Your Favorite Hone (Sharpening Stone) and Why.

I have several natural stones and many more on their way. As a noob to this SR culture I have yet to make an educated opinion of my own. Please share your favorite stone pics are welcome and encouraged, as well as what makes it your favorite.

 

I'll list five of my 'favorites' as they are regularly used, varying only with the type of razor being honed.

Not in any particular order:

• Vintage Escher Waterstone — (est 10-12k grit); easy-to-use natural finisher. Rare and pricey, Eschers were the premium-grade Thuringian stones that provide a silky-smooth edge with relative ease. This 'Dark Blue' version is supposedly the 'coarsest' of the Escher line, but the results I get off this stone are outstanding and predictable. Slurry > thin to plain water. Custom oak box.


Shobudoni Asagi - a very hard Japanese natural that produces the keenest edges off any of my hones. For touch-ups, its tough to beat for both speed and effectiveness with as simple tomo nagura. When using the nagura progression (the four Mikawa stones pictured below), I can use this asagi stone off a 4 or 5k Naniwa SS and finish the edge to HHT3.


Apache Strata: natural, (est 10-12k); smooth, hard finisher. A little hard to slurry, but silky feel to the stone. Results rival the JNat finish. A real bargain in the world of costly natural finishers.


Ardennes Coticule; select grade: (est. 8-10k): this stone takes some practice to achieve maximum benefit, but much like the Escher, the results are sublimely smooth. Progression with slurry > plain water.


Chosera Pro 310 (1ooo grit): my go-to bevel setter. Fast, efficient, predictable. "Splash & Go"— easy to slurry; fast cutter. Hair-popping results when finished.

 

This most likely isn't what you're expecting. My favorite hone is the lowly Franz Swaty barber hone. Relatively inexpensive, and simple to use. Once you have a shave sharp razor, the Swaty will keep the edge that way literally, indefinitely.
Imho, every straight shaver should obtain one right after purchasing a strop.

 

If you ask for one

My favorite hone is the Chosera 1k,, it is by FAR my most used most important hone on the bench everything else is secondary to a properly set bevel

 

Agreed!

 

As Mentioned Above..The Chosera 1 K Bevel Setter is the Foundation & the Most Important Stone for Me..

At the Top is My Escher Thuri..Its Around a 16 k Finishing Capacity..Monkey Proof & as Consistent & Easy to Use as Any Synthetic..Its Usually My Natural GO Stone for Finishing Razors I Get to Hone for Folks..Next is My Surgical Black Arkie & Another Shot of My Escher Thuri Next to it..The Arkie is Around a 20 K Finishing Capacity..A Superb Finisher But I Normally Use it for My Own Razors Due to Time Constraints when I Get a 1/2 Dozen Razors Sent through the Door..

Next Up is My Welsh Yellow Lake..It Has Well Over a 20 K + Finishing Capacity..Believe it or Not..User Friendly as My Escher Thuri..Next Up is My French Barbers Coticule..Its Around a 12 K or 12 K + Finishing Capacity with Tallow Lather to Finish..The Coticule & the Yellow Lake in that Order as a Combo Finisher is One of the Finest Edges I have Ever Put on My Face..Might Even Be Miraculous..

Due to Time Constraints..The Coticule & Yellow Lake Combo is for My Razors Only..Unless I Like Ya..

Billy..

 

Very nice line-up.

 

I Am So Delighted with these 4 Natural Finishers..I See NO Reason to Pursue Anymore..The Bevel Work is Paramount & 90/95 % of the Work is Done Right there..If there is a Secret to Honing its Right there..Most..DONT Listen to this FACT..In Other Words Around 90/95 % of Honing Errors Lay in the 1 K Bevel Hone & there is NO All Sing All Dancing Natural Finisher Gonna Cure that..

Its the Natural Laws of Physics at Play..

Billy..

 

Impossible question!

Its like asking what is your favorite child!

The jnat, esher, coticules, welsh slate,..... they are all top!

 

I don’t set many bevels so I going with my Shapton glass 16k. Keeps my edges sharp and smooth plus it easy and quick.

 

I dont know why, i guess i have a rather sensitive skin or something, or its because i started shaving from a coticule edge, but i have yet to shave with a smooth edge from a synthetic. I tried myself on a few hones, i received razors from good honers that do great jobs with natural stones, but the edge comming from a manmade stone always feels agressive to me, at best ok. I can shave with these knives, but it never feels smooth, i need to shave with a shallow edge and little or no scything and afterwards aftershave stings like hell,...
A crox pasted strop tends to improve the smoothness a bit but still no match for a good natural.
Do others have the same impression?

 

Naniwa Super Stones & Pro Stones are a Fantastic No Guess Work Consistent Progression..Canny Whack Em..Or Any Other High End Synthetic System..I Reckon a Synthetic Edge is Almost Indistinguishable from a Natural Edge..In Capable Hands of Course..

