Thread: finishing stones?

I've been considering picking up some sort of finishing hone. Although, even if I don't, I still have some curiousities. What I wanted to ask is what are all the various types of finishing hones that are out there? And, equally importantly, what are their respective pros and cons?

I've been picking up bunches of info on the forums, and so far I'm aware of coticule, escher, lithide and what's on redtrader99.com (tilly?).

As is stands now, I've been using a pasted paddle for my finishing. It works great, but... well... call it borderline addiction

There is no such thing as BORDER LINE ADDICTION, YOU'RE HOOKED BUDDY!!1

I've tried an ancient Pike Black Beauty by Norton and a Honemeister. Both barber hones. Also a Sharpton 12,000k waterstone and have a low end Belgian coticule. The Honemeister and especially the Sharpton were very quick to ultra fine finish after my Norton and after only 3 or 4 passes! The Pike and Coticule are less easy for me, but I'm still tinkering.

I've also been using 0.5µ Chromium Oxide stick on brushed leather and 0.25µ Diamond Compound on tan leather (2 sides of a paddle strop) in conjunction with the above as well as without. These are also great tools used in moderation at the end of the process.

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