Thread: Which hone set for makers?

My wife wants Christmas ideas. I'm going to have a bunch of blanks sitting on my bench soon, and sending them all out for honing would pay for the hones. Sooooooo, which set should I get? I know Nortons are well "supported", but I wondered if they would work for this purpose? I'd really like to hear from anyone with ideas, but especially guys that have made then honed their own. Barring everything else, I'm still stuck between the norton 220/1000&4000/8000 set or a naniwa 1000 & 3000/8000 set.

I think those are very similar choices, and you probably couldn't go wrong with either one.

Personally, I use the Naniwa set with excellent results. I also have the 12000 Naniwa, which is a very comfortable finisher. Lynn sells a pack that includes the 5k/8k/12k for a reduced price, add a 1k to that and you'd be in business.

The system I use is 1k Chosera, 5k SS , 10k SS 12k ss. You can use 8k SS instead of the 10k, I just never felt an 8k will improve anything in the progression to be worth the money.
With some CrO on paddle and / or 0.5 micron Diamond spray on felt you will be set to get really good edges.
This set up works for me just for about anything, except kamisori which I prefer to hone on all natural progression.

After trying the shapton pros 1k thru 30k, naniwa superstones 1k thru 12k I have settled on the chosera 1k and the norton 4/8. Above that I use the escher though I am considering a naniwa 12k to go between the 8k and the escher. Never satisfied.

Jimmy, that's an interesting idea too. A Chosera 1k and a Norton 4/8 combo is only about $35 more than the 220/1k 4/8k norton combo. Is the Chosera really that much better than the norton 1k and will I miss not having a 220 for starting a brand new edge on a self made razor?

Originally Posted by medicevans

Jimmy, that's an interesting idea too. A Chosera 1k and a Norton 4/8 combo is only about $35 more than the 220/1k 4/8k norton combo. Is the Chosera really that much better than the norton 1k and will I miss not having a 220 for starting a brand new edge on a self made razor?

Yes, that much better

You are going to grind to the first edge anyway, at least I am assuming that, so basically any of the setups mentioned will work..

Now if by chance you are thinking of honing to the first edge then a DMT 220 or 325 is the way to start.. and yes when it comes to heavy lifting at the bevel stage the Chosera is worth the money

Originally Posted by medicevans

Jimmy, that's an interesting idea too. A Chosera 1k and a Norton 4/8 combo is only about $35 more than the 220/1k 4/8k norton combo. Is the Chosera really that much better than the norton 1k and will I miss not having a 220 for starting a brand new edge on a self made razor?

The Chosera is fast and the slurry stone included can speed things up some. When I have a lot of edge work to do I use a chosera 400 and it works wonders. You can use the 1K for starting an edge, but it will take a little more time than say the 220 or 400.

The Chosera stones really are very nice though. While I own a number of finishing stones, the best money I ever spent on hones was on the Chosera 400 and 1K. If you are on a budget then the 1K will suffice. A chosera/norton4K/8K will get you by. If you want to speed up the edge establishing than a lower grit stone would help a lot, but is not necessary for getting started. Maybe get the 1K and see if you like it and if it takes too much time you can always pick up a lower grit stone later.

Originally Posted by medicevans

Jimmy, that's an interesting idea too. A Chosera 1k and a Norton 4/8 combo is only about $35 more than the 220/1k 4/8k norton combo. Is the Chosera really that much better than the norton 1k and will I miss not having a 220 for starting a brand new edge on a self made razor?

+1 on Glenn's post (gssixgun)

Watch the jumps from a 220 to 1k to 4k. I have found
that coarse stones and DMTs must be followed by
a very clean bevel honing at 1K and perhaps 3k.
A Chosera 1k should do you well.

My bias for hones coarser than 1k is for DMTs.
Anything coarser than 1k must be flat as heck
when I am done i.e. not too sensitive to hone wear
for one razor. If I have very much steel to remove
I set my Norton 220 to the side and use a well worn
coarse DMT or lap the Norton 220 very often.

From the DMT site:
Coarse 325 mesh, 45 micron
Fine 600 mesh, 25 micron

BTW, well worn means I used it on a Chinese 12k rock
and badly abused it. Now it is about finer than
fine and gets used to lightly slurry 4k and finer water
stones.

I dont have a chosera 1k but after hearing all this nonstop great feedback I think that might need to try one. I have been using a shapton 1k pro and have liked it so far but all this chosera talking is making my pockets burn!!