- Thread starter
- #21
Minimal stone honing. Would this combo work?
- Thread starter MajorMinceMeat
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Steve, your picture is a 4k and 6k, but I assume what you typed is what you meant to recommend? 2k and 6k?
Yeah Major, Arks are plenty fast in general, but for razors, relative to synths and many common nats used for razors they can be slow. Keep in mind that if I take a beveled razor I can finish it on a synth 8k and a jnat/thuri/coti/apache in about 1-2 minutes. 10-15min on an arkansas isn't a lot of time, but relative to that it is.
And yes, for maintenance, as I said in my first post, one hone is enough, two is plenty too. For honing after beveling, two is a good place. If you want to bevel too, three is my recommendation. You can work beveler to finisher, but one additional middle or prefinisher hone does simplify things. Once you go beyond that, if you're reasonably fast on the hones, then switching between them starts to take more time than the extra stage saves you.
You can one-stone hone (including beveling). It's generally significantly more work than two or three. A good beveler, a good finisher, and usually a middle stone... that's what I recommend for razors.
And yes, for maintenance, as I said in my first post, one hone is enough, two is plenty too. For honing after beveling, two is a good place. If you want to bevel too, three is my recommendation. You can work beveler to finisher, but one additional middle or prefinisher hone does simplify things. Once you go beyond that, if you're reasonably fast on the hones, then switching between them starts to take more time than the extra stage saves you.
You can one-stone hone (including beveling). It's generally significantly more work than two or three. A good beveler, a good finisher, and usually a middle stone... that's what I recommend for razors.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Yes sir, lol! I grabbed the wrong hone. 2k HR and 6k HC. I’ll try to post the correct image tomorrow.
- Thread starter
- #25
This was not the video I was referencing. It was a kieth v johnson video, Similar concept however the 8k for me was only to ensure that putting an edge on a razor I killed didnt take until next week on a dans hard ark. the 8k is faster at bringing edges back so long as bevel is set and that is what I was doing. anything done on that 8k was negated when I brought it to the hard ark. If you want a progression similar to that dr matt video but All natural might I reccomend using a hard ark and the ILR. both stones can be had for a grand total of $100 shipped. I like the feel of the finish after the hard ark better than the 8k tbh.I guess you're referring to this video:
Actually, I was in the same boat and reached out to @drmatt357 and his recommendation was to get the 4K/8K Norton combo and the 12K Naniwa, given I am a total beginner and have never honed a thing in my life.
So, it all boils down to WHAT your are planning to do and how frequently.
Me, I bought an expensive, custom made razor (Koraat), that came shave ready. This as well has been a recommendation from Dr. Matt and I love the razor.
How and ever, I have opted for a different stone combo - the one that the artisan who makes these razors uses himself and it's a 3K/10K Naniwa combo wet-stone. For me this eliminated the need for the second stone, as with 3K side I can (re)set the bevel and the difference between the 10K and 12K is non existent, many pros here actually preferring the 10K edge off of this Naniwa.
As a "finisher" my foreseeable path will be several cheap canvas and leather strops loaded with CrOx and/or diamond paste.
Hope it helps
I do ark progressions pretty regular. After most of my Washita's I will jump straight to a hard ark finisher. If I am dealing with much damage it will usually be a diamond stone first. I'm actually looking for a good natural stone to do the coarser work just because I like natural stones.
@Bowmaker Some BBW's with heavy slurry can cut like a 1k-ish synthetics (some slower than others) and they leave a nice scratch pattern. Not the best option ever, but a natural stone alternative for 1-4k range work.
