I’m thanking 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 8000 and 10000 to finish off. Does this sound reasonable? What brands would you recommend?
Naniwa Super Stones are Fantastic Hones..Whilst One Can Shave from a 10 K Stone it Does Fall Short in My Books..A 12 K Naniwa Super Stone is a Superb Finisher in the Right Hands..I Use a Naniwa Chosera 1 K or Now Called the Pro Stone for Bevel Setting.. I Use A..Naniwa 1 K, 3 K, 5 K, 8 K, 12 K Progression...Some Don't Use the 3 K..A Naniwa 1 K, 5 K, 8 K, 12 K Progression Will Do the Job No Probs..Just a Wee Bit More Work on the 5 K is All.. Billy..
The lower grit hones do all the heavy lifting and form the bevel, the bevel is then refined on the mid grit hones. So if your progression is 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, the 5 will be the very tail end of forming the bevel. In the beginning my progression was 1, 4, 8 and strop. The shaves were very good. Some razors take an 8K finish really well, like old Sheffield near wedges, but they will all shave well. As you get past the 8K hone the returns in sharpness drop fairly quickly and you start getting into how the edge feels and personal preferences, it is also where you can really start spending some serious payola.
@M14Shooter has a new Norton 4/8k combo stone for sale, which is what I use. Very user friendly and at an excellent price point. I have even used the 4k side to set a bevel and shaved off the 8K. One could get buy with this one stone. Anyhoo, Add a 1K to the 4/8 combo and a finisher of your choice and you should be set, unless you catch a "stone acquisiton disorder." @DaltonGang should also be chiming in on the welsh natural stones he uses. Many roads leading to the same destination; me I take the easy (cheap) rout
None Sorry my standard recommendation is Learn to Shave and Strop for at least 6 months before you even think about stones/hones Trust me on this, Stropping is way more important to learn than honing, yes it really is At this point in time with the hones available to people now the "Easiest" learning platform that yields results that are hard to beat at any price. Naniwa 1k - The Pro / Chosera is considered to still be the best available, the Specialty Stone is actually a better hone to learn on but hey who listens Naniwa SS 3k - I recommend the 3k over the 5k because new honers have issues at the bevel set more then anywhere else, so the 3k is a better Beginner hone than the 5k Naniwa 8k Just about any of them the Snow White gets rave reviews Naniwa SS 12k This is a great finisher in the right hands, I have always said "It is hard to beat this at any price" Again I would suggest waiting before buying any of these at least 6 months
thanks gssikgun. do you do custom sharpen? If you do whats the charge? my email address is westsam@hotmail.com
Yes Sam I do If you hit the link at the bottom of my signature it will take you right to my website that has quite a bit of info there But Yes, if I am understanding your question correctly you are on the right track to have somebody hone with the system that you are thinking of buying FIRST to see if you like the results.. That is actually very smart
i have a Boker USA Arbolito Straight Razor, 5/8in i have watched the video where you are teaching that guy how to hone his razor. i have watched it umpteen times and i think i am close it will pop hears but the shave is uncomfortable. i have 2 pre oned i got off of ebey so as you can see im serious about all this. been a wet shaver for years the double edge route and thought i would raze the bar a little bit.
What hones are you using ??? Keep in mind that Boker sets the bevel on a spinning Platen Grinding stone, but Lifts the spine, then they follow with hand honing on a Natural This creates the Hit & Miss "Shave Ready" condition, see the finisher MIGHT hit the Fin and create a sharp edge, or it may not and leave you with a steep 200 Gritish edge Most Solingen companies do it this way So you have to even out that bevel and dial it in all the way across to get the most from the razor..
Below is a vendors comments on recent Bokers coming out of the factory: " Some of these Bökers are notorious PITAs for honing (check the shaving-centric forums chatter!)," Not my words mind you, my point in even posting this is; you're making a very wise decision sending this out to Glenn. These Solingen straight razors are excellent razors, but it seems that the excessive demand may be the culprit in variability in the edges.
