Thread: King Stones

Harsh shave that was quickly abandoned. Possibilities include micro chips, a burr as stated earlier, ??

Hmm...maybe take it back to the 4K, do a little jointing action, set the bevel and try again? That's basically the problem I had with my coticule. Had a little burr I missed, jointed it on an Arkie, reset the bevel on the Coti and took it from there. Which reminds me, I need to give that puppy a test shave.

I have a King 1200/8000 combo from Woodcraft that I use on occasion with razors out of minimalist curiosity. Really, I haven't found it all that difficult to use with plain water. Trick for me has been to let the 8000 side build up with a little swarf, then clean this with the nagura stone from Lee Valley (which is a dedicated King/Ice Bear synth nagura), rinse this off, and go for a few laps more afterwards at the finish. Strop with horsehide and then apply the HHT. Shave itself isn't bad. It needs some tweaking, but the edge is definitely in the ballpark by my standard. Add a worn Coarse/fine DMT for fresh lapping and blade reshaping, a pasted hanging strop, and one might have a pretty decent full set-up for a relatively low cost.

Here's where I'm at. Tried with no avail to achieve a shave ready edge with my new king stones. I think the stand alone stone is 6k because the only stand alone 4K I see online is green and the 6k stand alone is orangey. So now I've got a 1k 6k and 8k. Not too many techniques online with these stones.

I watched the ever so controversial Murray carter video again and gave his technique a go. Set the edge on 1k. Test, deburr on wood, bring the edge back with edge trailing 1k strokes. Test. Go to 6k edge trailing and then 8k. Stropped and its passing all my tests now. Test shave to come

The shave test was very positive. I had my first full straight razor shave since my hand surgery. I can safely say I will be using this method all the time and then jumping to a natural finish or pastes if I want a finer finish but the 8k king when used properly can deliver a fine shave.

Gents,
I had an 8k King Goldstone, a lovely hone, that I sold because I wanted to go in another direction using naniwa's. As far as getting shaving edges on on clay based stones, I still have one, an Icebear 10k, 210 x 75 x 25, a luxuriant sized stone I believe is made by King. I use it as a lead in stone to a Select coticule, as with slurry it is a smooth stone. I would not now part with it as it is so nice a stone and so different in feedback to the equivalent naniwa. It can be a finishing hone, finishing water only, like you might do with a coticule, and get a nice shave from it alone, so if you see one around, it is very similar to the King goldstone 8k, just that bit finer, and for a year or so was my my finisher, in a progression of King 1k, 3k/6k combo Goldstone 8k and the 10k Icebear. Had lovely shaves with that lot, but like lots in shaving, I went another way, I now use Naniwa's and finishing on a Gok 20.

Hmm...I find it interesting that I can find the Goldstone 8K on this continent, but if I want a King Icebear 10k it seems like it has to be ordered from the UK. Well, there was little doubt in my mind that King hones could so the job. I've seen one of our members mention that all he has and uses is a King 1/6 combination hone. Just a matter of finding a method that works for you and going at it.

I wouldn't be too surprised Marshal, I found the Icebear on an industrial tooling company's website in Sydney Australia, when I just googled industrial abrasives and found it there. It cost me about $150 aussie dollars. or About $110 in your country, and I've not seen one anyway, over here in a few years, so maybe, if you find one, it might be in some obscure business, that really hasn't a thing to do with our hobby. I just searched sites over here, and your right, can't find one except the UK. Good luck.
*If you do find one, they are a thirsty stone, and to be at their best they need a soak for at lest 15/20 mins

Well, it was just a passing curiosity. I've got enough finishing rocks lying about, I can almost start laying a foundation.

Mate, like you, I could have at one stage built a a habitable dwelling, until I decided I'd to change everything. I have an adult son who I gave most of the kings to get him started, but sold a few to fuel my obsession in Kanayama strops, that's another story lol. I ended up finding a site that sold cheaply the traditional Naniwa superstones in 20 mm thickness on stands so I bought a chosera 1k for bevels, then superstones 2k, 3k, (I have a rare 4k Naniwa deluxe 25mm too that is now gone from the landscape so I love having it)then 5k, 8k, 10k all Naniwa, and they are all on stands and I love the progression. For finishing I go to the Suehiro Gokumyo 20k, and I'm settled on it as I stay consistent and now I don't even test once I'm done on the chosera 1k. The other option of course is to finish on the Ice bear to which I do now and then. But for sure you will be really happy with clay based stones, I was and still am, who knows what I might come up with in a few years time. I love the hobby, so many variables from razor types, to stropping alternatives, hones, even cosmetics, a lot for blokes to get their heads around. So good honing with your Kings.
Bob