What stone(s) did you learn honing on

[RobbyC]

Just for a bit of fun, what stones did you learn to hone on / what stones did you get your first excellent edge from?
And what stones do you use now ? How much has changed ?

My journey into honing started with my cousin urging me to start straight shaving probably 7 or 8 years ago now. I had done a lot of knife honing and had a set of DMTs so I picked up a set of AJs slates and bought some beater razors from eBay and set off going dmt fine straight to the slate progression.

After many many failed efforts I realised I wasn’t fully setting the bevel, and I subsequently started getting shaveable edges using circles and slurry dilutions, and progressively got more and more comfortable shaves as I realised the importance of fully removing the dmt scratches.

My eureka moment came shortly after receiving an old barbers collection of razors, along with a 5 x 2.5” LGB coticule with 1mm of coti left when lapped, which was and still is one of the absolute fastest cotis I’ve ever used (out of 25 plus) and gave an exceptional shave with just water. I have had a love of coticules ever since, and I’m hoping to one day score another 5 x 2.5

I have tried every stone I could get my hands on (minus Jnats) and still go back to my cotis 80% of the time
8 years down the line, and all that has really changed is i now use a better progression of stones (naniwa 1k - dalmore blue - BBW / Tam o Shanter - coticule) and if I feel like pushing the edge then a Thuringian or CF
I also no longer destroy my edges on the strop, and have learnt to “feel” how the edge is progressing.
Would love you hear how your honing journeys started and where you have ended up with it
Rob

 

[kelbro]

Coticule/BBW.

 

[1Speedster]

Started honing in 2012 using the venerable Norton 4/8k but quickly went over to a full Naniwa Super Stones progression to 12k....and an b/g Escher (one of the easier naturals to learn). Key to all of that though was spending serious one-on-one instructional time with a professional honer so that I knew up from down before going too far, too stupidly. This helped in countless ways so I would highly recommend this tactic to anyone starting out.

Funny thing is...he saved me from Cotis. As you pointed out, securing the "The One" coticule becomes a lifelong, royal pain in the a.$.$ search. Besides, his advice amounted to this -- coticules work best for blades employing softer steels (e.g. Sheffield).

Things went well soon enough, and a few years ago I managed to grab a used Suehiro Gokumyo 20k finisher. Finally, I had reached synthetic edge nirvana -- super smooth, sharp edges that were consistently quickly and easy to acheve. But, that also turned out to be a problem for me. I found myself not honing as frequently which I later attributed to "sheer boredom" from having figured things out.

As my mentor said at this point, "When you have reached a certain comfort level with your present finisher and know its ins and outs in nearly all cases, that's when you know it's time to find a new finisher."

So I jumped down the Jnats hole with several and haven't looked back. If you are content with cotis, save yourself some wealth and avoid Jnats. However, if you can spare a bit of change and keep yourself from going terribly hog wild (ahem), they are a tremendous pleasure to hone on and produce spectacularly smooth, sharp edges.

 

[Lord Fatboy]

Naniwa, silkstone and Charnley.

My first silkstone was 99pence from the bay. It's not quite on the level of my finest Thuris, but it's a smooth sharp edge. The Charn, my second natural, was a bit of an epic transformation from a lump of inclusions soaked in oil (welcome to Britain where the name for "sharpening stone" is "oil stone") to that green crystal he uses in Superman, so I got some 'stone resto' skills early on.

Since then I've used dozens of stones, including some excellent j-nats, though, for whatever reason, the stone + nagura progression method of honing just leaves me cold.

As for now, if I had to pick one natural... some people say coticules "aren't magic"... I beg to differ.

 

[Lord Fatboy]

with 1mm of coti left when lapped, which was and still is one of the absolute fastest cotis I’ve ever used (out of 25 plus) and gave an exceptional shave with just water.

Same here - the 1st coti pictured in my previous post only has maybe two and a half mm of coti left, but I've never had to lap it again, because it is so fast, even from bevel set to finish. It's one of those cotis with a "scratchy" surface that feels like it must be chewing up the edge, but produces smooth and fine edges really quick.

 

[RayClem]

I started with a series of Naniwa superstones: 1K, 3K, 5K 12K. I later added other stones in the lineup. I still use those stones if I need to set the bevel and go through the full progression. However, that does not happen very often. Normally, I only need to refresh the edge using a finishing stone.

I have a coarse beard and very sensitive skin; the superstones never quite gave me the edge I was looking for. Although the edge off the 12K was keen, it felt a little harsh on my face. At one time I skipped the 12K Naniwa and finished on a variety of natural stones. My favorite naturals are Greek Vermio, South African Zulu Grey, and the Imperia la Roccia from parts unknown. However, my primary finisher now is a Suhiro Gokumyo 20K synthetic. Although expensive, the G20K produces very keen, very smooth edges.

