Thread: 8k progression??

im guessing then that you send them to Neil Miller. he uses a shapton pro 15k finisher if you were wondering but thats big money

Totally agree with you grouper, I can tell when to move up to the next stone by the way it feels passing over the hone. I always try the old arm hair technique at different stages too which always helps. If I can cut arm hair without touching my arm I know I'm nearly there. I'm very used to using my norton stones now and can tell how different blades react to them in different ways. That's the main reason I've only used my norton 220/1k and 4/8k stones for over 2 years now. I know them well.

Btw Bombay, I have sent them to Carl at straightrazorheaven in the past. Until he moved stateside.

I agree on the Naniwa 12K. I had the same question in mind. It's time to move up from the 8K. After reading past posts on finisher stones I went with N12K.

Manch, this is old news for you, but getting a good 8k is wonderful. I've had 2 things take a good 8k edge to a greater level of smoothness - one costs nothing. I took a good norton 8k edge and gave it 5 super light strokes on a Swaty barber hone. The Swaty did nothing to increase sharpness, but an already smooth edge got smoother. Another practice I started using on all grit stones was the use of backstrokes (spine-leading). I expect the results will vary alot from user to user, but for me, it consistently gives me greater smoothness - sometimes too much. I like tactile and audible feedback from an edge (Heavy Sheffields need not apply), and too many backstrokes can take away this feedback. It sounds like you'd be very well served for very little money (comparatively) by the Nani 12k. You may find yourself using fewer strokes on CrOx or not needing them at all. FWIW, the backstroke works nicely on the N12k also. Best of luck w/ your choice, and I hope it puts many a smile on your face.

Thanks so much for all your advice and experience. I've just bit the bullet and ordered a nani 12k from Eden. I'm looking foreword to using it already and seeing what it can do for me. Hopefully it will make life a little easier achieving that smoothness I'm after. Il keep you posted!!!

Prepare for a relentless bombardment of spam from edenweb!

Haha, I was sure to uncheck the 'add my email to subscribers list' tab, if I do get any I won't be happy!!! Sick to death of them!!

Have you ever found your 8k to crox progression to be too sharp? If after 12k you find this to be the case, what are you going to do?

The reason I ask is because I've found a Sigma 1.2k > 6k > 13k progression to result in a too sharp edge at the beginning. Subsequently, I ran a few strokes on a black Ark to dampen things, and perhaps very few strokes on a barber's hone, as Pinklather mentioned, or any hard stone after the Naniwa 12k might help if oversharpness is an issue. Later, I stuck with my ceramic/Sigma progression a bit more, and using the stones in a dampened state, especially the 13k, helped immensely. I've not used the Naniwa series, but my understanding is that they are ceramic water-stones, like the Suehiro Sigma series I mention, and a bit different from the Nortons. So perhaps you might use the Naniwa 12k in a dampened state for starters, rather than leaving some standing water to wash up on the blade, so as to minimize possible chipping.

Originally Posted by bombay

Naniwa Super Stone 12000 (12K), 20 mm on base | EdenWebshops.co.uk

73.90 UK....! THat's like $4000.00 dollars US!