Thread: eBay Japanese Stone

Alright guys,

due to unavailability of any straight product (apart from creams etc.) in England and the difficulty in getting anything sent here from the States (the current waiting time seems to be about a month + a ridiculous customs charge, e.g. $30 extra for a $75 item), I have decided to try my hand at honing before I go bankrupt or give up entirely. On eBay over here at the moment there are some Japanese waterstones which I am tempted to buy as they seem a reasonable price. I understand that the 6000 grit will not be sufficient on its own but I also have one of Tonys paddle strops and some 1 and 0.5 paste on its way from classicshaving and some 3 and 0.25 paste from a place I used to work, which I can use for the finer finish.

What do you think? Is this stone suitable for straight use along with the paddle? Or should I just bite the bullet and save up for a norton (double that waterstones price over here)?

Cheers,

Dan

I'd say go for it...I would easily be able to maintain my razors with that set up. I think you'd be well served. I think you might even find a few of those pastes unneeded. But I'd wait for another opinion. I think you could go from 6,000 to 1 micron but I'm not certain. And I don't think you'll really need .25 but what the heck. You could always get a barber hone later if needed. It'll be interesting to see others responses because this won't be about what we can do, it'll be about what you can do. Also, I'm not a big believer in having lots of hones of each grit. I think you can put some lather on the hone and make it act like a 7,000 grit hone, giving you more versatility. Come to think of it with all those pastes you might not even need a hone. Oh Boy!

I have to disagree. While the 1000 grit is great for shaping the edge and creating the bevel, it is too coarse for a good edge. I think the 6000 might be unacceptable as well. I was working away with my new Little Devil barbers hone thinking it was around 2000 grit, and my Honemaster hone which is around a 10,000 grit. The edge wouldn't come the way it does with my Norton combination 4k/8k waterstone. I deduced that what I needed was something in between so I ordered a Kimberly (thanks Tilly). When the Kimberly arrived I discovered that it was actually MORE coarse than the Little Devil, but this was just the thing! The edge produced itself almost immediately. I now think the Little Devil is about a 6000 grit while the Kimberly is about a 4000 grit. These numbers are somewhat subjective, but I think they can illustrate my point. While I am unsure about what the ultimate finishing grit is, I am certain that it must be somewhat close to 8000. I am more sure that something very close to the 4000 grit is essential to creating the cutting fins at an appropriate size for a good shave. I could be wrong (still) about this, but there is a reason that the Norton 4000/8000 stone is considered ideal for a great edge. That's what I believe I am experiencing at any rate.

All that having been said, It looks like a good deal, grit sizes can vary and you'll get a chance to learn something about it all which can't be all bad.

X

Please remember that there are several grit standards and they differ considerably in actual grit to grit performance. You will be very frustrated trying to come up with the ideal numbers. The stone in question is likely graded in JIS. Please see grit thread for a little info on this, but be prepared for major frustration trying to make sense of grit numbers. The bonding agent makes a difference as well as other factors. On the other hand, it might be perfect. Welcome to honing.

I think you might be covered on this. The 1000 to remove nicks and create the bevel. Then the 6000, the 3 micron, one micron and the 0.5 micron should do it. Try the 0.25 if you want to.
Don't use the 1000 unless you have to.
Be conservative when honing and test often.

Hi,

I use exactly this hone (a King 1000/6000 Combination Waterstone) for honing my razors. What I like most on it (and this is in fact why I prefer this over the Norton 4k/8k) is the feedback I get while honing.

The 1k is great for preparing and restoring an old razors bevel, while the 6k is doing fine for getting near razor sharpness. After that, I still have to go to my pasted strop for final finishing, but I had to do this with the Norton 8k as well.

So I would say: go for it.

One caution though: you might want to check on the size. These come in different sizes, for comparison you could i.e. check here :
http://www.dick.biz/start_en_container.html

(Go for "Tools", then "Sharpening Tools", then "Japanese Combination Stones").

Have fun,
-Axel-

I've decided to go for it, I emailed the guy and he had a wider one available too so I've had that. If it doesn't work for me then at least its a relatively cheap way of learning the technique and wrecking a few ebay specials.

Cheers for your help

Max,
This may be a little too obvious and if you've already considered this forgive me But have you contacted Norton's UK Office to see if you can get the products locally?

Saint-Gobain Abrasives
Doxey Road
Stafford
ST16 1EA
Tele: +44 (0)1785 222 000
email: orders.stafford.uk@saint-gobain.com

Also, it may be easier to place an order from with in the EU. Although it will still be a little more costly you'd get a better return on the exchange rate and the shipping should be a little cheaper. Places like Dick Fine Tools and Dieter Schmid would be a good place to start.
Dick Fine Tools
Dieter Schmid

Dieter also has some Belgian Bout hones for a fair price, as well as most of the King line of japanese man made water hones.
I've expressed my aversion to ebay and naturally I'll go out of my way to make a purchase away from ebay when possible. I've ran a few indepth searches for hones, whetstones, water hones, water stones et. al. on google UK and I must say.... there aint $hit to chose from .. which suprises me.

The reason for little choice might have to do with the prohibition in many countries in Europe considering owning and carrying (even the smallest) knife.

I know for a fact that if you are caught in Amsterdam with a screwdriver in your pocket (or toolbox, or car) they will confiscate it and see it as an offensive weapon. Yes, in large parts they are allowed to do random searches on anybody people nowadays. Officially you even need some permits for owning bigger blades.

Hoekie

Yeah there was one place selling the nortons that I found for almost 50 quid ( http://www.classichandtools.com/acat...terstones.html ), but as this one is cheaper I thought I'd give it a go as I am pretty impoverished at the moment and the feedback of you guys was decent enough to warrant the chance. I understand your aversion to ebay but this guy seems like a legitimate tool seller and the price is decent. At worst it'll keep me going until my birthday in April which also coincides with my property tax halving meaning I'll have a bit more disposable income.