Thread: cheap 12K hone any good?

New Chinese Water Hone / Waterstone for Straight Razor | eBay

Does this hone look like it is any good? I am buying a 4K/8K combo, but if this is usable I might pick it up too.

Thanks for the advice for a beginner.

Thanks!

I know values can't be discussed. Am asking more about quality. I don't know what a "slow hone" means! Thanks!

The C12K's can be a very good, but you can also get one that's basicly useless, there's always differences in natural stones, but the Chinese stones seems to have a higher number of "not quite so good" stones.

I would say grab one, they cost almost nothing so if it doesn't work for you it's not a big loss.

they are good finishers..but aernt 12k rated..more like 6k-8k if a number could be put on its grit..had a few friends gimme their thoughts when I thought about em...lapping them can take FOREVER..well less than that.....could be few hours

Never heard them to be in the 6 to 8k range, but hey... I have one and I really like it. I use it now mostly with oil just for the fun of it, really. Kind of dedicated it to oil. But, before that used it with water. Great stone.

A slow hone means it takes a lot of strokes. I don't know....I do about 20-30 when I'm finishing on this stone. I like it because it's also a great touch up stone.

You're talking about getting a 4/8 k, all you'll need then is a bevel setter (1k) and a lapper dapper. Like a DMT 325. Sandpaper can work also for that.

As far as the C12K taking forever to hone, I dunno. I've always bought them lapped. If you want to take a while lapping something, lap a barber's hone.

My suggestion would be to pass on that stone. The stone in the picture is not the one you will receive. Master your Norton
4/8 (good choice) and you will have a feel for where you may want to head with a stone. Good luck and enjoy.

Originally Posted by lz6

My suggestion would be to pass on that stone. The stone in the picture is not the one you will receive. Master your Norton
4/8 (good choice) and you will have a feel for where you may want to head with a stone. Good luck and enjoy.

What stone do you receive, then? Perhaps not the exact one pictured, no. But still as described.

I have a good PHIG, but I purchased it somewhere else. I am very happy with it's performance.

I picked one up on the bay about a month ago, knowing that it could be a bit of a gamble. As has been said, some seem to be great and some seem to be pretty much useless.

I bought mine from that exact same seller and it has worked great for me so far. No guarantee that this particular one will be from the same quarry/source, but I can at least say that mine turned out to be a good one.

My one suggestion would be to consider a slightly larger size. 50mm is more or less 2 inches, and so its width will be approx 2/3 the length of most blades. If you find one that is 75mm+ you can cut down on how much of an X you have to do with your strokes if that would be helpful to you.

As has been said, these stones can be a real gamble. They can range anywhere from useless to 12k+. If you do happen to get a good one, they can give some of the smoothest edges out there.