Your Thoughts on These Whetstones

[TstebinsB]

I'm thinking of getting these whetstones for my straight razors.

Shapton 2000
Shapton 5000
Cerax 8000
Naniwa 10000

I would then hit the green oxide compound, the linen, and lastly, the leather. Hopefully by then I'll have one scary sharp edge. :smile: I've learned a lot about these stones already but I'm always open to learning more. Please share your thoughts. Thanks.

[joel]

Depends what you're looking for. Personally - I wouldn't go with that combo. Too many stones, and you'd have to flatten them all - and the Naniwa is so soft it'd have to be lapped every time you use it.

I'd get 1-2 DMT's you never need to lap, soak or fuss over and a cheapie green chrome paddle strop. It isn't as "romantic" as a whole collection of waterstones, but it'll work better, faster, and deliver identical results.

[TstebinsB]

I'm unfamiliar with DMTs. I'll have to look them up. I'm not into romanticizing my stones. I want the biggest bang for my buck.

[JBHoren]

I'm not into romanticizing my stones.

But you did like Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone, right?

[TstebinsB]

But you did like Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone, right?

Jack Colton: One hell of a morning has turned into a b@#$* of a day! :lol::tongue_sm

[ouch]

The Naniwa is so soft, it's more like a strop.

[TstebinsB]

Hmm. No love for Naniwa.

[TstebinsB]

I've read the posts, I've listed to adivce, and I've gotten wise. I'll be going with a DMT D8EE, a handmade balsa/green compound paddle strop, and a shell leather hanging strop. I'll get a cheap practice razor to work on my skills. Soon as I'm ready, I have two NOS Friodurs and a NOS Filarmonica that I'll finally be putting to use. Thanks for the help.

[ouch]

Hmm. No love for Naniwa.

Naniwa makes some of the best stones I've tried. The 10K super stone is one of the most highly regarded finishing stones for knives (when I said it's more like a strop, I didn't mean it as a pejorative), and their elusive 10K cho-cera (~$300) is in holy grail territory.

The knock on Shaptons is their lack of feel, but I've been loving their GlassStone series.

[TstebinsB]

Is the Naniwa 10000 that much sharper than the DMT D8EE to make it worth buying?

[ouch]

Sharpness isn't a matter of grit alone. It's a combination of science, magic, and luck.

At the higher grits, the role of the stone is to polish and refine an edge which has already been established. Unsatisfactory results can usually be traced to the work done on the coarser stones.

[joel]

Is the Naniwa 10000 that much sharper than the DMT D8EE to make it worth buying?

They are radically different.... it's like comparing a pickup to a sedan. To establish an edge on a Naniwa would literally take weeks, however to establish an edge with a D8EE would be much, much quicker. The Naniwa is a finishing stone - where as the DMT is kind of a finishing stone, and a touch up stone - as the diamond abrasive cuts so damn fast.

To compare "like for like" you'd have to compare the Naniwa to green chrome - and the green chrome (in my opinion) is vastly superior.