Thread: Which hone for finishing?

Ah, thank you for the little lesson Mparker... I'm about to go pull my razor out and look at it. As far as Stones vs pastes... It think > $600 vs $10 might make pastes rub me a little better lol... but I am pretty stuborn, maybe that will change after I shave half my face off though =P

-Billy

I have found a few barber hones that are terrific and easy to use. A few that only improved the edge a little. I don't know if there are any magic bullets though. If you do spend $600 on a hone it should shave you too.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

If you do spend $600 on a hone it should shave you too.

lol, I cant even get my razor to shave yet! But your right, for 600 bucks it should =P

Originally Posted by Joe Chandler

.......... or escher are my choices............ and Eschers are damn near unobtainable by anyone with budgetary constraints.

I think you will find something surprisingly similar to the Eschers on my web pages in early October at very afordable prices <g>

So far testing has gone very well with my very particular Rabbi friend giving these the thumbs up.

Tony Miller

i personally use a norton 4k/8k first then i go onto a chinese 12000 grit wetstone as my finisher.

wasn't that expensive, a bit more then a barber hone will run ya, bit less then a corticule will cost. seem to work well. its also a very hard stone so it cuts slowly and i usually so 30+ laps on it to finish off before stropping it up

8" x 2 3/4" x 1 1/4" - 29$

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=4920

and yes i lapped it flat after i bought it with 800grit sandpaper.

~J

Darn. I had almost forgotten about the 12k Chinese. I just got one in, and am waiting to try it. As far as the quality control, I'm basing that on statements Tony Miller had made (he used to sell them) about being unable to get good ones consistently anymore. Quality control isn't the right word, probably. I guess I should have said that it's apparently hard to mine good ones anymore, and the old rock ones are superior. So far, I like the Chinese, but haven't really experimented with it enough to know for sure. I got the 8x2x1, and it was only $19.98. Got two, actually, and cut one up for rubbing stones, since a big chunk broke off it right away. I'm definitely interested in what Tony's going to have coming up on his site, too, so I'll keep an eye on it. As far as a Swaty, I don't know, having never used one. I'm definitely actively searching for a Frictionite 00, though.

What about Arkansas natural stones?

Frictionite 00? I think I may have seen this come up somewhere before... is this a finishing stone as well? What kind of information can you lend on it? And if you would, keep me posted on that 12k Chinesse stone works out for you... I think I will try to toy with the Norton 4/8 for a while and keep searching for a good finish stone... im sure I'll need the time to toy with the 4k/8k before I really need a finish stone anyhow.

I have a 15K Shapton, and a coticule. I've personally had better results with the coticule.
E

There have been quite a few threads here over the past few months addressing the Coticules. I had good luck with some and the customers loved them. Others were nothing but grief, not giving my customers the edge they expected on $125-175 stones. The good ones are still cranking out shave ready edges, the bad ones went back to where they came from.

I tried several European suppliers and never really got one I was comfortable representing as I coud not always get usable stones. I am sure there are still plenty of good, recently quarried Coticules out there but just make sure that wherever you buy from you have the option of returning it if the edge is coarse after honing. If you get a good one you will love it.

The new stones are being tested by people I trust first before any go up for sale. As always though, you buy from me, you don't like, you send it back.....what's not to like?? <g>. I do still get vintage Coticles and Eschers from time to time and maintain a waitlist for those items.

Tony