Help pick my stone progression!

[Bigsurprise]

I've been shaving with a Dovo 6/8 for a few years now but I still don't have a proper sharpening solution; I've been sending it it to be honed when needed. I have been doing lots of searches and reading the last couple of weeks and I am sold on the Naniwa Professional line. However, I am open to suggestions for other stones. I have also looked at Shapton Professional, Naniwa SS, Suehiro, King, and Bester. These stones will be used to sharpen both my straights and knives.

I currently have a DMT 1200 Diasharp. I thought it would be a good idea to pick up a 325/600 DMT Duosharp to lap the new stones, but also to be able to work on any neglected blades quickly. I tried using my 1200 for some serious work on a knife but the process was very slow.

For the rest of the progression, I had these different scenarios in mind:

1k -> 3k -> 8k snow white
800 -> 3k -> 8k snow white
2k -> 5k -> 8k snow white

I know DMT and the Naniwa stones use a different scale to measure their grit ratings, but I am not sure how much overlap I will need. Is the jump from 1200 mesh to 2k JIS easy to do? Will 1200 mesh to 1k JIS be a smoother transition or too redundant?

I have the 800 listed because I prefer the color of the stone a lot more over the bright green 1k, but I am not about to pick the 800 of it doesn't fit in the progression nicely. Function over form.

Out of these options, which would you choose? If you were in my shoes, would you pick different stones?

I see that Tools From Japan still carries the older Naniwa Chosera stones. I like the fact that they are 25mm thick instead of the 20mm of the Professional series. Do you think the newer Professional series was introduced in response to cracking issues in the Chosera series? Are the cracking issues something that would deter you from purchasing the Chosera stones?

Thanks guys.

 

[ouch]

Plenty of ways to skin a cat, and there is no single correct answer. Every Naniwa and most of the Shaptons I've tried exhibit some sort of crazing. It is neither a defect nor a problem, although I can see why it would appear disturbing. The spider web appearance is simply removed with a few strokes of a nagura stone, which you should use every single time anyway.

 

[Gamma]

Crazing and cracking are two different things. I've not seen a Chosera crack but I've read about it. One could be related to the other but I've had crazing that did not crack. I picked up my 1k C early on, well before the flavor of the month crew decided it was the bees knees and that stone did craze yet it's is still going strong.
The crazing I have seen on my Choseras has been non-catastrophic.

As ouch noted - Shaptons have also had their share of crazing issues.

The Chosera 2k is, IMO - an inbetweenie - not a replacement for their 3k, not at all. I sold my 2k C without ever reconsidering it. For me - the 3k C is an indispensible part of my synth progression. I also have the 3k SS and while it's just as good in a practical sense, it is softer. I can use either interchangeably though.

The 800x C and 1k C are close enough to choose either one. The 800x loads less but it feels a little softer. I have both an use them in that slot without thinking about it. The 800x is a bit faster it seems. But I still use the 1k C as 'the' benchmark bevel set stone. The scratch patterns are different but in-use there is no difference in the finished result.

3k C to 8k Jyunpaku is doable but I'd go for a 5k in-between. That 8k is a finishing stone, originally - it was sold as such. It capable of producing a finer edge than the 10k SS and it's also harder - so I was able to easily out-do the 10k SS with the Snow White. Reason for the 5k in the middle; I don't want to be doing a lot of laps on that 8k. I get better results by getting the edge to max on 5k and then going a very short time on the SW 8k.

My choice would be 1k C, 3k C , 5k C, 8k SW.

 

[global_dev]

Crazing and cracking are two different things. I've not seen a Chosera crack but I've read about it. One could be related to the other but I've had crazing that did not crack. I picked up my 1k C early on, well before the flavor of the month crew decided it was the bees kness and that stone did craze yet it's is still going strong.
The crazing I have seen on my Choseras has been non-catastrophic.

As ouch noted - Shaptons have also had their share of crazing issues.

The Chosera 2k is, IMO - an inbetweenie - not a replacement for their 3k, not at all. I sold mine without ever reconsidering it. For me - the 3k C is an indispensible part of my synth progression. I also have the 3k SS and while it's just as good in a practical sense, it is softer. I can use either interchangeably though.

The 800x C and 1k C are close enough to choose either one. The 800x loads less but it feels a little softer. I have both an use them in that slot without thinking about it. The 800x is a bit faster it seems. But I still use the 1k C as 'the' benchmark bevel set stone. The scratch patterns are different but in-use there is no difference in the finished result.

3k C to 8k Jyunpaku is doable but I'd go for a 5k in-between. That 8k is a finishing stone, originally - it was sold as such. It capable of producing a finer than the 10k SS and it's also harder - so I was able to easily out-do the 10k SS with the Snow White. Reason for the 5k in the middle; I don't want to be doing a lot of laps on that 8k. I get better results by getting the edge to max on 5k and then going a very short time on the SW 8k.

My choice would be 1k C, 3k C , 5k C, 8k SW.

What gamma suggested just above is what I use and it works great, although I wish I had the 800 and I use the 10k after the 8k at times.

 

[Bigsurprise]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the help; Especially Gamma for taking the time to write out all that. I have read a number of your posts already in my searches.

1k 3k 5k 8k sounds like a good plan. I have read a number of glowing reviews for each of those stones, especially the 5k and 8k. I think I'll be ready for anything with this setup!