Thread: How sharp do you like it?

Mikawa Nagura progression ended with a light slurry of Narutaki Jizuya on a Otaniyama Asagi Kamisori is sharp enough for me!
Grits, dunno!

Originally Posted by Lemur

Mikawa Nagura progression ended with a light slurry of Narutaki Jizuya on a Otaniyama Asagi Kamisori is sharp enough for me!
Grits, dunno!

"LikeBBS" Did you get that....?


I heard Kiita Japanese Natual stones are only $5000.00 Makes you want to shave with a disposable, right....

You should master the 1, 4, 8k stones. Norton is a good choice for a beginner. 1k, is the bevel setter, 4k for sharpening, and 8k for finishing. One you master those, Grasshopper, move onto a 12k. The Chinese phig, or poeples hone, the one at woodcraft.http://www.woodcraft.com/product/200...234-x-114.aspx

It's not a bad hone, It was my first higher grit and I liked the shaves I got off it. It works better with a little bit of slurry, dilute as you go, finish on water. It's affordable, an 8x3 is about 40.00, or you could grab the Naniwa 12k, or Chosera 10k, but they are a bit expensive unless your a Jnat afficiando, and don't mind blowing thousands on rocks.

Just remember you don't have to spend a ton of money, or buy fancy gear to get great shaves....Just try to enjoy the whole experience.

Although it is treated as such, honing isn't a dark art. It's simply a process. We all like to get hung up on the YMMV aspect when noobs ask these kinds of questions. I know I hit a brick wall when I started asking these kinds of questions much like LikeBBS has in this thread. I can honestly say that I know the place from which his question originated, and the frustration that answers like he's received can cause. That being said, I'll do my best to answer what he asked. Just bear in mind that what works for me won't necessarily work for you.

I use a Norton 1k to set bevels, then use Shapton GS series stones and take the edge out to 16k. After that, I finish on my Shuobudani or I use my dark blue Escher. This progression works for me 9 times out of 10.

Originally Posted by myersn024

Although it is treated as such, honing isn't a dark art. It's simply a process. We all like to get hung up on the YMMV aspect when noobs ask these kinds of questions. I know I hit a brick wall when I started asking these kinds of questions much like LikeBBS has in this thread. I can honestly say that I know the place from which his question originated, and the frustration that answers like he's received can cause. That being said, I'll do my best to answer what he asked. Just bear in mind that what works for me won't necessarily work for you.

.

Wow I think you just said YMMV


BTW the answer is actually in his hands already,, The Norton 1-4-8
I (and most everyone with experience) can produce a Comfortable shaving edge on those 99/100 times... the one being a possible bad blade..
Above that level (Naniwa 1,3,8 Shapton 1,4,8 etc: etc) is just icing on the cake and until it is just that, no amount of Money or Stone will help the edge, hence we call the icing "YMMV"

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Wow I think you just said YMMV

Of course I did, but I tried to be nice about it.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

BTW the answer is actually in his hands already,, The Norton 1-4-8
I (and most everyone with experience) can produce a Comfortable shaving edge on those 99/100 times... the one being a possible bad blade..
Above that level (Naniwa 1,3,8 Shapton 1,4,8 etc: etc) is just icing on the cake and until it is just that, no amount of Money or Stone will help the edge, hence we call the icing

I couldn't agree more. No worthwhile amount of honing on a high grit stone is going to make up for a bevel that isn't set, and progressing past the 8k level prematurely is couter productive.

Originally Posted by myersn024

Of course I did, but I tried to be nice about it.



I couldn't agree more. No worthwhile amount of honing on a high grit stone is going to make up for a bevel that isn't set, and progressing past the 8k level prematurely is couter productive.

Basically all the OP needs to do is stop asking and instead get to honing.
Practice makes perfect. Once perfection has been achieved with the Nortons, then one can start thinking about greener pastures of the stone world if one so desires. Other wise it all becomes one expensive mistake, to correct.

Originally Posted by mainaman

Basically all the OP needs to do is stop asking and instead get to honing.
Practice makes perfect. Once perfection has been achieved with the Nortons, then one can start thinking about greener pastures of the stone world if one so desires. Other wise it all becomes one expensive mistake, to correct.

I speculate that the reason he's asked the question in the first place was to try and decide which way to go with his next hone purchase. I know that was an decision that I agonized over for quite some time after getting my Nortons. It took quite a while to realize the truth behind Glen's statement about everything else being icing on the cake. But I'll take the analogy one step further and liken shaving with an 8k edge to eating uniced pound cake. Sure, it's good, but it could be so much better....

Originally Posted by mainaman

Basically all the OP needs to do is stop asking and instead get to honing.Practice makes perfect. Once perfection has been achieved with the Nortons, then one can start thinking about greener pastures of the stone world if one so desires. Other wise it all becomes one expensive mistake, to correct.

Guilty as charged! I actually bought a couple of razors shave ready to put off learning to hone!!

The main reason I recommend the World of Straight Razor Shaving DVD (World Of Straight Razor DVD - Straight Razor Place Classifieds) is that the honing process was presented as "doable" and after watching it I mustered up the guts to do it! I was so afraid of ruining the razor and never getting back the edge that the original hone job had.