Thread: Guanxi hone problems

Ordered my first natural hone from a guy that sells them on ebay. The price was affordable so i thought i'd give it a try.The first one i received and started to lap showed cracks on both sides. He was kind enough to take it back and even refund the shipping. got the second the next day (today) and after hours of lapping with first some 180 emery cloth and then some 320 wet dry (that's all i have) it's clear that i'm going to need to find another method. My question is, this seems to be a lot different than the first(as far as i can remember) harder and looks to be coarser when compared to the slurry stone i got. do Guanxi's polish smooth? 'cuz there is no sign of that yet, and there's some spots of gold (is that a problem?) i hate to send it back again but i don't want a hone that's unusable as a finisher.

I don't own a C12k, but Arks are fairly similar in terms of prep. You'll need to take it to a higher finish level, probably at least 800 grit wet/dry, and I have seen some guys post that they have gone to 2000, though personally I feel that is overkill. The use of a chisel afterward to burnish the stone will help as well.

Welcome to the reality of natural hones. A particular type of hone can have wide differences in characteristics. If you are still not happy you could try again but it would be more reasonable for you to pay postage both ways this time.

Using a chisel to Burnish a hone?? thats a new one on me.

I lapped my Chinese hone with a DMT 325 and nothing more. It was pretty hard on my DMT, which was never designed for lapping natural stones, but it DID produce a smooth surface on the stone. Just from the photos, which is a difficult means of assessment, yours does not appear to have the potential to be very fine.

I wonder if the Woodcraft Chinese hones may have better quality control?

thanks for your replies. i wouldn't consider sending it back again but i'm not sure if i would take the chance and order another( or spend any more money to lapp it). Not really sure what to do with it.

Originally Posted by tintin

thanks for your replies. i wouldn't consider sending it back again but i'm not sure if i would take the chance and order another( or spend any more money to lapp it). Not really sure what to do with it.

If you send it to me id be more than happy to lap it for you and mail it back. If you got it from who I think you did (Marek), he is a true gentleman. I have purchased 3 stones from him, a courser , a finer and a combo guangxi and I am thrilled with them all. I tend to have spent quite some time with these stones which probably lends to my affinity and if I can humbly say, moderate proficiency with them. Just pm me.

What other naturals, if any, do you have? Because it is so hard, you can use it as the equivalent of a diamond plate for creating slurry on a softer natural hone. Arkansas stones also are handy for this.

Randy has a large Amakusa that he uses all the time--as a base platform for his other hones!

Alternatively, you can just add it to your Oops Pile! I assume everyone who has a lot of hones certainly has such a pile. I certainly do.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Alternatively, you can just add it to your Oops Pile! I assume everyone who has a lot of hones certainly has such a pile. I certainly do.

Haha.....you just made my day ;-)
Thanks for doing it my friend!!!

I also own one Pile of those, didnt we head a thread about it? If not please start one....

I have only 3 -4 Ooops stones the others i give them presents to frends for knife sharpening. I think in this case it is a definetly Ooooops hone......sorry.