I'm looking at my first natural stone purchase in the next few months - mostly because I've decided to grow what I'm sharpening from just knives to include straight razors.
I have a good range of synthetic water stones with a 150 Naniwa "Lobster" at the bottom of the range, going up to an 8K Kitayama and a 10K Naniwa Chosera (although the 10K is a TINY stone on the Edge Pro that I don't use much anymore).
Based on what I've seen, watched, and read, it seems like a natural stone of some sort is likely to yield an even finer shave than what I'd achieve with the Kitayama and a pasted strop. I also like the idea of learning a new sub-set of skills when it comes to using stones.
I see a few options:
- A relatively hard and fine jnat. Hopefully something that is "razor friendly"....but I know that each stone is different.
- Gokyumyo synthetic - maybe the 15K? (about the same price as a reasonable size jnat from what I can see)
- Coticule
- French "Black Shadow"
- Slate from "Imperia La Rocca"
I'd value any suggestions that you have about which direction may work well. I don't foresee taking any of my current knives beyond the 8K Kitayama and onto a natural stone...but you never know what sort of ridiculous idea I may come up with once I've spent a bit of time working with a stone.
I have a good range of synthetic water stones with a 150 Naniwa "Lobster" at the bottom of the range, going up to an 8K Kitayama and a 10K Naniwa Chosera (although the 10K is a TINY stone on the Edge Pro that I don't use much anymore).
Based on what I've seen, watched, and read, it seems like a natural stone of some sort is likely to yield an even finer shave than what I'd achieve with the Kitayama and a pasted strop. I also like the idea of learning a new sub-set of skills when it comes to using stones.
I see a few options:
- A relatively hard and fine jnat. Hopefully something that is "razor friendly"....but I know that each stone is different.
- Gokyumyo synthetic - maybe the 15K? (about the same price as a reasonable size jnat from what I can see)
- Coticule
- French "Black Shadow"
- Slate from "Imperia La Rocca"
I'd value any suggestions that you have about which direction may work well. I don't foresee taking any of my current knives beyond the 8K Kitayama and onto a natural stone...but you never know what sort of ridiculous idea I may come up with once I've spent a bit of time working with a stone.