Thread: Chinese Waterstone 12k

Sunny but 35F and windy, looks can be deceiving..lol!!

It's so hard I doubt I will ever have to lap it again especially since I use almost no pressure using it as a finishing stone

Originally Posted by TomP30

Oh my gosh, you have sunshine ��, is it warm, can you share some?

Sorry, we Brits can get excited by such natural phenomena. Thanks for the photo, it shows perfectly your meaning. How often do you find you need to lap it?

Originally Posted by TomP30

Second lapping completed up to 600 grit WD paper, there are still some minor scratches visible but I think these are new. Just for fun I decided to attempt my first razor hone, the seller of my Bengall suggested the edge only required a finishing hone so I got to work. I have no experience to gauge how long a honing session should take but I feel safe in my assumption that two episodes of House of Cards B2B is probably too long. On a positive note I don't believe I have found any other task to be so therapeutic. the edge IS noticeably sharper and cutting the fine hairs of my forearm, but it's not as keen as my Revisor. I think either my technique needs improving (guaranteed), or possibly I need a slightly coarser stone for my vintage blade.

My PHIG was sent without a rubbing stone, will any type do?

I like to use a rubbing stone made of the same type of rock that I'm using. That way it will not degrade the preparation I've laid out on the surface. Provided of course that the edges of the rubbing stone are rounded so there are no sharp corners to gouge the hone if the rubbing stone tilts while in contact with the hone.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

The biggest issue with these stones is that there are basically two distinct types There are a few within those types but I am trying to keep it simple first..

The easiest way to determine which you have is to make a very light slurry and trying honing with it..

One type will give you a soft almost Talc like experience and create a sweet edge much akin to a Thuringen the other will be scratchy and feel terrible while honing..

If you have the softer type then use it like a Thuringen and be happy with the edge, it should be a good comfortable finisher with a bit of versatility also..

If you have the harder scratchy type then Lap it as high as possible. burnish it out, and use it like a Noviculite (Arkansas/ Charnley Forest) as a final burnishing style finisher.. I would highly suggest finding Smith's Honing solution if you have this type..

Again there are different variations within these two types but that is your first experiment to figure out what you actually have in your hands from there you can find out what is going to work or not work with your particular stone..

Huh, that's the first time I've heard that there are 2 types, but it does explain why there seems to be a lot of hit and miss with these stones. I imagine using a honing style mismatched to the hone type will give rather poor results.

Originally Posted by TomP30

Update:

I have purchased the Dragons Tongue Welsh slate with slurry stone from AJ on eBay. Yes I know, it's a natural again and I probably should have gone synthetic for the consistency, but I somehow feel part of the fun is in the experimenting. If I'm correct in my assumption it should be a softer - coarser stone than my C12, I am hoping to use the two together with the C12 as a finisher. Having the new Revisor certainly helps as a guide.

I have a Dragon's tongue bought from AJ as well. These also seem to have a bit of a range to them - reports seem to vary between 6K and 8K type performance. I was originally hoping mine would be on the lower end, but it leaves an edge roughly equivalent to a Norton 8K hone. Which turns out to better for my purposes. If I want to mess around with slurry, I'll touch up a razor on my Norton 4K, then move over to the Dragon's tongue, and on to another finisher from there. I've also worked away 1K hone stria with a Dragon's Tongue, so it's a fairly versatile hone once you get the slurry process down. For reference, there wasn't a large difference in time for working away the 1K and 4K stria. The C12K is a good step up from the Dragon's tongue, provided you got a good one. Not sure if I would use just this to bring an edge back, but I'm sure in the right hands or with a little more experience it could be done without being a 3 day process lol.

I think I was being a little optimistic in attempting to refresh the edge on the TRC with the C12k, especially being the novice that I am (being completely stubborn I did shave with it the following morning, it did shave albeit not as smoothly as my Revisor). My first instinct was to get a stone with more bite, I know it would be simpler to use a synthetic but I just like the notion of using a natural stone. I will persist.

I have already walked that mile. I got a quarry full of natural finishers.
Slowly I bought once synthetic at a time. 2 years later I feel that the naturals are DULL compared to the synthetics.
Or take the crisp edges off.
We modern day men have taken edges way past what was possible back in the day.
This PHIG thing is the biggest shot in the dark ever. No distinct spot. No discreet location. No Quality Assurance.
Yet did I get a good one?? Or am I a hardheaded man who will find a way to make this hone work and fit in my sequence?
Best of luck.
Hit it with a few strokes on the man made. Then do 10 strokes and see if your edge is better. No ?? Do 100 more strokes. That into itself is bass ackwards. Yet its been shown to work.

Originally Posted by Marshal

Huh, that's the first time I've heard that there are 2 types, but it does explain why there seems to be a lot of hit and miss with these stones. I imagine using a honing style mismatched to the hone type will give rather poor results.

Post #5 has the links look at the third one

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...nese-hone.html


In that link is a link that goes back to 2009

There are are more then two but I was keeping it simple for a new guy to the hones

Thank you, that's a lot of useful information. Y'know it's funny I spent about a year trying to figure that confounded stone out before I finally blundered (almost literally) onto the proper methodology for it. Yet there it sits on the second page, post number 16.

I remember trying to use it as it came and the results were less than stellar. Someone clued me in to lapping hones flat. Results improved, but a hard natural lapped on a 220 grit hone will only go so far. I started reading about Arkansas hones, and their preparation. One day I was looking back and forth between an article on Arkansas prep, my PHIG, and some sandpaper from an old project and thought, "Why the heck not...?" Then a short while later I was reading about barber hones being used with water or shave lather. First I thought I was crazy, then I thought I was clever. Now I realize I was just looking for information in the wrong places the whole $%^& time!