I have seen many people say not to get the synthetics to finish with.
So what is a good fair priced Natural Finisher stone.
Please point me in the right direction.
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I have seen many people say not to get the synthetics to finish with.
So what is a good fair priced Natural Finisher stone.
Please point me in the right direction.
Well if your new to honing, synthetics are definately easier to use for sure.
I have the norton 4/8 and king 1/250 I think. I just don't want to spend 70$ on the 12 or 16k that I hear gives everyone microchipping.
If you've got any honing friends close to you then lend, borrow or steal stones from them until you find what you like and works for you.
A good finisher is usually not cheap, you could get lucky on ebay, but if you're new to honing razors how will you know if you really got a good hone or if your using it wrong.
You might consider a naniwa 12k. It needs frequent flattening, but is a super finisher, IMO.
I have seen many posts saying the 12k naniwa and 16k SHapton leave micro chips. ALl I hear is Natural natural . SO I Figured I would pick one up. How do I know what grit a Natural is?
MST Müller Water Hone 8x3" Whetstone Natural Sharpening Stone | eBay
Is that any good for a finisher? I need a push in right direction.
I have not experienced this and have finished many, many razors on the Naniwa. You must gain experience in naturals so you can detemine what you think yours is. Also, you must have experience with synthetics which are graded to have some idea what 12k actually is.
Get a Naniwa 12k. Or a Shapton 30k.
Can't say I've heard of any complaints on either.
I was sold on the 12k and I came across another forum and them bashing the 12/16k so bad.
i dont know anything bout this stone but it says its 8000-10,000 ., so if you get one of these and yours is on the 8,000 side your gonna have 2, 8,000 grit stones and still not the finisher your looking for ...i know i would like to get a finer stone and ill be getting a 12k nani when i do
I was hoping it was 10k How can you tell the grit on the naturals ? DOes anyone know?
Naturals vary, the only way to know is test it.
That being said, there are a couple small thuringians in the classifieds right now. They are great finishers.
I dont think I will be any good on small hones just yet. I want 3" wide min. SO no insight on the EBay hone?
I can only tell you what I have read about the newly mined thuringians like you are considering. The consensus of the folks who have tried them has been that they are around 8K, and not the finisher that the vintage thuringians are.
Don't worry too much about the size. I wanted big naturals too, but have found that I like the smaller ones just as much (and more for smiling blades).
WHat do the smaller ones run?
Vintage Lot of Two Razor Knife Hone Stones Natural Stone | eBay
Is that a finisher.
, says 25 yrs experience , excepts returns , says one is in the 8-10k , and one is in the 12k from his experience ..mayb a member on here can fill us in on these as they just caught my eye ..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FREE-SHIP-NA...item2a1fc84065
http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...lsh-stone.html
I don't know what posts you are reading but here is my take.
I have three coticules, two welsh slates, an old thuri, a new thuri. I also have the naniwa 12k. In my testing so far the naniwa produces a better final edge than any of them.
The naniwa was about 75 bucks and it's some of the best money I've spent.
I've never read anything bad about the naniwa. And it's never damaged any of my razors.
So I recommend the naniwa 12k.
Michael
Very new to honing myself so what I say comes from very little experience for what it's worth. I use a fairly complete set of Naniwas ending with a 12000 finisher and some laps on a Crox pasted balsa strop. The edges were good and sharp but were lacking in that smooth feeling. So I took a flier on a Zulu Grey and found I got the smoothness I wanted without sacrificing the sharpness by redoing my blades on the Zulu Grey and a few laps on the Crox pasted strop. No idea why this is but it works for me and I am staying with it. I agree also that the 12000 Nani needs constant flattening for some reason. The Zulu Grey is a natural stone and there is a huge long thread on it in the honing section if you are interested.
Bob
I have always used a coticule as a finisher...I am no honemeister or anything close but I love my coticule. I have tried other finishing stones and not been satisfied. one included a japanese 12k+ which i could just not get a smooth edge from. If you keep your eyes peeled sometimes coticules do come around for a more than good deal. just a thought.
I need to spend the $ and try 4 my self.
I have one and I think it provides a nice shaving edge. There are better natural finishers out there but it does the job. I use one side for knives and the other for razors.
As I understand it you want a good, fair priced, 3 inch wide minimum natural finishing hone. I think you need to compromise at least one of these things or be prepared to take a gamble. If you have an interest in natural hones and don't want to break the bank I would advised scrapping the 3 inch wide minimum requirement.
I use a King 1200 waterstone the Norton 4/8 and finish on the Naniwa 12K. I have several friends including Mods and Mentors who have all kinds of hones, including naturals in fact one has more hones than I could ever afford!!!
