I see the web site now has a black stone called the Gila? Anyone familiar with this one. I have not seen much posted on here lately about any of the Apache stones lately. I still use my Strata and still like it
I've been in contact with Terry there and he's been sending me updates as he has two more of the stones now available. I'm on the fence (NBJ) right now and am curious to hear others experience other than this review: Early Review of Gila As Glen mentioned when I presented him with a few photos, there appear to be a high amount of inclusions, which gives me pause. One of the new Gilas now available…. The Stratas are fine stones. Have you tried the Red?
I consider my Strata about 8-10 k but it will still put a nice finish on even after a 12K. I guess because it is a natural stone?
These are all natural finishers, so I venture anywhere from 8k to 12k…if one were to attempt to give a grit rating to naturals
Yes I don't think naturals are rated. Just like a Thuringian or Escher. But if I were to say on my Thury it would be between 9-10K given the feel across my fingertips as compared to my Naniwa 12K. May even be closer to the Nani but doubt it. But regardless, a coti; thury; Escher; or what have you will give way to a nice finish from what I have seen.
Given the cost and unknown nature of this particular 'natural' I'd be more inclined to play it safe and invest in a 15k 0r 20k synthetic finisher such as this one, coming off a Naniwa 12k.... Suehiro Guykumyo; 20,000 grit
The best finisher I've ever owned. So good I literally sold my prized Nakayama Karasu when it was relegated to the closet after adopting the SG20K as my go-to finisher.
No, they certainly aren't—but if you read what Mike stated above, it echoes what I read in reviews from many users/owners of this synthetic finisher.
Oh, I know! I have read numerous posts on this stone and they are all good ones! That might be why this stone isn't cheap too! LOL j/k. Sometime I hope to bite the bullet and grab one!
I have experimented with a SG a few times. ( a friend has one) I so far have not gotten any better edge than I get using my 12K and finishing with the Strata
Yeah I have the Suehiro Gokumyo 20K I really like the stone and it's a very useful stone just to use to give a refresh to a few razors quickly, personally I had that itch for a long time I'm pleased that I scratch it, another stone which I have a very high regard for is the one off stone made by Naniwa the Snow white 8K I actually tried a little experiment a little while back stopping at the Snow White 8K and stropping and giving the razor a shave I can honestly say I wasn't shocked how smooth the edge was off that stone it's such a fantastic polisher and super fast cutter for an 8K.
Jamie talked me into getting the 8K Snow white and I am very pleased with it. I have not tried shaving off of it yet but I will and I suspect it will be just fine. It is an incredible stone
So does the Snow White become the finisher in sequence (i.e. no need for the 10k, 12k, 2ok or any other syn. finisher)? Or does it mainly raise the bar for 'smoothness' as a pre-finisher?
I will let Jamie answer that. He has a lot more experience than I do. My opinion is based on how much better than the Norton 8K it is but I am not a seasoned honer like Jamie or yourself
Kevin I would say I would have no problem going from my Snow White 8K to my Suehiro Gokumyo 20K, but I would say to anyone who doesn't own that 8K stone personally I think it's as good as the 10K Chosera stone I really don't understand why the Snow White hasn't caught on, the only reason I can think of is that it's a singular stone from Naniwa and this somehow confusing to the prospective user, I know Lou has very high opinions of the stone and another friend back in the UK who I also told to get the stone was knocked out by it's performance. PS If I could buy the Snow White in every grit from 1K , 5K, 8K, 16K that would be my perfect hone selection I cannot speak highly enough regarding it's performance.
I typically run the Naniwa SS line through 12k, and finish with the SG20K. It definitely puts that last little "extra" polish on the edge. For a long time I was using the Nakayama I wrote of earlier. The SG20K is simply much easier and much, much quicker.