Thread: So What Grit ?

+1 on any finisher, +1 on 12k

Its really up to you. If you know you're gonna want hones, get the 12k. I like the Nani's and am pursuing a full set, but I like natural finishers more. I touch up on anyone of: J-nat, Thury (Escher), or Swaty (Barber hone). It mostly ends up being whatever I finished the blade on (figure it preserves the finish?) or if its a workhorse blade that someone else honed, the Swaty does a great job 5 laps and you're done. I will say that I like the Escher's edge most, seems sharp but very smooth, but not really enough to justify the price. In retrospect, I have trouble justifying a lot of stuff though.

It depends on what size coticule it is and what grade it is. There's Select grade and Euro grade. The Select grade is what I've liked and used for years and they've been a standard for barbers for a few hundred years. The most popular sizes for razor honers is 6x2 followed by 8x2. We used to get a lot of 8x3 stones but sadly they're not coming from the quarry very much anymore.

Sorry I haven't replied, my comp has been down and out.

Thanks for all the info. I'll be taking it all into account. I still have some time before I need a hone so I'm going to take my time and mull it over.

i might add that i have a chinese natural waterstone that is 12000k and is very reasonably priced. it is around $44 including s/h from woodcraft. i have had it for about a month and it works great.

Thanks for the informative thread. I've been using a 12000 grit hone that a friend gave to me and it's been working well. I find that I don't need to use it very often if I strop before every shave.

I have a question however about an old hone that used to belong to my grandfather. It looks very similar to the hone that I've been using but I'd like to know what grit-value it has before using it. Is there a way to test for the grit of a hone? Can I, for example, use another hone with a known grit to compare with it? It also looks like it needs some lapping but that's something that's easily accomplished.

Best,

Steve

Great that your 12K hone is working well for you. Unlabeled stones can be hard to classify, especially true for the grit level of natural stones. Someone here may be able to help if you can provide any label info that may exist, dimensions, and good photos. You might try out your grandfather's stone and some sharpness tests and a test shave to see what happens.

I mostly work with pasted bench strops and suggest also giving consideration to trying CrOx and diamond spray/paste on honing leather etc. Bench strops are easy to make and inexpensive. I hope that you get additional responses as the date of the post before yours is September 2009.

HTH