On the advice of a mentor and a Senior Mod I purchased my hones. I do understand the desire for a natural but I have one friend who is a Mentor who has traded $1000's of dollar back and forth finding naturals that work for him!!
The Naniwa 12K doesn't chip and all of my hones give consistent results due to the fact that the grit is very tightly monitored! where Mother nature isn't very fussy!
One of my friends here wasn't get the results that he wanted from a Chinese hone Glen recommended the Naniwa 12K. My friend said he'd take him up on his counsel when he got the money. I bought a Naniwa 12K for my friend and had it delivered to his door! I did the same for another friend!
They both loved them!!! One of them is the one who has traded so many naturals!
I wouldn't have made the purchase if I wasn't 100% sure of the results they would Love the Edge that they would get!!
Well for what it's worth, that's my two cents!:shrug:
I think i AM SOLD . Now I need to find one . I am sick of my SR not being as sharp as my Disposable razor.
Julio, what other stones have you got? What's your level of experience with honing and shaving?
Was your razor honed when you got it?
Michael
Norton 4/8k
King 250/1k
Dmt Extra Coarse for lapping
I just posted a pic of another stone Just acquired and wish to know what it is.
Shaving I would say 6/10 maybe 7 at best
Honing 4/10 maybe 5 at best
No the blades were dull I brought them to a sharper edge. They just wont shave like mt disposable straight razors. I hear that the disposable blade will always be sharper. I want to get my blades as close as I can. I need to send 1 out to be honed to have a staple to start with. I like doing on my own so it sucks I am stubborn.
You won't get your Str8 as sharp as a disposable and a disposable won't be as sharp as a Str8 either!! They are 2 different animals and IMHO shouldn't be put up against each other. Your looking for a smooth keen edge that will take in 3 pass's all your beard down far enough to feel nothing but smooth skin when you pass your hand up and down your face after your shave.
That to me is Str8 sharp!!!
I just can't get my damn str8 to shave right. It has to be the honing. I swear I am going to send it out.
This, in my humble opinion is the Right Choice to make! Let me try to explain why I feel this way:
Apparently you are very new to using a straight. The learning curve is HUGE and there are so many variables to learning this ancient art. Things like finding the angles that work for you, getting the lather just right, even finding the soap that provides the best lather for you, the stropping is so very important to maintaining your edge etc!
Honing in my opinion should wait until the shave is at least semi mastered.
By allowing a pro or at least an advanced honer to hone your razors for a while is money well spent as it eliminates one of those variables.
While I hone and get good results and compliments from others, I do have my favorites!! If you'd like a recommendation just send me a PM!
Smooth Shaving my brother in blades!
I wasn't into honing yet so I didn't think to ask him what he used, I can't even remember what razor it was! All I know is that it shaved Great and the edge lasted a long time before going south!
I do know that his counsel: "Different people like different stones. If you want to know how the finishes work send some razors out and see what you like." Is good sound advice!
When I had Glen make the custom scales for son's Friodur for a Christmas present I also asked that when he honed it to finish it on the Naniwa 12K with no pasted strops, just regular stropping so that I could have a pro's edge to compare mine to! I'm so glad that I did as it was comparable to what I had been able to achieve on the Naniwa 12K and that gave me a great confidence boost!:tu
Just shaved with my blade last night and it was a great time. I am going to pick up a 12k asap.
Maybe a little late to this thread, but here's my take. Synthetic stones give more consistent results than naturals. Natural stones have some variance to them, and it takes it a bit of experience to know when your where you need to be. I use both the Nani 12k, and the Shapton 16k, I've been using them for years, I've never once had a problem with microchipping. That could be any number of things from over honing, to inferior steel. It's not the hone. I have heard of the Naniwa 12k warping.
A good cheap natural stone, if you want to play around, is the Chinese 12k, it's underated imo. It's a good stone, especially when used with slurry. It's a slow cutter so you really can't overhone. They're sold at woodcraft. Here's a link for you. Of course, they vary too....If you have a local woodcraft, it's best to go, and look at the hone, open the box.
Buy Natural Water Stone 8 x 2-3 4 x 1-1 4 at Woodcraft
Stefan aka "Mainaman" is correct. A lot of it is personal preference when it comes to finishers. Some like Escher, Some like Jnats or Coticules, and other's like Synthetics. It takes some time and skill to find your niche.
Just my 2 cents, I don't know if you're still having trouble honing on your setup or not, but I kept at it for years on the 8k til I could get a comfortable and consistent edge from that. Finishers won't help much if your edge from the 8k isn't shaveable already.