Is there a difference?

[Sure Shot Rick]

Can a difference be felt shaving between a razor that was honed on a 8000 vrs a 12000 grit hone. Say a Norton vrs a Shapton. Can the finer hone make any discernable difference? Would any difference be attributed to the micro serrations vrs hair diameter? I have the Norton 8000 and a Diamond King Barber hone. Do I really need to spend money on a 12000 hone? :confused:

[roughrider]

I heard some people use the Natural Polishing Water Stone from woodcraft. It's rated at 12K+


http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=4920

[jbasl]

Most of the guys on SRP seem to go from the 8k right to a strop or pasted strop. I don't think it will make much of a difference, but I'm not very experienced at honing yet.

[rtaylor61]

Rick,

Rather than spend the money on the 12K, I'd vote for a pasted paddle strop from Tony Miller. Tony is a member here. Send him a pm and get his feedback.

Randy

[thestubblefactory]

From my experience my answer to your question is no. After my Norton 4000/8000 I thought I would go for the ultimate and bought 10,000, 12,000 and 15,000 hones. The 12K and 15K were very expensive Japanese ceramic hones. After a lot of experimenting I realized that they provided little to no improvement to sticking with the Norton. I should have listened to Lynn Abrams in the first place.