SMF

Hi all,

I am looking for a honing stone and I need your help - mainly I am thinking around 8000, but I am open to suggestions for between 6000-120000.
Important to me are, in order, keenness, maintenance, speed.
Money, as always are an issue, my budget is limited to US$160 EUR150 GBP110
To be honest, mainly I am leaning to towards one of these (in order):

Sigma Power Ceramic 8000 (or 10k, which has the advantage of a huge sharpening surface - 140mm wide)
MST Müller
Imperia La Roccia
Suehiro Gokumyo 10000
Arkansas Translucent

I am happily using for sharpening a 1000-2000-4000 sequence of Suzuki-Ya stones described here https://fabulalignarius.wordpress.com/tag/pm-v11-test/ which replaced a combination of Naniwa Chosera (sorry - too expensive their 10k) and Shapton Pro (which I MIGHT consider for their 8k or 12k).

Thank you for your help.

I'd be thinking 8k then a finisher. That's not to say you can't shave off a 8k. Honestly, I don't even know what my finishing stone is but it produces a nicer shaving edge than my thuri and my Celebrated Razor Hone. I've had pretty good luck with the Spyderco UF after the 8k but it's slow. Good luck with your search.

I'd recommend the imperia la roccia 12-15k since your current highest grit stone is a 4k. you can slurry the la roccia to act as an 8k and slowly dilute with water as you make more passes to finish the razor at a 12-15k level with light pressure. It's the cheapest quality option to solve your specific needs and budget as it solves your having to finish on a lower grit to avoid buying two stones. Hope this helps!

The recommendations are leaning towards

1. Naniwa Snow White 8000
2. Naniwa SuperStone 8000
3. Arkansas Translucent
4. Yellow Coticule
5. Suehiro Gokumyo 10000

Naniwa Snow White - I am, just a little bit, doubtful about his one - I hope is different than Chosera - which I just sold - or the Superstone. Chosera & Superstone, in my setup, was slower than Sigma Power (and than Shapton Pro for harder steels only). As for wear - Chosera AND Superstone both worn more than Sigma and Shapton Pro. Performance - No complains here - both Chosera & Superstone were able to produce the keenest and smoothest edge than any other stone I ever tried.

So my basic question is - is there a stone that performs as wonderful as Chosera/SuperStone but is quicker and less dishing prone (more stable, harder)? I was hoping Suehiro Gokumyo 10000 will be the one, but, for whatever reason, there are not too many people knowing it.

I don't know the answer, but am curious to read what others may say about it. Naniwa 12000 Superstone seems to be working well for me.