try writing to fujibato ( i tink that's it) .com

My shinden made for a noticeable difference over the couticule.

Kevin,

My shinden suita makes for a noticable difference over all the other finishing hones I own.

Which are in order of comfort
Yellow coticule
Green Escher type
Chromium Oxide
Naniwa Chosera
Shinden Suita

I've only had the Suita four days and it is a revelation. It puts just the smoothest edge on a razor without removing the sharpness.

The Chosera puts the best sharpness I've experienced and so quickly it's also a true revelation.

I can honestly say, with these two new (not inexpensive) hones I no longer need to use Cr Ox.

I think the next step for me at least is a 5000 grit Naniwa to remove the coticule out of the process. Then a 1000 grit Naniwa to maintain a consistency of approach and remove the wet and dry rather course but effective bevel setting approach.

I have not tried any Shapton hones but I have tried the likes of theThuringien, the Spyderco and the Chinese 12k and I have deliberately not put them in my list as although they are good, they are not in my opinion top flight in their grade.

Bottom line, I am happy to shave off all of the above hones, but I'm as entitled as the next man to my favorites. I very rarely change my mind on quality and I believe that I have just struck gold with the Chosera for sharpness and the Suita for smoothness.

But like all HAD sufferers, I will keep on looking.

English, are you honing on the Suita with water only or are you creating a slurry with a diamond plate for example? If you're using water only, is the Suita softer than an Asagi, then for those who know? For the harder Japanese polishing stones like an Asagi, isn't it customary to hone with slurry and some would argue depending on the particular hone slurry is essential?

Chris L

Chris,

I don't know the answers to your question I don't have an asagi and I didn't try the hone with it's own slurry as I don't have a diamond hone either. I only have one other no name very soft Japanese hone that will yield a slurry with ease.

The suita is very hard, it is slow to lap on the wet and dry. It creates a rich creamy clay slurry when it is being lapped. It's harder than a coticule for example, much harder.

If I rub the nagura stone on the hone, not a lot happens. Eventually, the nagura yields a slurry onto the hone and not vice versa. All this tells me is that both stone are very flat and the nagura is softer, which it is. I can make an indentation in my rubbing stone with my thumb, but I could sharpen my nails on the hone and can not dent it. Do you know, sharpening your nails on a hone is a pretty good indicator of grit size as you can feel how smooth the hone leaves the edge of your nail.

If the suita was not flat, you couldn't use it. You can see a little blackness in the water from the swarf as you hone and so you know it is working. It hones the edge very slowly. The hone tends to jerkiness if you press to hard and so you do have to hone lightly. You can feel the hone doing its work and you can tell when you reach the optimum point quite easily.

Don't know what else to say really, except that it works and it really surprised me. Pleasantly.

I very nearly gave up on this hone because I expect a hone to have a range with and without slurry, harder v's softer honing etc. This hone just polishes an already great edge.

I think if you were to go with diamond plate you might down grade the hardness at least a notch.

A tool can gouge the surface readily. so it is a lot softer than a novaculite. My initial impression was the suita was just a little harder than the piece of N-A I have, but that was a little short sighted. They are somewhat close, but the asagi is harder and finer.

I have a scratchy section with su that have swallowed up black swarf. I plan to scratch those out with some pointy ground edge tool thing, but i haven't seen damagae only sound. a few times i have wiped dryish slurry in the holes to float them out.

I caught a lucky auction getting mine for 25usd

The first honing i cheated the suita some with a heavy slurry, the finished dry-which may not have helped.

I rehoned the razor with water only on a fresh lap (shinden) about 6 hours later to shave a second pass- for me its going over the rough patches at any and all angles and getting all grizzle off my chin and lip- unstropped, it was a fairly clean shave with little trouble. while the cout. was very high feedback. it cut surely but just 1 pt below tugging

There are several vendors, particularly on ebay, that I consider to be best avoided. There also used to be a member vendor on this forum with whom I severely disagreed after he tried to gain access to my bank account. Regardless, it is my understanding that the public disparaging of vendors is not allowed in this forum.