I also found that I get better edges if I use pasted strops after honing. I use 0.5, 0.25 an 0.1 micron CBN pastes and sprays to really polish my edges.

 

[Robert Anderson]

I started about eight months ago with an 800 and 5K synthetic. My first finisher was a Dota Creek from Coe's Whetstone. I managed my first usable edge with that stone. Later used lapping film and pasted balsa strops after the DC to get a keener edge. A few months ago I purchased a translucent Ark. After several attempts I was able to get a very nice edge on the Ark without films or balsa strops.

 

[Basil]

Learned to hone with a coti, they were the only stones I used for years.

Recently I was tempted by a sale on jnats so I picked one up to test and see how they compared. Also picked up a black Arkansas stone around the same time to experiment with.

Coticule edges followed by black ark to increase the sharpness give me some foolproof edges. My go to is just using my jnat with a nagura progression followed by just some clear water.

Jnat is as smooth as my coti but gives me that ask sharpness in one easy hone.

 

[rideon66]

First stone was this coti. Got excellent edge from it too. I use a plethora of different stone types now and love them all.

 

[MO1]

My first stones was shapton glass, if I were to buy again I would probably not buy the 8k and the 16k. Which leaves me with a 500, 2k and 4k. I use the 2k most for bevel setting, if it seems like alot of work for a razor I just make slurry on it.
Got a coticule but it seems to be fairly coarse, nothing like the smoothness and sharpness i get from jnats which was my next stones, i have 3 which all get used.
My last purchase was a black ark which i like very much, take an excellent edge to it and the ark will make it perfect, just pushes everything you like about the edge, minus everything you don't like about it.

 

[Christian1212]

good ol norton 4k/8k and a 1k too I believe. Those poor razors I learned on...
Don't use synthetics that much anymore and stick to coti/jnat now

 

[alex1921]

1,3,5k chosera, 8k Snow White, Jnat

 

[Bowmaker]

First stone was this coti. Got excellent edge from it too. I use a plethora of different stone types now and love them all.

View attachment 1014060

 

[rideon66]

 

[RobbyC]

Some great replies gents!
Great that there is such a range, It’s something about honing / shaving that I just love. How we all do what fits OUR face / beard.
I feel I got very lucky with finding that first coticule, as it was capable of some fantastic edges. I did get a very fast introduction to slurry dulling however, I think this has helped me in the long run though.

I will be buying myself my first JNAT after Christmas once I’ve cleared some of the excess cotis / thuris, and I will probably be asking for some advice on here when I do.

 

[Basil]

Yeah finding a good coti as your first is always a bonus.

I got mine from the members on coti.be so was less of a gamble.

Jnats are lots of fun and you’ll be able to get lots of info from the members on here. Just remember buy from reputable dealers. The eBay sales might be tempting but they turn out to be trash a lot.

 

[HazMat Shaver]

my first stone was a Jnat. After many failed atempts and reading a lot, I bought a Norton set. Then got tired of soaking so I picked up the Naniwas. Added a 12k and as Ray i found it not smooth enough.

Picked up a Coti or 3 and never was happy with those edges. Tried a thuri and found comfort. Then a Zulu. I keep going back to the Zulu and it never gives me the keen im always looking for. Troed barber hones of lots of types then got the gok 20k. Smooth and consistancy came to life!

Now after a couple more thuris and a couple more Jnats I keep going back to the 20k. Its just hard to beat the edge i can get from it.

 

[Gamma]

I"m still learning. Hopefully, the learning never stops.

When I started honing, I bought a Norton 4k/8k combo. Hated it. Got a Coticule, loved it. Bought some Naniwa Super Stones, didn't hate or love them. Bought thicker Super Stones, same thing, only thicker. Moved to Chosera stones, things were better.

 

[Earcutter]

Coti’s to Nani’s & all kinds of synthetics to Arks. My real love is for pastes. All said and done, I can’t believe how much I’ve spent on things to sharpen blades that once sharp, need very little help. So I use my rocks to keep my knives sharp too. Still can’t justify what I’ve got even when I sharpen all my knives too. But I keep buying lol. “Rocks” are cool.

 

[RayClem]

I love trying new stones. I just ordered a Vermont green slate from Griffith Shaving. Since it is advertised as something in the 10-12K range, I do not expect it to produce finer edges than some of my other natural stones and certainly not as fine as a Suehiro G20K. For those folks who can easily shave off an 8K Norton, the Vermont green might be a wonderful hone.

As Earcutter says "Rocks are Cool". I like to see what kind of edge I can get from different stones.