Thread: Amazon Bluesun hones test

So i picked up from Amazon the cheap Bluesun hones, the 600/2000 and the 3000/8000. Im sure most are feeling they are junk. I have my doubts too. They seemed to have good reviews. I bought these for my woodworking blades but decided to try them on razors first for the hell of it. I'm not really in need of hones but don't want to use my more expensive hones on my tools. On first inspection they seem decent. I did try a razor on them but i believe i shouldn't have tried the 600. I did shave off the 8k. I tried first without stropping and it was not great. So i did 50 laps on my strop. Big difference. It was smoother and i did 2 passes. With the end results very nice. Now i didnt hone the way i usually do with circles and x passes. I only did x strokes. So i will re-hone the razor from a chosera 1k up to the 8k, i wont touch the 600. That was just a bad idea.

If anyone has anything i should try during the test please let me know

So i re-honed my razor. This time of my shapton 1k. It was out so i used it. Then i did circles and x strokes on the 2k 3k and 8k. I usually do 3 sets of cicles and about 30 x. When finished tested on my arm hair. Very sharp. Under the loop i could see a tiny wire edge. I stropped 50 and it was still there then another 50. So it appears that these are fast cutting. I went back to the 1k. This time i did less strokes. I did 2sets of circles then 10 x and repeated the same to avoid the wire edge. This work much better. I repeated this on the 3 grits. Tried it on arm and leg hair. Very sharp. I don't have enough growth to shave so i will have to wait.

I will add that after every stone i was looking for any type of micro chipping and i have not seen any.

Here is a quick pick

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Just out of curiosity how hard are they?

They seem pretty hard.

Thanks for the review! I wonder how consistent they are from stone to stone.

I hope they can be an affordable option for people wanting to get into honing.

That was kind of why I asked about hardness. Might be a good alternative for people that absolutely balk at the cost of a Naniwa 3/8 or Norton 4/8. The biggest problem with cheap water hones seems to be weak binder that allows for auto slurry and loose particles to wreak havoc on an edge. If these don't do that, are easy to use, and provide an OK shave we'll have an easier time steering folks away from the cheap hones we know won't provide a good result.

The cheapest good option when I was looking to get into razor honing was Norton combination stones at $130, $200 if you'd rather have single grit stones. Fifty for these is a much more reasonable entry fee if you're just looking to get your feet wet and see how you get along with it before really dedicating to a more expensive line.

I agree. I had the same issue when i decided to start honing.

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So i was able to have a test shave. I tried a small area without stropping. It was ok. I stropped 50 on leather. I finished my shave. I only did one pass. It was a comfortable shave. Understandably not as comfortable as when its off a finisher but off an 8k it was acceptable. It was a nice close shave with a few spots that if i did a second pass across the grain it would have been BBS all over. I will hone it again and try to increase my laps and refine the edge more. I will also to pick out another razor to test.