Thread: Chinese 12k

I bought what I thought was a Chinese 12k natural stone from Fendrihan and they told me it would be a random shape with the same 12k honing surface, but they sent me an 8x2 hone....so I feel that I lucked out pretty well on that.

My question is this: With my norton 4/8 I know I have to soak it thoroughly for the 4k side, but do I need to soak the 12k, too? I noticed that just from picking up the hone the oils from my skin were soaked quite rapidly, so I figured that just a splash of water wouldn't do too well. Should I submerse it for a good 10 minutes prior to polishing?

-Derek

that random shape doesn't make much sense to me. in us they seem to come in two sizes with the corresponding prices.

the instructions on the box say to soak it for 30 min before use.

also you would want to lap it.

IMHO, I always soak for 30 minutes, which is probably overkill, 15 will probably do.

the way i figure it whenever i am honing i have to soak the Nortons anyways, so i throw the chinese in there also. i don't know what kind of difference it makes but why not right.

i like my 12k chinese but (and this could be just me and my learning curve) its seemed like it took a bit to break in i guess. like it didn't work amazing at first but i really like it now. it was probably just me though.

You know, I cut up a lot of Chinese 12K's and sell the slurries. One time I soaked one for a good 30 minutes, maybe more.
When I cut it, I expected to see some saturation through the stone. To my surprise, no water soaked in, I mean if it did, it wasn't enough to see with the naked eye. I still soak mine when I use it, I'm not sure why I do, other than the box told me to do it. When you soak it, rather than splash water on it, it does seem to stay wet longer, so maybe the soaking does have some effect. I do like it with the slurry though, I get a nice edge on my razors in half the time....

How important is it to lap the 12k? I thought that when you bought hones, they came pre-lapped. Or at least enough to hone on it right away. Should I have lapped my 4/8 also?

You should lap the chinese 12k when you get it from what I understand. The same applies to the norton. You would think that they would come pre-lapped and ready to go, but apparently this is not the case. Here's the wiki link to lapping in case you need to learn how: Hone Lapping 101 - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Originally Posted by DerekC

How important is it to lap the 12k? I thought that when you bought hones, they came pre-lapped. Or at least enough to hone on it right away. Should I have lapped my 4/8 also?

The Chinese 12k I bought was nowhere near flat. The surface was quite convex. I have never heard of a hone, other than the Spydercos, coming pre-lapped. I have purchased 7 Norton hones and not one of them was flat. I would guess that yours also needed to be lapped.

yeah, my chinese wasn't flat either. it still has two corners low, but i'm not wearing down my dmt with it any further, since these don't matter for honing.

i don't know how it responds to sandpaper, but if it takes time don't be discouraged, it'll get there.

Utopian - the DMT's and the GDLP come flat too I know, I know.... just messing with you

Somehow there must have been confusion between the Chinese 12k hone and the Belgian bouts that place sells. The bouts come in random shapes, not the 12k hones.