That Said I Do Prefer a Natural Finisher..Dunno Why..Cant Really Say for Sure..I Only Use My Few Naturals Purely as Finishers After Plonking Down a Higher Grit Synthetic..Best of Both Worlds for Me..

Its No Coincidence that Many Pro Honers Use a Full Synthetic Progression..If One Cant Get a Buttery Smooth Edge from Say a Naniwa 12 K Super Stone then they are Doin Summit Wrong..I Always Use Pastes to Refine an Edge No Matter What Stone I Use..Natural or Synthetic..Thats Not to Say I Cant Shave Straight from a Natural..I Can..Easy..Some Like that..I Dont..I Am of the Lynn Abrams Camp on the Paste Versus No Paste Thing..
http://straightrazorplace.com/advanced-honing-topics/66106-paste-finish-vs-stone-finish.html


Its All a Personal Judgement of Taste is All..That Said..I have Experienced 2nd Rate Edges Both from Naturals & Synthetics..So the End Result is at the Hands of the User & Not the Stones Em Selves..

That Said..There are Few Coticule Stones Out there that Can Even Sniff a Naniwa 12 K Super Stone Edge..I Have a Lovely Barbers Coticule..Probably 12 K + with Lather..Most Coticules are Way Short for Straight Razors..Thats Why there is a Myth they are Hard to Use & Voodoo Techniques...Most Aint Fit for Purpose in the 1st Place..

Billy..

 

The French Barber in his 90s that I Bought My Barbers Coticule from Informed Me of the Above in this Video..This Doesn't Go Down Well with Some Due to the Worshiping Status of Coticules in Some Forums..Never the Less the French Barber in his 90s that I Purchesed My Stone from..Came from 3 Generations of a Line of a French Barber Family..

Billy..

 

Certainly, there are not so great edges from naturals as well. I produced quite a few!
And there is an apreciatable difference between a 1k, 2k,5k an 8k, a 12k, sh20k going from sharp enough and quite harsh to extremely sharp and ok , but never to smooth as in yellow green Esher, coticule,...

For example, in general I shave the first time off the stone, without stropping, but with a synthetic that is never a good idea.

The best result I had from a synthetic was with the sh20k but in a natural nagura progression, ending on nagura, that was more than ok, but not butterysmooth
But both me and the owner of the 20k still liked the edge we got from the ozuko more.

In my mind I have a 2 axis system for sharpness.
1 axis gives the steepness of the edge. That is a 2 dimensional property composed by the angle and rounding or the presence of a standing wire edge (bur For some).
A keen edge has a narrow cuttingsurface and a high cuttingpressure.

The second axis gives the aggressiveness of the edge, virtualised by the side view of the edge.
The side view goes from oneven sawTooth, serrations, soft waves to completely straigths.

Aggressiveness also increases the cutting pressure. The top and bottom of a woodsaw have the same keenness, but push with your finger on the saw and you will feel the difference.
A second point about aggressiveness is it ads shearing capability. Pushing a saw down has no use, moving it front and rear does.

A rough diamond hone can produce a hht5 edge in no time, that edge is verry toothy, with deep narrow scratches in the sidewall but it might still completely rounded on other places.
A 1k can also produce a hht5 edge, if you used a lot of force during honing it will be verry aggressive edge, deep but wide scratches with sharp edges, if you used verry little force and lots of strokes it will be less aggressive and keenner.
If you you keep grinding on finer stones or with less pressure you will even out the big valleys and replace them with smaller ones, but you keep making pointy dents.

A less toothy abrasive like a burried rhomoid shaped one in coticule will leave a less aggressive, softer pattern, when grinding.
A softer abrasive will break down When grinding, leaving a softer edge.

A softer abrasive also breaks easily from the barrier, forming rounded slurryparticles. When the edge is resting on loose particles we speak of lapping. The particles are partly rolling, partly grinding

Lapping results in soft pitting of the edge. narrow, short, shallow scratches, randomly placed. Lapping hardens the steel by cold working and it leaves a soft, almost straight edge.
The keenness of the edge is limited as the point always bumps into the slurryparticles which rounds the edge slightly.

Inbetween grinding and lapping is sanding, you have a hard, sharp abrasive on a soft carrier, that way you can't put big pressure on the abrasive, resulting in a softer edge, a pasted strop is an exemple.


About coticule, indeed the lacking of a stamping system makes it a difficult gamble, I have 5 coticules, one is hard as hell and needs to be used on slurry for finishing or the edge gets to hard, another needs running water to finish,...
That means That you can't copy the recepy from YouTube, you have to find out how the stone works, for some that is a interesting challenge, for others that is frustrating,...

