Thread: Advice on stone purchase.

I'm looking for some advice on buying a new hone. Right now I'm using a king 800/4k and a Woodstock SteeleX 1k/6k.

I am looking for something for the final edge. I am thinking a Naniwa SS 10k or even scraping the other 2 and going with the Norton 4k/8k. When I bought the first 2 I was on quite a budget and now not so much.

Any advice would be great.

Thanks in advance.

I'm not familiar with the stones you have so I don't know how to compare them to the norton 4/8. I use a chosera 1k, norton 4/8 and a natural but I have used the naniwa 12k and I can recommend it.

The 1k/6k is a nice stone. I have one and use it all the time. A keeper.

Originally Posted by Johnus

The 1k/6k is a nice stone. I have one and use it all the time. A keeper.

That stone is odd IMO. The 1k is a lot more course than the 800 on the king but the 6k seems to be quite close to 6k. I typically go with the 800 over the 1k. Even under 30x loupe the grooves are smaller from the 800.

If you are going to go with a Naniwaa, I'd save the extra money and go with the 12K. I've been using this as my finisher for a year and it gives a great smooth edge.

A very effective, plain-vanilla set would be a Norton 4/8k and a Naniwa 12k. Get used to them, and later if you get into naturals you'll have a very common baseline to compare them to. Lots of us use these hones, so it's much easier to discuss results and methods if you have questions about them.

Happy shopping and happy honing!

I definitely recommend the naniwa 12k as a finisher. Also recommend the naniwa 3k and 8k before the finisher.

The norton 4/8 is good and widely used. In my limited experience the naniwas are better and I'm in the process of switching to an all naniwa progressing.

Michael

So I went with the naniwa 10k since right now my highest grit is a 6k. I felt 12k would be a bit high of a jump.

My stone came in today so I lapped it up and finally got to sharpen my A. Witte 5/8 for the first time. I have to say that the edge from that is very nice on my skin. It felt very soft. I've had a razor honed by Glen and I felt like it was not as sharp as what his was but IMO felt better on my skin.


But 3/4 through the shave I dinged the razor on the faucet. Looks like I need to fix it already.

You guys are making me excited for my nani 12K coming in the mail tomorrow!