One stone theory

I bought my first razor a little while ago. Its still doin fine, but i know im gunna need a hone sometime. I only plan on buying "shave ready" razors from honemeisters. ive ready lots of articles (one of them written by our fearless leader Lynn) that said if i plan to not restore razors all i have to get is a finishing stone. Do i need a 8k 10k or 12k? or higher? Norton or Naiwa? Couticle? I wanted a swaty but i DO NOT mess with ebay and all ive found everywhere else is beaten up stones. Any suggestions?

All I have is a barber hone and an Escher. Those are both pretty high up there grit wise. (think 10-12K+)

If your razor has already been honed by a professional then a barber hone is all you'll need for the most part to maintain your edge.

If you don't like ebay look in the SRP classifieds. As to which brand or type that's up to you. Couticles have more of a learning curve(used different) than a synthetic Norton or Naiwa. Read up on them first.

I have a small barber hone, and it has done the trick the few times I have used it. I just follow it with a few strokes on a CO pasted strop and everything goes well.

You could start with a barber hone. OTOH, a Norton 4/8 or a Belgian coticule with a slurry stone.... natural yellow/bbw even better, is also a good option. Just IME.

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

You could start with a barber hone. OTOH, a Norton 4/8 or a Belgian coticule with a slurry stone.... natural yellow/bbw even better, is also a good option. Just IME.

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I second the coticule!

Any finisher should do the trick. A barber hone will do it, but the well known ones tend to be pricy and the lesser known ones can be a mystery. Coti will do it, but they are naturals so you can't be sure just how fine it will be (I also prefer edges sharper than my coti can go). Coti + chrome ox may do nicely (I don't play with pastes much) Escher/Thuri will do, but they tend to be expensive.

Personally, my main finisher was a C12k for quite some time. I found the edges to be better shavers than my coti produced, and it is a very inexpensive stone ($20 for the smaller one, which I still bench stone sized, and no shipping if there is a woodcraft near you). The downside is that they are slow - 100 laps is the number that is thrown around on the forum.

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Originally Posted by Zee

I bought my first razor a little while ago. Its still doin fine, but i know im gunna need a hone sometime. I only plan on buying "shave ready" razors from honemeisters. ive ready lots of articles (one of them written by our fearless leader Lynn) that said if i plan to not restore razors all i have to get is a finishing stone. Do i need a 8k 10k or 12k? or higher? Norton or Naiwa? Couticle? I wanted a swaty but i DO NOT mess with ebay and all ive found everywhere else is beaten up stones. Any suggestions?

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Get a good barber hone, nothing else needed and no where near as pricey as the others. Lynn has a video somewhere around here that goes into plenty of detail as to what brands are good.

Shapton 16K :)

I have a few stones...but if I had to survive on 1 it would be a coticule. It's really versatile. For a couple extra bucks you can grab a barber hone too. You could easily maintain your stable with that combo.

A yellow green Escher with original box and end label in German .... maybe $300 to $500 is the only way to go. :roflmao

I know you said you only buy shave ready blades but you may find yourself needing to hone out the odd small chip which would take rather a long time at very high grades. My only hone is a norton 4/8k combo which seems to give me great shave-ready results without the need to follow with anything other than a good strop on (non-abrasive) canvas and leather. I do use CrO but only when my edge is starting to dull and I can't be bothered to break out the stone.

I'm keen to try a belgian coticule but for the moment, I'm quite happy with the norton combo and I think it offers excellent value for money.

My hesitation with buying the norton waterstone is that i dont want to have to lap it flat all the time. Neither do i want to have to buy the lapping plates to do that. Do you have to do that as often as some people make it seem?

Probably not quite as often. You could probably get away with once every three times you use the stone. However, I lap it each time I use it (why not?) and it doesn't take more than 30 seconds of lapping to get it flat. Good point though - i'd forgotten about the need to lap the stone. If you don't want to fork out for a lapping stone, you can use some wet/dry sandpaper backed on a piece of glass.

The Norton 4/8K is the only hone I really use, it just needs to be lapped often if you use it a lot. If I am feeling lazy I'll just use my swaty for a quick touch up, but usually I go for a conservative pyramid on the Norton if the razor begins to dull. No Pastes, no Sprays, just the Norton! I love that stone.

I'd second the Coticule, but I'm biased....No really, At least with the Coti, you have some versatility. It's the only finishing hone I know with the ability to do more with a slurry. As long as you just keep fresh water on it, your fine. Naniwa 12k is great too, but no flexibility. Escher, Nakayama, are expensive, and (Escher if you can find one) Chosera, Tam, Water, Chinese 12k, and Norton, but I was never satisfied with the edges off the 8k, I always went to crox or Diamond (paste or spray) after.
Glen had a very good point, that it's a bad idea to recommend the Chinese 12k to new honer's because it takes so many lapps to use, 100, or 50 with a slurry stone. He said that's too much room for error, which is a valid point. If you have the means, I'd go with the Coticule. I use a Swaty daily on my blades. It does cut back on honing greatly....3-5 lapps.

I have a Nakayama that i picked up recently for under $100. The stone is very versatile depending if you use it w/ slurry, water, or dry. There might be some stones as good but none better.

Its a Coti for me, IMHO you will not find a more versatile Hone, used with slurry it will correct a bevel and remove small chips if you have the patience/Skill, and with water it will finish your edge beautifully, If I am not undertaking heavy work its the only stone I use, altho I have just got a barber hone I am itching to try out. If you can get both you will not go far wrong.