Earlier today, I seen a post where someone was having trouble setting the bevel and no matter what method was tried, he still couldn't get it set. In the photo he posted I noticed that the stabilizer had NOT been ground and he stated in his post that the razor didn't sit flat on the stones. Now with most of these affordable Chinese made razors, you have 2 choices of honing. Rolling X strokes which could take a while on some razors. Or you can grind down the stabilizer until it sits flat on the stones with a dremel. But what if you don't have a dremel? Here's a really quick and easy method you can do with your Naniwa Professional (new chosera) 600 grit to grind the stabilizer down just enough to where it sits flat on the stones and yes this can be done on any part of the razor that's giving you fits:
Step one is to tape up the blade with electrical tape at least 2 or 3 times so that part of the razor does NOT get honed and it offers a place to hold the razor while you are grinding the stabilizer down and out of your way:
Next you take your low grit stone and turn it on its side and be sure to lap and/or flatten that side and secure it in your stone holder. For this kind of work, I recommend using a Norton 220 grit, Naniwa Professional 600 grit will work, but not as fast as the 220 grit which is basically a metal eraser. The Shapton Professional stones will also work, but NOT the glass stones. They're too thin for this kind of detail work:
Next up you do 40/40, 20/20, 10/10, 5/5 seconds worth of half circles or keep going until the razor passes the old "Tap & wobble test" where you tap the opposite corners of the razor. If the razor lays perfect on any flat surface and does not move when you check to see if it's warped then you are good to go and have fun:
I really like the Naniwa Professional Series stones for this type of work. In terms of spine wear, these specific stone don't leave as much behind like Norton stones do. They also don't feel "gritty" or rough when they first arrive and unlike Norton stones, their speed is excellent. These also tend to produce a nice, comfortable, and slightly polished edge. Another good thing about these stones is that they don't dish on you while you're flattening/lapping them either. In fact you don't have to lap/flatten these as often either.
