Thread: Newb Hone Choice

Originally Posted by 0livia

Danny the prices for Naniwas just dropped quite a bit in europe lately. (link)
I love them ... and even more than my Shapton Pro's

+1 with Olivia. I like mine better than the Shaptons too. The Shaptons are good too though. If you go for the Shaptons I agree with 2Sharp that the 1 and the 2k are both worth having. I like to follow the bevel setting on the 1 with the 2. It is a really good step IME. The GDLP is mighty nice to have too but the D8C will get the job done if you want to save a few $. Decisions, decisions. You can't go wrong with either set IMO.

Lu, take a look at this thread

Well, my first honing set up was a set of Shaptons.

I have the 1/4/8/16k ceramic on glass, plus a 325 DMT for lapping and major edge repair. I also got some 0.5 diamond spray and made a denim flatbed hone. This little setup serves me brilliantly!

The only things I think I would add to that would a 2k and a 30k stone (Glen talked me into it in another thread!). I'd also like to get a few more pastes as well so I'll probably add some sort of paddle strop with CrOx and 0.25 diamond spray as well.

In terms of the coticule, I think theres more of an experienced element there in terms of setting the slurry and so on. With the Shaptons you know exactly what grit they are, plus the faces are white so you can see when they need lapping clean easily.

I was tempted to get a coticule, but the Shaptons are so good that I probably would never use it! Or only very occasionally.

I've heard good things about the Naniwas as well, though I have no experience with them myself.

Thank you all for the advise.

I will definitely be getting the Shapton set in 1k,2k,4k,8k,and 16k for now.

BJ thanks for the advise on the DMT for flattening, I had been concerned with the shapton due to cost. I have to spend my own money (darn it, lol). Bill S, if I can make due with the above mentioned 5 stones I will definitely fill in the blanks at a later date as I do want to get the full set. Of course the 30k will be last due to cost.

Now I just have to order the stones and make the felt strop with diamond spray.

Time to spend money.

Lu

I didn't read all the posts, but lately, my go to hones are the Naniwa's. I love how they respond. They give great feedback and are pretty fast. They're soft, so they lapp easy.
If you get them, lapp them under running water to reduce swarf. I follow them with either an Escher, or one of my Nakayama's, and my blades are very happy....