Thread: Honing with 6000 grit Japanese Waterstone?

Alrighty, mighty honing gods. Pour upon me some wisdom.

Bought a TI 6/8 Super Gnome. Also a Dovo Prima Rindleder Strop.

Shave 3 times, ding blade. Buy a used Penguin 6000 grit Japanese waterstone from a friend.

Get ding out with 6000 grit waterstone (took a huge number of strokes). Was very careful with technique.

I realize I need something better than 6000 to get the blade sharp enough.

Which would be better: A 10,000 grit Japanese Waterstone, or the 4000/8000 grit Norton waterstone?

Since you have the 6000 grit, I'd go with the 10K Japanese...

Nenad

I'm thinking a 6k/10k pyramid would get you some pretty nice shaving edges too, but we better wait to hear from someone with some more experience on those grits. I think it should work well though.

X

I just remembered that in one post was stated that Norton has the grits off, and that the Norton 8000 is similar to 6000 grit...

I don't put TOO much stock in all that since there does seem to be differences between all the various makers. Since Sabre Cat was able to get the ding out, I suspect it's a little more coarse than the Norton 8000, but I'm just guessing.

X

I think its not so much what is better but more a matter of convenience. The 6000 will do the same as a 8000 but do it faster so you have to be a little more careful. the 10000 will do the same as a 8000 but will take longer. I think we all use the 4K/8K combo because its a marriage of convenience with good cutting and reasonable speed.

So its really up to you how you want to go. Personally I use the 4K/8K combo like most here and then I have a 12000 Kitayama for a final polish.

You will really appreciate the edge that a finer stonw will give you. An 8000 grit would be the minimum that I would use. The other alternative is abrasive pasted paddle strops. It all depends on what tools you have available to you.
Let us know.

Well, I went ahead and bought the 10k Naniwa... We'll see what that gets me.

I progressed into the world of straight razors from my love of Japanese knives. Fortunately, I already acquired a substantial array of stones (and a wee bit of technique), so the transition was easier than normal. If you already have a 6K, I would unhesitatingly suggest a finer polish stone, in the range of 8K or up. The aforementioned Naniwa 10K and the Kitayama (which is an 8K, not the 12K that some vendors advertise) are both fabulous stones. EBI, King (perhaps the easiest to find), and Takenoko make some excellent polish stones as well. Still, the reigning king of stones is generally considered to be the Shapton line. Careful, though- they're hard and cut fast, even at the finer grits.

It's also very important to keep your stones absolutely flat. This is particularly hard with the Shaptons- a good lapping plate is really the only way to go. But if you're just honing razors on them, they will stay true for a long time before they need flattening. An inexpensive stone fixer will yield great results; just use it every time you hone and you'll be good to go.

I understand if some folks think that these stones are expensive (some of the natural ones go into the 1000's), but you'll have the added benefit of having some really sharp kitchen knives, as well.