After reading a lot of other threads and seeing some recent opinions on good natural finishers, I have come to the conclusion that out of the many different varieties of natural finishing stones there are three types that stand out from the rest:
Japanese natural, Thuringian and Arkansas stones.
It seems to me that the Japanese natural stones are the top performers - if you get a good one.
Thuringian stones can produce very good edges that may not be as good as those obtained from Japanese stones, but they are the easiest to use.
Finally very hard Arkansas stones can also produce very good edges, but they are less forgiving than the others.
In another thread I came to the following conclusion:
Basically I get the idea that buying any Thuringian stone has an element of risk similar to that of Japanese natural hones in that there are natural variations, and a stones performance can only be determined by testing each one individually.
Thus, as far as natural finishers are concerned, it’s probably safer to just buy a hard Arkansas stone - It may be more difficult to master, but you know what you are getting.
I know that there are many on this forum who have a lot of experience of these types of finishing stones and I would appreciate any comments on this topic.
Japanese natural, Thuringian and Arkansas stones.
It seems to me that the Japanese natural stones are the top performers - if you get a good one.
Thuringian stones can produce very good edges that may not be as good as those obtained from Japanese stones, but they are the easiest to use.
Finally very hard Arkansas stones can also produce very good edges, but they are less forgiving than the others.
In another thread I came to the following conclusion:
Basically I get the idea that buying any Thuringian stone has an element of risk similar to that of Japanese natural hones in that there are natural variations, and a stones performance can only be determined by testing each one individually.
Thus, as far as natural finishers are concerned, it’s probably safer to just buy a hard Arkansas stone - It may be more difficult to master, but you know what you are getting.
I know that there are many on this forum who have a lot of experience of these types of finishing stones and I would appreciate any comments on this topic.