I have been honing straights on lapping film, coticule (with some limited slow success) and JNAT (not very well, except for finishing) and was fearful of trying my Naniwa Super Stones, a Japanese synthetic. Well, last night I braved it and honed 5 straights on Naniwa set, 1K for bevel-setting, 5K, 8K, 12K (for finishing). I then further finished on CrOx 0.5 micron and FeOx 0.25 on balsa followed by stropping on linen and leather on my Tony Miller Old No 2 Heirloom 3 inch strop. I was following Lynn Abrams video while I honed. The shave test this morning proved the pudding. The edges were all superb, from Boker 1101 Finest India Steel shoulderless to Worcester to Green Lizard Cattaraugus Cutlery Co, Little River, NY to ERN Crown & Sword and 131B.
Yes, they are great stones. I thought they would be slower than using lapping film, but were just as fast if not faster for me to use. They put a bevel on the Boker where I was having trouble with film. Now I ordered a DMT 325 to clear off the swarf.
They are the set I recommend the most, I run straight to them if I have a picky razor, they really excel at the harder steels like the TI 135C the Revisors Wacker many Customs, Harts, etc: etc: these brands have a tendency to be chippy and the Naniwa SS eliminates those problems easily they do well on everything else too, but that is really where they shine.. At least in my hands... There is a thread from a ways back I did on SRP using a system once you get the DMT 325 you should try out, also if you Youtube gssixgun Naniwa honing you will find it.. http://straightrazorplace.com/advanced-honing-topics/60818-looking-few-naniwa-users.html
Thanks for the heads up. I have watched many of your vids, but may have overlooked this system. I can now brave my wedges and traditional Japanese straights that gave me trouble on film.
Glen, have you got the slurry system working for wedges and traditional Japanese straights and do you tape them with 3 or 4 layers of tape?
Hmmmm tuff questions Yes the Kamisori react very well to a slurry system google gssixgun Kamisori honing, that is a pretty traditional system and I tried to explain it all in American using as few Japanese words as possible The Naniwa SS should work just fine on them too, to be perfectly honest though I own a very good Nakayama Stone so I really like it for honing Kamisori Wedges: most of the issues with wedges/near wedges come from the spine and old honing problems... Tape, I never use more then 3 layers, it starts getting mushy to me after that, and maybe it is time for a re-grind My general rule of thumb is 0-1mm of spine wear = 1 layer of tape ... 1-2mm of spine wear = 2 layers of tape ... over 2mm = 3 layers and see what happens Did that answer your questions ???
Yes, it did answer my questions. I have a JNAT with some small progressive grit slurry stones, but haven't mastered that system, nor using the coticule. Have you ever "free-style' honed a regular wedge by lifting the spine off the hone?
Nooooooo hehehehe I have fixed a few that were done that way LOL If it is really flat you could make a Frameback out of Brass for honing let me find the pics or thread for you of one I replaced on a missing one that will give you some ideas
Here it is http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/a-slick-fix.30167/#post-528977 You can make one that slides or tapes on there just for honing.. Livi made a wedge razor about 7 years ago that came with one IIRC
Glad to hear these worked for you. I'm thinking of picking up a 12,000 to finish with. I'll need to replace my Norton 4/8K combo at some point but have been satisfied with it and don't know if I'll make the complete switch to Naniwas.
I have the naniwa 1k, Norton 4k/8k combination stone, and have managed to persuade SWMBO to get me the Naniwa 12k as a christmas present, Looking forward to getting my edges where they need to be!!
Now that I've started using my Naniwas, I'm wondering if I should touchup with the 12K, then chromium oxide or just use chromium oxice.
In the video, lynn uses diamond spray on a felt paddle strop, but also says that you can use cr ox, that's what I will use now that I have a high quality paste
I bought a 1k, 3k, and an 8k off eBay and it's been one of my best buys of 2013! these stones are the mutts nuts I can now get my blades much sharper in a fraction of the time but I did find the 1k a bit of a beast and it took be a little time to get used to it as I'd been setting bevels on an old 4k stone, lucky I had a few old junk blades to practice on before I went on to something a bit nicer!