Finishing stone

[stone and strop]

Tomonagura made a review of the gokumyo 20k, and he came to the conclusion that it was a very nice feeling edge, but not nearly as comfortable or keen as a jnat finish and nearly unusable to use slurry on, only ended in microshipping.

I will have to humbly disagree. It is a very nice soft feeling edge.
I like a Jnat edge better too but that doesn't diminish the quality from the Gok.
Why would you even consider to slurry a synthetic ceramic base 20k stone anyway? I'm not sure anyone ever recommended such a thing.
Water only.
Bester/Imanashi stones are nowhere near the ballpark of the Gok.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I liked the Gok, but I think I prefer my SP 13000.

 

[MO1]

I will have to humbly disagree. It is a very nice soft feeling edge.
I like a Jnat edge better too but that doesn't diminish the quality from the Gok.
Why would you even consider to slurry a synthetic ceramic base 20k stone anyway? I'm not sure anyone ever recommended such a thing.
Water only.
Bester/Imanashi stones are nowhere near the ballpark of the Gok.

Yeah I agree on that part totally. Kind of silly to make a slurry on a 1 micron-ish stone let alone a 0.5 stone. Would make more sense to do that on lower grit synthetics for increased cutting, but on finishing synthetic stones, it makes no sense.
I kind of just forwarded what tomonagura wrote.

What I wanted to relay is that there are "better" options for that price, even a high quality jnat which is more flexible could be had for that price, although more hard to find. Which is why I kind of tilted towards the black ark, which is more of a "you know what you buy" option.

 

[stone and strop]

Just read Keiths review and actually after a synthetic to 8k prep he was very happy with the shave.

Copy and pasted: Hope this is ok seeing as he is a member here - if not Mods please remove.


"Test #3; same razor as above; edge brought down to new bevel on a 1k Chosera. Followed that with 3k and 5k Naniwa Specialty Stones. The pre-finish was done on the 8k Jyunpaku and the final finish was executed on the Gok 20.

Result - The shave from this honing effort was on target; the edge was keen and smooth. The surprisingly excellent 'face feel' lasted a very long time. Honestly, while shaving, I very nearly forgot this was honed on synthetics. I’m not saying the edge was identical to one from a Jnat or Thuri or better or whatever. No – not that at all. What I am saying is that the typical synthetic feel was greatly diminished; sort of like having a 12k SS edge that's been 'smoothed out' while possibly bumping up the 'sharp' a bit."

 

[raccoonandbrush]

I use a hard black Arkansas Stone after my SS 12K. I love the finish the Ark gives.

 

[A Cut Above]

I have had a lot of finishing stones and the black transparent convex is at the top of the list. It is quick, takes 10-20 laps and you will have an amazing edge. Much less then 20k Got or Eschers which I also own.

 

[Basil]

I have had a lot of finishing stones and the black transparent convex is at the top of the list. It is quick, takes 10-20 laps and you will have an amazing edge. Much less then 20k Got or Eschers which I also own.

I agree the convex ark gives an amazing edge. I’m having a string of success with the jnat lately that gives me a sharper and smoother edge. But the ark is pretty consistent and amazing

 

[MasterOfPups]

Check out a good hard jnat. Ozuku Asagi or the like.

Down the road, it will also serve as a platform for naguras that can expand its usefulness for prefinishing as well.

 

[steveclarkus]

If you want a simple to create fantastic edge, take @Slash McCoy advice and use diamond pasted balsa. I don’t believe anything is better or less expensive.

 

[Guitar10]

I do have the Onyx stone from Wild West shaving co and it works very well for me. I actually do most of my refresh now whit it and it’s a very good finishing stone.