I've been asked many times how do I hone my razors and what progression I use for that. The stones used in the honing progression are generally a personal preference. There are a lot of products doing a good job. What I consider to be the most important stone in a progression is the final finisher. This is the one that will decide the feeling of the shave! Here are my stones:
- Shapton Kuromaku 2000 (Low range stone used for chip removal)
- Naniwa Superstone 5000 (Middle range. Here starts the honing for most vintage and all NOS razors)
- Naniwa Superstone 8000 (Just to clean the 5000 grit marks and prepare for final finisher)
- Naniwa Kagayaki 12000 (Puts a very sharp and very comfortable shaving edge) Or I can use a natural superfinisher like Nakayama Maruka.
After a couple shaves, when the smoothness of the blade decreases, I can refresh the edge using only the Jnat.
To refresh with Jnat, first I use diamond plate slurry to remove steel and then tomo slurry to further refine the edge. Just like in this video!
Other tools:
- Raymay microscope 250X (17$, the zoom is much more than necessary)
- Atoma 600 (for lapping and slurry)
- Spray mist bottle (for slurry)
- Marker (for bevel check)
- Shell cordovan leather strop
#honingtools #straightrazorhoning #naniwa #atoma #nakayama #maruka #tomo #shaving
