Thread: is a "chinese" 12k really chinese??

Where the heck can I get these chinese 12k's everyone talking about? Ebay has plenty of Japanese water stones, but not a single chinese one.

Seriously though, can someone recommend a place to buy a decent chinese 12k? thanks.

Hello,
I got mine at Woodcraft.

Here: Buy Natural Polishing Water Stone, Water Stones, Sharpening - Woodcraft.com

Al raz.

yes, it's really chinese, but it's not really 12k

+1 for woodcraft :P they're a good price there. or the classifieds sometimes has them.

- Tam -

Originally Posted by gugi

yes, it's really chinese, but it's not really 12k

What grit is it more like?

it is a natural stone, so the actual grit rating is anything from 1000 to 8000 (look up the grit definition and you'll know why).
but somebody felt it polishes like a 12k synthetic stone (which one I don't know because different 12k hones leave different edge) and few years later that's become part of the common name for the stone.
but in reality it has absolutely nothing to do with 12k grit

one thing is for sure it is a slow natural finishing hone from china.

Originally Posted by gugi

it is a natural stone, so the actual grit rating is anything from 1000 to 8000 (look up the grit definition and you'll know why).
but somebody felt it polishes like a 12k synthetic stone (which one I don't know because different 12k hones leave different edge) and few years later that's become part of the common name for the stone.
but in reality it has absolutely nothing to do with 12k grit

one thing is for sure it is a slow natural finishing hone from china.

Ahh, I see what you're saying. The bottom line, though, is that it finishes in the 12k region. And as you said, slowly.

how slow is slow? 10 strokes? 100? 1000?

More like 100