But, the coticule or jnat can give me htt 5 edges that do not cut skin unless really provoced. When they cut it is big time, so i rather limit them to around hht3 or 4.

But i think i have a babyskin

 

I'll choose the Norton 4k x 8k combo. This has been a real workhorse for me. A matter of fact there is no 8k side left. For finishing I've been using arkies lately but think I prefer my Charnley Forest. I have one coti that's a good finisher and a couple of Thuri's (one is a Celebrate Razor Hone) that work fine plus a 10k and 12k synthetic.

 

I have gotten some very smooth edges from my Shapton Glass 16k and Gukyumo 20k, then I have enjoyed some very smooth edges from naturals. The difference is I can’t get a great edge when I use a natural so when I send out my razors to a pro for honing I ask them to finish with naturals. I just don’t have the skill nor patience to improve my skills with a natural. I envy my fellow TSD members who can hone.

 

Keitmax, what kind of naturals, and how do you use them?

 

I use an all arkansas stone progression.

Soft, hard, and black.

They were a lot of trouble to Lapp flat. Had to get silicon carbide powders.
The upside is that they won't have to be lapped again for some time. They aren't for the professional whatsoever.

They also are slow to put on an edge. (Which is why they aren't for the professional)

But...they produce a great edge if you take the time to get one. And I use mineral oil instead of water...which saves me a step after they are sharp. (Although the time I would have saved sharpening on water stones would have more than made up for that one step)

The step between the hard and the black takes the longest and most strokes. But I can do the strokes in my sleep. (Because it takes so many of them)

 

I have a J Nat but not sure what type and a Zulu Grey. I start with a slurry and go until I end up finishing with water.

I never go the J Nat to work but I can get smooth edges with the Zulu Grey they just are not as sharp as I like. Even when using the Zulu Grey for touch ups it takes allot strokes while my synths finish very quickly.

 

Hey keithmax, I can't tell anything about a Zulu, heard good things about is but there it ends.

The jnat, if it is a hard stone it should deliver a sharp edge, If it is a soft stone it never will surpass a good bevel.
But the verry expensive stones are a pain in the ass to deliver an edge I heard ( cannot afford one ).

How do you make the slurry on the jnat? A tomonagura Or a diamondplate? Or do you use a nagura progression?

Here some things that may or may not help you???
I see the asagi as a carrier for the nagura and the nagura is the abrasive powder. There is coarse powder and fine powder but after some honework the powder breaks down in finer parts, making it act as a finer hone.

In general the nagura breaks down faster than it takes the steel to gain sharpness, making it ineffective slow. New coarse slurry solves this.

If I need to set a bevel , I will start with a verry coarse nagura, yae botan, it will hone pretty fast, but the nagura will break down in smaller pieces before the bevel is set, so the honing becomes slower and slower until it is useless work, so I need to renew the slurry a few times.

After a while I have a nice cutting bevel but the new slurry is so course that it blunts the edge to much, so i need to go to a finer nagurastone: botan, if the botan becomes to coarse I go to the next one, tenyou, then mejiro, koma and in the end tomonagura.

You cannot overhone on nagura, new slurry becomes grey if you are honing and after a while more brown or yellowish as it splits faster than it picks up metal. That is a signal that you should renew slurry or start to waste your time, but it doesnt do harm.

Lapping on nagura gives a Matt, dotted finish. It is described as a white finish. If you were grinding before you had a shiny, black finish. This means you can easily see if the whole edge is worked. If the complete edge is white you can progress to the next step. So no need for a sharpy to see if you missed a part.

The jnat is not only a carrier but also a fine hone, a 20k is nowhere near as fine as decent jnat, so if you keep working your slurry once you had a complete white edge and start diluting until you hone on water you are grinding and turning the edge shining black, resetting your edge tester but also turning the edge more aggressive.

Nagura is a rather soft abrasive and the lapping means that the particles roll easy. You don't get scratches in the edge unless you have contamination, so there is hardly chipping.

A jnat progression is an extreme pyramid progression. Worked botan nagura is much finer than fresh koma or tomo nagura. So even in your last step you return to a rather coarse abrasive.

Pressure makes nagura verry effective, without pressure the particles slide and roll, with pressure the particles scrape and roll. So start with a lot off pressure, as much as the razor allows, and each time you renew slurry you decrease pressure until you use only the weight of the razor in the last progressions.
The harder and finer (more expensive In general) the stone, the more pressure you will need to get the abrasive particles to scraping, making it harder to get result.

In the last step you can stop on slurry, resulting in a sharp comfortable knive, or you can dilute and continue grinding on the asagi, resulting in scary sharp.

When I started with my oozuko i only had a rather soft tomonagura. It took at least 3 to 5 times new slurry to get a jnat edge and 10 x new slurry to get it really there.