Thread: King 1000 hone

I guess a shave is the best test but a tomato or grape when used with very little or no pressure is pretty darn close.

I agree, and the darn close part was my point--close but not complete. An edge that can slice a tomato with no pressure still can reflect some light when looking straight down on the edge.

When I read the post about using slurry with the King 1000 I had to try it out. All I can say is WOW! Turned my King into a different stone. I think for now I will stay with the King for now. Think I may get a Shapton glass 6K or 8K hone instead. I don't have a good middle grit stone at the moment other than my Coti. so I am leaning towards the 6K Shapton glass.
I realize that some day I will need to upgrade from my King but I set the bevel on a 5/8" Hamilton that someone had butchered the edge pretty bad so I used the the king with slurry & then with out slurry & it worked great.
That said I am also thinking of a KMG lapping plate. I will just have to see what Santa brings me! HO HO HO! Merry Christmas to all my SRP friends! Hope Santa is good to all!


Dave"Slawman"Huffman

Well, I started out with a Norton 1K hone. The way I see it, that gets the bevel set, but what your face feels - and the ones that are more interesting for me to play with - are finishers. In light of that when I wore about half of that 1K combination hone away, I replaced it with another Norton 1K. Cheap, effective, and I could divert the money I didn't spend on a pricier 1K into finishers.

Maybe it would be worth it to upgrade if you find yourself restoring/honing a significant amount of razors on the 1k. But for maintaining my small stable of blades a better (and pricier) 1K just wasn't needed.

Such is my 2 cents at any rate.

What your face feels may come from the finisher, but the most significant work is done on the bevel setter. Because bevel setters are relatively cheap compared to finishers, in my opinion it is nice to use a good, if not great, bevel setter.

Originally Posted by Utopian

A sharp knife can slice a tomato. A razor whose bevels almost meet also will slice a tomato. That test will only tell you that you are somewhat close, but it is not an adequate test.

Agreed, much better off using a few different tests. Thumb pad , nail etc as well as visual.

King 1k is the only synthetic I have kept. A work horse, not the fastest but reliable.

Originally Posted by S0LITARYS0LDIER

King 1k is the only synthetic I have kept. A work horse, not the fastest but reliable.

I tried a King 1k at a Chicago meet up a few years ago and decided that it was the only commonly mentioned 1k that I did not want to bother owning. Have you tried any other 1k hones that you did not like as well as the King?

Originally Posted by Utopian

I tried a King 1k at a Chicago meet up a few years ago and decided that it was the only commonly mentioned 1k that I did not want to bother owning. Have you tried any other 1k hones that you did not like as well as the King?

No, most others were similar if not better, they were much faster than the king and we're splash and go.. I just enjoy the smaller width and smooth feeling of it. If I were to upgrade it would be to a naniwa or shapton glass. Maybe one day I will. The king is just very cheap for the beginner just wanting to dip their toes in the water.

That said if I had other 1k hones the king 1k isn't worth picking up. IMO of course.

Originally Posted by Utopian

What your face feels may come from the finisher, but the most significant work is done on the bevel setter. Because bevel setters are relatively cheap compared to finishers, in my opinion it is nice to use a good, if not great, bevel setter.

There's no denying that the bevel setter is where the brunt of the work is done. But I haven't had to dig out my 1K hone in months because I've only got 2 razors that really need any sort of bevel work. The rest are all in maintenance mode, so unless I drop and ding one my honing is all done on a finisher.

Besides, a King 1K is in the top 4 I see suggested. The only place to really go from there is a Chosera/Pro 1K which cost 3x what most of my finishers have, or a Naniwa Traditional 1K maybe on the cheap end.

I don't feel the need to "upgrade" the King either. It sets the bevel. What more does it need to do?

I have 13 vintage straights. Most will probably never need to go to the bevel setter again. I'm working on a few of them, testing, playing around and I always have the desire to buy "just one more" vintage from Ebay to fix up but I like to be economical with the hones or minimalist if you like.

I'd like to have a coticule and Jnat with all the slurry stones but I get my blades sharp with what I have so "going to the next level" would just be for the fun of honing and I'd have to be in the mood to spend a lot more to get there.

Even so, I probably wouldn't replace the King as bevel setter.