Thread: Naniwa combination - opinions

Originally Posted by miha

.......
Honing experiences: I honed with DMT diafold setups (usually with angle guide), So no to limited would be the short answer ... but I want to learn the honing techniques and would like to avoid the need for stones upgrading in a year or so

I should point out that the honing guide for straight razors is built into the razor.
With the spine on the hone the angle of the bevel is ideal for shaving and razor steel.

Use little or no pressure, razors have a thin flexible edge so pressure changes the angle
often in undesired ways.

A razor that is correctly sharpened can be touched up on a 12k hone.
Ten to twenty hone strokes, strop and shave test. Repeat next week as
if needed.

thanks for your answers,..
I will probably go with combo from my 1st post in this thread (1k, 5k and 12k) and maybe later get a 8k if necessary

any additional suggestions are of course more than welcome so bring them on

here is a pic of DMT diafold set (the surface is rather narrow and short if compared to eg Naniwa stones)



@niftyshaving: with DMT I used angle guide for knives sharpening,.. razor sharpening was done with DMT alone, without the angle guides

Miha,
Where are you from? Most of us will recommend that you learn to hone to 8K first. This is to ensure you get the basics down, then by all means add a finisher.

Diamonds are for knives & ladies...not for razors. We do use diamond plates to keep our stones flat though, typically a DMT8C (8" coarse DMT)

@shooter74743: .. I'm from Slovenia (EU), I was planning to buy from a local retailer for Naniwa,.. as far as I can tell it is the cheapest choice when compared to EU since I got a bit lower price and there are no shipping costs which usually do add to the price considerably....

shooter74743: so in your oppinion 8k superstone is a must? do you think 5000 Chosera could be used instead of 3 and 8k and if not is a 5000Chosera and 8000 SS a good option?

With your options, the Superstone 1000, Chosera 5000, and Superstone 8000 would work well for your razors.

The 1K would be for setting the bevels.

The 5K would be for pre-polishing the edge. I only have experience with the Chosera 1K stone, but from what I hear the entire line of Chosera stones are VERY nice.

The 8K is for polishing the edge. A well polished edge gives you a nice smooth shave.

Once you are able to get nice and smooth shaves consistently off the1,5,8K, you can add finishing stones to the mix once funds are available. You may find that you don't need one too...the 8K will give you a good shave if you do your part all day, every day. The thing about shaving with a straight razor is that we all have our preferences & you have to experiment to find what you like. If you build a solid honing foundation on the three stones available to you, you could then experiment with different finishers to find what YOU like...but you must have that solid honing foundation.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I thought that, at a store, the customer buys what the customer wants, not what the store offers the customer.

Are the unable to get other hones? Are the ones you mentioned in some kind of a packaged deal? Are there no other opting?

..here is an update on my hones... (and let me first thank you for the help) .. according to your advices I bought 1k (2cm), 3k (2cm) and 12k (1cm) hones,..

I intend to buy 8k somewhere else (not sure where since all the places I checked have fairly high shipping charges to ship to Slovenia (EU)... ) any suggestions about European shops you would recommend, to make my case clearer ,... for example,.. If I buy 8k at straightrazordesign (and calculate in the shipping and customs costs the hone price gets to 90 euro which is app 120$, if I get it from europe (shipp incl) the price gets similar (due to the higher prices)

@holli4pirating: that combo I was offered was just an offer since the 8k hones were out of stock and will take for ever to get back in stock (this is a 1 guy, small hobby like afternoon business.... there was "no pressure" about orders ,.. just trying to offer a combo that would work best for my needs...

I honed a razor that had worse edge and managed to hone it, the difference between edge after honing with DMT and these Naniwas is really great.. glad I make the purchase (and I'm lacking 8k which will only increase the hone quality).. there was a problem however the razor lost the edge when I was in the middle of shaving (a begginer shaving that is,.. takes some time) so I re-stropped it and continued. It's an Engelswerk razor. Is this phenomena normal in your opinion meaning that have to strop in the middle of shaving? The only reason for this might be the razor itself (eg steel quality?), or am I missing something.

Did you lap the stones?

No, you shouldn't have to strop in the middle of shaving & I doubt it's the razor's fault...

no, no lapping,... figured out they are flat since they were new.. but on the other hand am not sure that this is the reason since it did shave nice when started, so I guess it had to be sharpened as it should be?

All new synthetic stones need lapped to remove the "skin" off them.