Thread: How fine?

I know that everyone has there own opinion but I was just curious...

For general maintenance/honing what are the most necessary stones to have? I have the Norton 4/8k and it seems to be great but have read that some guys say that a truly sharp edge can only be achieved with a much finer stone or a coticule.

Do I need a finer stone?

It is icing on the cake. I can get a good acceptable and smooth shave from a 4/8 but I can get a bit more smoothness out of a 12k or higher grit. Another alternative is chrom ox or diamond spray or paste. Many members like the Chinese 12k since it is relatively cheap and does a good job. For more $$ the Shapton 16k has a large following and now the Naniwa super stones are getting a lot of good press.

Truth be told, you don't need a finer stone than a 8k. You really can maintain a good shaving edge with the norton 4k/8k. If you wanted a bit of an extra boost after the 8k, there are a LOT of options. If you wanted to natural, a coticule is a nice addition. It'll give it a nice smooth edge when you use it with just water after the 8k. You could also go the escher/thuringian route, as those are nice stones too. Oh, did I mention the chinese 12k?? I told you there were a lot of options!

If you wanted to go synthetic, then something like a shapton 16000 or naniwa 12000 would give the razor an extra boost after the norton 8000.

So it really depends if you wanted to go natural or sythetic for your polishing stones. The price for the chinese 12k can't be beat, so perhaps you'd like to try one of those if you didn't feel like paying a bunch for a decent sized coticule.

You know I probably just confused the hell out of ya, and gave you more questions than answers! But it's all a matter of personal preferrence. A lot of members get great shave-ready razors from a wide variety of hones. So it's not so much what you have, it's how you use it. So I'm sure you'd be set with any of the stones I mentioned.

For maintenance of razors that are already sharp, a good barber's hone is all you need to keep them sharp for years.

+1. A barbers' hone is a classic choice for a maintenance hone.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

It is icing on the cake.

Excellent Jimmy

Originally Posted by Utopian

For maintenance of razors that are already sharp, a good barber's hone is all you need to keep .

SHORT AND EXCELLENT ADVISE I LOVE short helpful responses . Thank you

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