I thought it would be neat to revisit this thread from a little over a year ago and see if anything has changed. What are you guys reaching for these days?
Just my motley collection of stuff, from Jnats to King synthetics. No opinion yet as I have not gotten a super sharp razor so far, and will have to try quite a few combinations to see what works best. So far it's a King 300 Deluxe for rough work, Bester 1200 for bevels, Naniwa or nameless 3k, Arashiyama 6k, Kitayama, Welsh slates. Suehiro Rika, a 4K stone, King 6k, Jnat Ioto, synthetic blue aoto from Naniwa (I think, not the green brick), and a Jnat finisher of unknown provenance. I'm not counting the chunk of sandstone I got from a friend in the landscaping business that seems to produce a very fine scratch pattern, will work that in someday.
Someday I'll get to try the chunk of slate I got in a lot off eBay, no idea if it's a paving stone or a hone yet, and eventually I want to try a coticule or two, but that's in the future.
I suspect there are lots of ways to a good shaving edge.....
I have collected a variety of hones. When setting a bevel, I normally use Naniwa SuperStones from 1K up through 10K and then go to natural stones for prefinishing and finishing. My prefinishers include one of my CNATs, Tsushima ocean blue, and a Coticule. Finishers include another CNAT, a Imperia La Roccia, a , a Zulu Grey, a Welsh Llyn Mellylyn, a Greek Vermio, and a Dan's hard black Arkie. The Zulu Grey is currently the one I am using most often.
I like my edges very keen and yet very smooth. With honing alone, I can get the edge either very keen, or very smooth, but not both. If I follow the honing with pasted strops using 0.5, 0.25, and 0.125 micron CBN abrasives, I can achieve the edge I am looking for.
Sorry David, I couldn't respond to the survey. Suffice it to say that I have HAD, but it's not necessarily "All of the above" as listed. Three new progressions that I have tried this year, or since the winter holidays, have all worked well for me and have been from sourced from Griffith Shaving Goods as to the finishers: a Rhode Island magnetic Anchor (cumberlandite) stone off a synth Kitayama 8k or off a Rhode Island Smithfield; the "right" Rhode Island Smithfield > Rhode Island Whitehall progression (stones there being variable as to fissures) off a Suehiro synth 1k/3k combo; and a Slovakian Rozsutec lapped to 2000x off a traditional Naniwa 1.5k > 6k synth progression.
I followed Matt at Griffith's recommendation to use it off an 8k synth for starters, and then later tried the Smithfield as a precursor, as the Smithfield had worked quite well before its sibling Whitehart and had been most curious. The natural stones in question were used with water, but to ensure that the water spread evenly over the surfaces, I filled a coffee mug with water, then added a few drops of dish-washing liquid and gave it a stir with a teaspoon (not on the 8k synth though, which demands straight water). The water as mixed was poured out over the stone as needed with the same teaspoon (hand-held user here, using ~1-3/4" x ~6"-7" stones as sold). As a stone, the Anchor/cumberlandite is very stable and shaves well from my experience, with the edge as felt being a "sharpness shrouded in smoothness" tingle during the shave. My normal method with narrow natural stones like these is to do a few up-and-down half-laps for starters, to knock off any burr/edge deformation and taking the blade's entire length in sections, before moving to straight X-strokes for the majority of the honing process and to even things out, not forgetting to introduce the occasional up-and-down stroke to give some love to the heel. Hope this helps.
Right now I am really getting into British naturals. The last razor I bevel set with a Dalmore Blue, more generally I am using a progression of Dragon's Tongue, Llyn Melynllyn, Charnley Forest. I am refreshing on another Charnley Forest, used with oil.
For 8k and under, Naniwas and film still do my grunt work. I only set bevels and full progressions 2 or 3 times a year. All my finishing is done on a grouping of Belgium, German, French and Arkansas stones. I have been known to find a stone or two and in the wild. What is trending in my den is my finds of the month. I just found a Tam O'Shanter that is really delivering impressive edges. Mix and match stones and never know what the will deliver