Thread: 12K vs. 8K??

Hey forum,
First post here, glad to join! I'm looking to purchase my first hone and was hoping for some guidance.

Question: Is there any point in using an 8K grit before using a 12K? (specifically looking at Naniwa brand)

For a little background, I've been shaving with a presharpened dovo straight for 10 months now, just using a paddle strop with pastes. It's worked great until recently, when i finally can't seem to get her sharp. Plus, as Christmas approaches, I've been interested in seeing what all this honing business is about.

So, if all I'm looking to do is "polish" back to a shave ready state, is there any reason to have lower grits? The 5K, 8K, 12K set of Naniwas on Straight Razor Designs has me drooling a little bit, but will I even need the 5 or 8K as long as i don't chip the razor?

Thanks!
-Tom

Tom,

Welcome to SRP. If all you want is a touchup stone, you might consider getting a coticule from Bart, or finding an Escher, or Japanese natural stone from Old_School, or even a Barber Hone. A 12k will work too, but a lot of guys prefer the others mentioned as a finishing stone. Also, many will truly finish on the pastes anyway after going to those stones.

Would you mind commenting on what the coticle, escher, etc provide that a 12K wouldn't? From what I can tell the world of coticles seems to be rather complex.

Originally Posted by fromkaos

From what I can tell the world of coticles seems to be rather complex.

this made me laugh at least i haven't laugh recently

Coticule is not complex it is just simple name of the stone.
Now differences between those stones ?
it is a tough question to answer.
what you are looking for is barber hone . Is the best option in your situation.
if you like to sharp a little dull edge barber hone will the best option(cheapest and easiest).
if you like to hone the razor from scratch is a different story.
Then you will need more then 1 stone.
Escher's ,Nakayama ,Naniwa 12k, all is finishing stones.
hope this helps

Haha, woops.

Well thanks for the advice. Not counting price, are there any differences between honing with a barber hone or a naniwa? And where would I pick up a barber hone? Are there new ones being made, or is it a vintage thing?

there is no new ones made so far.
you can pick up one from classified or ebay.
yes there is differences among barber hones and rest of the hones.
Barber hones usually fast cutter and meant to refresh the edge mostly. Regular hones(naniwa etc) are hones you put final edge(we are talking high grit stones)
hope this helps

Originally Posted by fromkaos

Haha, woops.

Well thanks for the advice. Not counting price, are there any differences between honing with a barber hone or a naniwa? And where would I pick up a barber hone? Are there new ones being made, or is it a vintage thing?

A Barber hone is really for razors that are already shave ready and you want to keep them that way. Your not going to take a dull razor, and hone it on a barber hone. They are great to have, 3-5 lapps before you shave, and it keeps your razor good to go for a while. Constant use of pastes will round your edge, that's why your razor is dull. Eventually you need to go to the rocks. I don't know what your budget is, But Nakayama, very expensive, Escher, Hard to find, and normally expensive too. Since they are very narrow, I wouldn't recommend to someone new to honing. Coticule are great finishers and very versatile. They too are hard to find these days. Bart is close to the quarry and is able to get lower grade hones. The more common and sought after Coticules are Select grade, but we're really talking Aesthetics here. The lower grades work just as well as the higher grades. They're just not that pretty. Out of all the hones mentioned, The most affordable would be the Naniwa 12k. It's hard to say what you need, because I don't know your razor. You may need something more. Actually, your best bet would probably be a Norton 4k/8k combo. You have pastes, so once your blade is honed, you can hit the pastes for the final finish, That's what I'd do

P.S. The Naniwa 5, 8 and 12k would be equally awesome...I love the Naniwa line, I have and use all of them....

It may be that 10 months of pasted strop maintenenace has created so much convexing of the edge that 12K will not be enough to get back to flat bevels. Just sayin.

Originally Posted by matt321

It may be that 10 months of pasted strop maintenenace has created so much convexing of the edge that 12K will not be enough to get back to flat bevels. Just sayin.

ahhh, good to know.

Originally Posted by matt321

It may be that 10 months of pasted strop maintenenace has created so much convexing of the edge that 12K will not be enough to get back to flat bevels. Just sayin.

Isn't the convexing of the edge concern more specific to a pasted hanging strop? I was under the impression that the paddles strops were not really considered at risk as much as that?

Also, If we can add a microbevel with a 30K, wouldn't it seem logical that we could get it back to a flat bevel if it were rounded by pastes... I mean over the course of ten month, what are the chances that so much damage has been done that a coticule of barber hone or nani 12K couldn't bring it back to glory?