Thread: Amazon Bluesun hones test

Originally Posted by Marshal

I've been wanting to get my mitts on one of these for a while now, and they JUST now released it in a suitable size:

Home Beyond Natural Green Polish Oil Stone Knife Sharpener M99G 10000# Whetstone | eBay

It's another Chinese stone, the really fine green polishing one. Now in 8" x 2" x 1". There are quite a few finishers that can be had cheap. I've seen folks luck up on Thuris and coticules at antique stores and flea markets for pennies on the dollar. You can probably put Arkansas stones in that category too. Just a matter of knowing where to look and putting in a bit of leg work. Welsh slates are another decent cheap option in my book. And of course the PHIG, which may not be the most consistent option but mine is good enough I'd never let it go.

I have one of those green ones already, but at that price with shipping, I bought a second one.

Originally Posted by DaveW

I have one of those green ones already, but at that price with shipping, I bought a second one.

How is that green stone?

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Originally Posted by nicknbleeding

How is that green stone?

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I only have one, which means I don't know how consistent they are.

They feel like they're made of slightly duller particles and they cut really slowly. So if you think of an arkansas stone (which has fairly large particles for a super finisher, and tires out quickly - which is how you can make it work for you to finish a razor), they're like that but even further in that direction. I'd almost say they feel like an arkansas stone that had the particles coated with plastic - a hard stone with a soft feel - and very slow (but you can always add a little pressure with a stone like that).

In terms of use, because it's so slow and because it's not raising anything at the edge, you can pretty much slide the razor around on it any way you'd like and it will improve the condition of the bevel. Whether or not that ultimately makes a difference in the shave, I don't know, but mine is capable of making as smooth of a shave as anything (and I mean anything, no matter the price level). If you pussyfoot around with the stone and just take light heel leading strokes like you'd take with a synthetic, the stone will never do anything, though. I could see lapping 1000 heel leading strokes with it and still not removing the stria from an 8k synthetic.

An ark is like that to a lesser extent, and so is a good phig. On all of those, I think it's useful to use moderate pressure at the start of the finishing and then taper the pressure off to finish, but I doubt it matters at all what direction the strokes are or what kind they are.

For $27, though, if you can think out of the box a little bit with them (like deviating from the low pressure on final honing that's the general rule), they have the potential to make a spectacular edge.

One side comment - once in a great while, I'll get something that feels like a stray particle, but they are dull feeling particles - it's not harsh like losing track of a piece of alumina or something.

I'll try to come up with some pictures of a good edge. I took pictures of an edge with the green chinese stone years ago, but the edge that I had in the picture had a little damage on, so it was misleading. I think that was an issue of the edge not quite being finished, and not the stone (but I don't remember).

Anyway, if someone is wanting to play with stones, but do it on the cheap, these are probably great. Even if you don't use the stone on razors ultimately, they make a fantastic burr chaser for knives and tools, because they don't really remove much metal and don't raise a wire edge.

Originally Posted by nicknbleeding

How is that green stone?

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http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...faux-jade.html

I was fiddling with the green stone in this thread. The pictures of its work show that it leaves a very low-scratch surface. *must* bring a nearly finished edge to it, though. Sorry about the picture quality - the fact that each hone leaves different quality scratches (some very reflective, some not) on the surface of the razor bevel means the microscope software adjusts differently for the light and the pictures can't really be compared directly because of that.