Thread: Shinden Suita Hone.

[quote=English;274261
Hey, Old School, all Japanese hones are lumps of clay aren't they? Just some hold a finer grit than others.
[/quote]

Well yes they are, but when I mention lump of mud, I mean literally, you put water on it and then a blade, and next thing you know you have a pool of sludge and no stone.

Well that is not the case with the hone that I received from Tomonori Nakaoka. (Nak) I asked Nak if the hone would work with my straight razor and he had politely replied that it would. I am sure he picked out one for me that would do the job. The stone is clearly and fully described on the internet. The mine, the location, the stone strata (Suita) and the mine owner name/Miner are all given.

The hone is very hard indeed. When you hone on it, the surface gives up no slurry at all. The stone is also very slow to absorb water. I have a natural nagura rubbing stone and I can create a thin slurry with it, but it takes time and the slurry is the white nagura slurry. The clay element of the hone is a creamy yellow color but you need to lap the hone to release this slurry. The nagura doesn't do it. Lapping this stone is a slow process. It's not mud.

I used my best razor this morning. It was due for it's touch up and I did this with the new 10K Naniwa Chosera. To be honest, I think that that is all I needed to do. The Chosera puts a rasping tacky edge back on the blade in two passes. More than five passes is overkill. A good leather stropping will then smooth the edge to the satisfaction of most shavers.

But I was conscious of your earlier comments that the suita was too cheap to be a finishing hone. So I proceeded and honed twenty passes on the suita followed by fifty return strops on leather. The shave was as smooth as ever and I won't need to re hone that razor for a good month of daily useage. Normally, I would use chromium oxide on leather to get that type of smoothness. This morning I did not.

So I am now 100% sure the Suita is of a fine grit. I am not going to make claims as to what the grit level might be because I don't have the technical skill to determine it. But the shave off my suita hone was as smooth as a blade coming off CR OX. Smooth and satisfyingly close with no discomfort whatsoever.

This is not my first Japanese hone and whilst I might not be the most practised at honing, I am very experienced at trying many different types of hones and I certainly know the difference between a good hone and a bad hone and I would go so far as to say I also know the difference between a good hone and an exceptional hone.

The Chosera is a special synthetic hone and readily available. You will soon see many of the honing practitioners will be singing it's praises as a go to finishing hone. It's so efficient and time saving that they would be foolish not to. Mr average might not, because the hone is too expensive for touch ups and biannual rehone jobs.

The suita is a one off. It's different, it's a natural stone and its a little bit special. I need to play with mine for longer to get it nailed down, but it is very affordable and really good fun for anybody who enjoys this hobby. My post and review was designed to let other members like me know that this sort of hone opportunity is available.

You never know, but if they are smitten by the quality of these exceptional stones they may even save up to purchase one of yours.

Hey English, glad the Suita turned out to be a winner for you. I am not yet ready to break into the world of Japanese stones. There is so much to know and I am still evaluating my Eschers, Coticules, Thuringans, Nortons and Shaptons. Not to mention my Scotch hones. This HAD is as bad as RAD........ or as good depending on how you look at it I guess.

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.