Japanese Natural (JNats) Stone: The New Adventure

Mike, this has been my experience so far…
That's a big hunk'a JNAT right there!

 

Very interesting!

 

I guess I am really behind on hones I have 3 hones...Chosra 1k norton 4-8k and a phig...

 

Believe me, Mitch, sometimes LESS is more especially when starting out with hones.

 

Straight razors,hones,strops, etc al is a rich man's game!

 

It doesn't have to be but were prone to collecting around here!

 

It can be, esp when on the Japanese stones.
but my main set up barring the Chosera 1k and Norton 8k that I paid full price for, Dalmore blue cost 50p, the Thuringan and Llyn Idwal and the Charnley Forest where £2, £1 and £6 respectively all purchased from carboot sales in the UK, The Tam O Shanter was £24 on ebay.

most of my stones have cost me very little as you can see.

 

This is cannon.

 

Lucky man!...quick question Gents as long as your finishing hone is a natural hone wouldn't that guarantee a keen smooth "fin" on your edge compared to man made Japanese hones?

 

How many hones do you have Mike? If you don't mind me asking?

 

I use naturals (or rather the ones I have) because living in the UK they are easy to get hold of, at keen prices, I dont own any man made Japanese hones,
As mentioned I do have a Japanese Natural that gives a very smooth edge, if a razor of mine is not 100% off my CF for whatever reason I will put it on the J-nat and vice-versa.

That said a Norton 8k is good enough to shave off, anything extra is a bonus, I am lucky to have acquired the stones I have for little outlay.

 

I shave off an 8k when I use my dovo razor only,..

 

I'm down to a "system" of synthetics that works well for me. It's fast, consistent, and low maintenance.

I have Naniwa SuperStones in 1K, 3K, 5K, 8K, and 12K, and a Suehiro Gokumyo 20K. The 3K and 5 K are a bit redundant...If working on an edge from bevel setting through finishing, I typically use the 3K. I use the 5K if my edge is in need of hardcore refreshing and I don't want to spend a lot of time with the 8K on a hard blade.

The SG20K is much faster than my old Nakayama for finishing, but by itself doesn't produce the sweet, soft, comfortable shaving edge that the J-Nat did. I've discovered if I hit the SG20K finished edge with ~10 strokes of 0.5 micron diamond spray on a felt strop then ~10 strokes of 0.25 micron CrOx spray on a linen strop it softens the edge somewhat and replicates nicely the mild edge produced by the Nakayama in about a tenth of the time .

 

Do 12k synthetic hones not put a buttery smooth finish on these fin?

 

You'll get a variety of opinions on this, Mitch. I've read from many shavers where the synthetic 12k does the job quite well as a finisher and I agree it is a BIG improvement over the 8k. There are those who really like the 20k as the ultimate smooth finisher and as Mike mentions, they can take less time than working with a natural. In my own experience, I tend to prefer a finish with a natural after the 12k. But that's me….
Many ways to get there...

 

I use synthetics and finish with a Naniwa super stone 12k then Shapton glass 16k and get very nice edges... Well most of the time, I'm still learning.

 

So going to an norton 8k to a phig (12k)? I am missing only 1 hone possibly. So a grey strata after phig would be a logical move?

 

I'd use an apache strata in lieu of the phig as my finisher. bevel setter (1k) > norton 4k > norton 8k > natural finisher.

 

Kevin that is what I like about you, you can always figure out what I am trying to say. I meant Apache strata...the grey strata is a per- finisher correct?