Thread: King 1000 hone

I just checked out the tomato test on YouTube. Very cool. I will have to try that.

Whatever works for you, use it. Just make sure you test the whole edge.

The quickest and easiest it to develop the TPT thumb pad test. Touch every sharp object you can find with your thumb, eventually you will know what sharp is. It should feel sticky, as you cut the first layer of skin, not enough to bleed.

You lap your stones when they feel rough or the buildup swarf. It depends on the stone. Kings do not load up like some of the Naniwia do. A lot depends on the composition of the stone.

You don’t really lap it, (a full lap) just give it a few swipes with a diamond plate to make sure they are smooth. Most folks grid lap when new, then just refresh periodically.

I use the tomato test but I also found grapes will work fine also.

Slawmeister

The one thing I do if I buy a razor is clean & sanitize it then try it out. If it gives a reasonable shave or cuts a grape well it probably does NOT need the bevel set. In this case I would start with a 3 to 5K stone.

Dave H.

Originally Posted by Aaron27

I just checked out the tomato test on YouTube. Very cool. I will have to try that.

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.

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.