Where to buy and best prices for various stones necessary to hone. Looking for a chosera 1000 grit, a naniwa 3/8K combo, a dmt 325, and a 12k-16K finishing stone. Please advise where to start. Can't afford to buy all at once.
Fairly new to straights looking for advice on stones to buy
- Thread starter gonzo4str8rzrs
- Start date
Sounds like a good plan to start. You'll get a billion different opinions on your proposed setup, but it will work.
I think personally the leap from an 8k synthetic to a 12-16k finisher (like a nice thuri, for instance) is often a lot of work. You might want to bipass the naniwa and get a good coticule instead. You can easily take a 1k finish up to shave ready with just slurry dilutions, and finish on a thuringian or whatnot. And it will cost you about the same price as a naniwa (90 bucks or so).
If you are dead set on a synthetic midrange progression, then go for it.
I think personally the leap from an 8k synthetic to a 12-16k finisher (like a nice thuri, for instance) is often a lot of work. You might want to bipass the naniwa and get a good coticule instead. You can easily take a 1k finish up to shave ready with just slurry dilutions, and finish on a thuringian or whatnot. And it will cost you about the same price as a naniwa (90 bucks or so).
If you are dead set on a synthetic midrange progression, then go for it.
If you are looking for economizing you can leave off the 12-16k and use chromox as your final finisher.
My advice would be to have a straight honed by different people and when you really like the edge, ask them what they used.
I'd get a Chosera 1K and a Coticule bout with slurry stone. It's all you really need.
Of course, SWMBO will NEVER, EVER know this
I am a fan of the coticule solution as well. I get experimental and try different stuff and enjoy using different hones, but I always come back to the coticule. Day in and day out a good coticule edge is my favorite.
- Thread starter
- #8
Thank you so far for the great tips and advice, still looking for more insight.
If your leaning toward synthetic stones, I have tried several and settled on Shapton Pros. Check them out at Chefsknivestogo.com. You can make a deal on sets of stones.
If you want cheap and acceptable, a King 1k/6k combo will do all right (not the best, but serviceable). Then get your choice of finisher. Personally though, there's no replacing a Chosera 1k and a coti. YMMV.
(There is adding to it, however, which gets pricey)
(There is adding to it, however, which gets pricey)
I was recently asked a very similar question via PM, but why anyone would want my opinion on things is beyond me. I have no idea what I'm doing!
If you have a shave ready razor, based on my experiences I would recommend picking up two things (outside of a normal strop)
1) a pasted strop... The black paste in the Dovo Crayon kit is ~12K and I really like it better than the TI white paste. (the Dovo red is ~8k)
2) a barbers hone. this will cut fast and need only about 8-10 strokes to maintain a good usable edge on a blade. It gets used when your pasted strop doesn't return your blade to the sharpness you want.
Once I got solid, serviceable shaves using these two components for 2-3 months of daily shaving, then I was ready to start experimenting with "better" (i.e. more expensive) stones. For me, JNats work very nice and seems to click with me pretty easily.
After all, you need to be able to keep your blade maintained first. No sense wacking your edge while learning and then not be able to get it serviceable again without sending it out.
If you have a shave ready razor, based on my experiences I would recommend picking up two things (outside of a normal strop)
1) a pasted strop... The black paste in the Dovo Crayon kit is ~12K and I really like it better than the TI white paste. (the Dovo red is ~8k)
2) a barbers hone. this will cut fast and need only about 8-10 strokes to maintain a good usable edge on a blade. It gets used when your pasted strop doesn't return your blade to the sharpness you want.
Once I got solid, serviceable shaves using these two components for 2-3 months of daily shaving, then I was ready to start experimenting with "better" (i.e. more expensive) stones. For me, JNats work very nice and seems to click with me pretty easily.
After all, you need to be able to keep your blade maintained first. No sense wacking your edge while learning and then not be able to get it serviceable again without sending it out.
- Thread starter
- #13
what Coti would you recommend? Thanks Rockviper also for the very detailed reply.
This is what I always recommend.
I bought and sold several systems before finding my Goldie locks.
I'm no expert on pastes, but my understanding was that when the bevel was deformed enough by use of a pasted strop that it couldn't be brought back anymore with said strop, it necessitated a full rebeveling... making the barbers hone in that setup kind of useless.
Worked fine for me for several months. YMMV.
Get 1 chosera 1k, noton 4/8 and naniwa 12k. That will allow you to learn the basics. Then after you sneak in a coti or jnat or whatever. You still have to get the hands used to honing. Or get the chosera 1k ($85) and some 3 and 1 um film and a marble tile. I prefer hones over film, but I would rather shave off a film edge that is easy to get than a natural edge that is dull from improper honing skills as we all have when we are learning. JMHO. Most guys don't end up where they started.
+1 CKTG is a great resource with great prices and customer service.
What you really need is a Chosera 1K and a nice hard Jnat with a progression of slurry stones Botan, Tenjoyu, Mejiro, Koma. It's all you'll ever need forever and ever and ever
- Thread starter
- #20
I can't believe all the great input I am getting from all the different members. Thanks
