Thread: Any difference between Chinese 3k/8k hones?

You know, now that I think about it a bit more buying a Guangxi hone (C12K/Cnat) might not be a bad idea. Since your friend is actually in-country, he may be able to talk to the dealer and have them select a good rock for finishing a razor. They may know how to differentiate between a fine polishing Guangxi and a mid-grade stone that's better suited to tools and knives.

That depends, where you buy. If it's a simple reseller, they won't be able to help you. Or worse: they will tell anything to sell something. If you buy from a specialised shop for woodworking, they might know. On the other hand, asking the locals in china involves a certain language barrier, english will not help you much outside of the airport.

Originally Posted by gcbryan

The real answer is that no one knows the answer here as no one has that hone. It might be OK. It might not be.

Originally Posted by RayClem

Few SRP users have significant experience with the inexpensive Chinese synthetics. So many of the comments you get about them will be anecdotal. .

You know guys at the top of this page, to the right is a search box

If you type in the single word "Taidea" you get over 4 pages of threads with 100's of responses about these hones over the years


If you expand that search to include other names you will find even more info..

To say that SRP users haven't tried these hones is simply not accurate..

To the OP you might open the Advanced Search Box and really have some fun

Taking in consideration all you guys mentioned, I discussed with my friend and told him that I needed a better quality brand than WeiWei and Taidea. He will resort to everybody's favorite plan B: "asking around" for the best brand/product/seller. Good thing that HE speaks Chinese.

And it is a good thing that he's got a little time before flying!

As for the C12K,(I haven't mentioned it yet. I wonder if it has a name that locals would know - because I don't have a good feeling with "that stone from Guangxi province". I have tried to look it up on TaoBao, and I only got Japanese synthetics at that grit level. There were some natural stones advertised in the 8-10K range, but they don't look like any PHIG picture I saw so far.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

To the OP you might open the Advanced Search Box and really have some fun

That sounds like a sensible thing to do! Getting started now. I wonder how much 'fun' I'll have.

I did a search for Taidea. There are only three threads with Taidea in the title of the post in the entire forum. In the past twelve months, there have been only nine threads that reference Taidea; most of those threads only mention Taidea incidentally. Thus, in comparison to Naniwa, Norton, King and Shapton hones that are well documented, the Taidea stones have limited interest among SRP members. In a thread from 2015, JimmyHAD, who is one of the honing subforum moderators, stated that he had never heard of Taidea hones prior to that thread.

Originally Posted by RayClem

I did a search for Taidea. There are only three threads with Taidea in the title of the post in the entire forum. In the past twelve months, there have been only nine threads that reference Taidea; most of those threads only mention Taidea incidentally. Thus, in comparison to Naniwa, Norton, King and Shapton hones that are well documented, the Taidea stones have limited interest among SRP members. In a thread from 2015, JimmyHAD, who is one of the honing subforum moderators, stated that he had never heard of Taidea hones prior to that thread.

Oddly I found over 4 pages of them, sounds like you simply don't want to look... The Title may or may not have the info, that is why you search the word

This is a very common question and pretty much always gets the same answer

I bought a set of all grids between 1K and 10K last year. Some resellers here in germany tried to conquer the german Ebay market and started a price war. I got each stone for 4 €, the combination stones for 6 € and even a TAIDEA diamond plate 320/600 for 4 €. At that price it's a good deal. You can saw it into smaller naguras or use it as a beater for other knifes. I used them to smooth a C12K, at least that worked to some degree. Slates will benefit from a somewhat classified nagura.

I tried the set with two razors: a ZY and an antique german. 1K and 3K: both microchips, definitely no razor stones. 5K: aggressive and 4K at best. But you can work out the mircochips if you have the patience. 8K: 6K to 7K at best and still very aggressive. 10K: there you have your 8K, aggressive and fast. The edge of the 10K is "shave-ready". If you live on a remote island and never heard of japanese waterstones, then it will provide you with a shaveable edge for your daily needs. Caleb Mccullough mentioned in one of his SOTD videos on YouTube, that he contacted TAIDEA and asked, how they are supposed to be used for razors. And anecdotely, the representative (or someone who spoke enough english to answer) said, they use them with oil. And yes: the 10K edge improves with oil, but you better live on a remote island to like the edge...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Oddly I found over 4 pages of them, sounds like you simply don't want to look... The Title may or may not have the info, that is why you search the word

This is a very common question and pretty much always gets the same answer

I am proficient at the use of the Advanced Search feature.

When I searched for the word "Taidea" in the entire text, I got the same pages you noted. Thus, I did not feel it was necessary to repeat what you had already noted. I was not going to read all of the threads, so I thought I would narrow the search.

I then limited my search to "Taidea" in the title only as I figured those threads would have the greatest relevance. That is when I had only three hits. I was hoping one of the threads might do a full review of the hone, but no such luck.

Then I went back and searched the entire text, but limited the search to the past twelve months. That search gave me the nine threads I noted. I looked through those posts, but found little useful information. Most only mentioned the Taidea hones in passing. I figured that if there were so few threads about the hones in the past year, they must not be very popular as razor hones among SRP members.

Originally Posted by RayClem

they must not be very popular as razor hones among SRP members.

Exactly

They are not popular because they have proved to be lacking for SR use

Pretty much the same thread as this over and over and over

"Are these any good for SR's,,, I found them cheap on Ebay" ???

"No"

But that isn't what you said, you implied that SRP members didn't have experience with using them so therefore we could not answer the question ..

Originally Posted by RayClem

"Few SRP users have significant experience with the inexpensive Chinese synthetics. So many of the comments you get about them will be anecdotal."

That is simply wrong, just like I have said a few times now

Not really sure what you are arguing about any longer, the question has been asked and answered accurately a few times now

These are simply not all that great for SR use...