Thread: Naniwa Hones - Need some Help !!!

Greetings Gents,

I'm afraid this is installment #2 of the same complaint I've had before about honing with Naniwa 5k, 8k, and 12K hones.

In round 1, I discovered, and it was confirmed here, that there's some kind of soft coating on these stones that needs to be rubbed off, which I thought I did, with my DMT 325.

Well here's the on going problem. Every time I sharpen my razor, I actually make it duller than when I started. By use of my pasted paddle strop, I'm able to get it sharper again, but never sharp enough. After about a year of str8 shaving, shaves are still no where near as close a shave as I get with my DE.

So back to honing. I've used the DMT on each hone for probably 30 minutes each, in total. They still feel smooth as silk to the touch. Still make my razor duller, not sharper.

Before I throw down the gauntlet, and demand satisfaction with a sledge hammer (pictures of the aftermath to be posted here), can any one think of what may help?

Are these stones just garbage? Could it be that they need to be ground on with the DMT for 14 hours, and I'm just not patient enough?

I've watched the videos on honing technique and have worked diligently to perform that technique properly.

I'd like to really make progress with this straight shaving thing, but it surely should't be this difficult (read: completely impossible, no matter what) to get some sharpness on my blade.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Please forgive any frustration that leaks through in my post.