Thread: Made in China but not 12k so let's stop calling it 12k

Originally Posted by Kingfish

According to the "Teachings of Confusion" If a man were to use this stone he would attain many times the patience he had before, some say 12000 times more. (just kidding, it is a nice stone)
Mike

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On the subject of patience, if using this stone would actually give us more patience, psychiatrists would be prescribing Chinese 12k's for their patients. And if I had not gotten thrown out of Temple University Medical School, I might have more patients today. This is a true story. My impatience got me thrown right out of medical school in 1966.
Thank you for your patience........ Jerry

Originally Posted by mrsell63

____________________________
On the subject of patience, if using this stone would actually give us more patience, psychiatrists would be prescribing Chinese 12k's for their patients. And if I had not gotten thrown out of Temple University Medical School, I might have more patients today. This is a true story. My impatience got me thrown right out of medical school in 1966.
Thank you for your patience........ Jerry

Jerry, by now I hope this is a laughing matter!
Mike

Has anyone tried sharpening something other than a straight with it? I have and believe me, at least mines is at least 12k, though when using a slurry it drops considerably to about 8k at best and stays there until broken in again. It is as if the abrasive breaks down over time and the peaks smooth down to about 12k if not finer again. I suggest you guys give it another shot, the hardness and slow cutting make it hard to use though, and using other means is, well easier but not cheaper.

I tried the thing on knives about 4 years ago and the first thing it reminded me of was a hunk of pool table slate. Thought about using it as a door stop but then thought it might be interesting to try using it as a stone kanaban or hard strop with a little half micron diamond paste, though I still haven't gotten around to trying it.

Tested its polishing power on a block of stainless steel and it was glacially slow... pretty much burnished, and streaked where little balls of swarf got stuck between it and the stone. Naniwa 10k and Shapton pro 15k cut WAY faster, didn't chatter and left a better finish IMHO, but then chip carving knives are a different animal and I never tried burnishing the edge of a straight razor on it. Might work like a surgical Arkansas stone and be pretty good for gently burnishing the edge on those.

I have two samples of the Chinese 12k. One is more like 8k and cuts extremely fast. The other can mirror polish but cuts really slow.

Originally Posted by M Martinez

I agree about the grit designation. I don’t see how any natural stone could have a grit designation. Mine does seem to leave a different striation pattern from one side to the other.

I have some old Arkansas black surgical and translucent natural stones and they all cut differently. One of my translucent in the hardest stone I have, Diamond plate cutting it very slowly. The Chinese resurfaced much more quickly and leaves larger stria pattern.

So I agree, if yours is a 12K or leave a pattern like a 12K they are not all 12K. They can’t be.

Synthetic stone manufacterers don't know the particle size of their stones either, just giving it random grit designations because that's what the customer wants. I don't see any issue with this. We can assign grits based on stratch patterns, be it synthetic or natural stone.

For the sake of general enlightenment and amusement, I've dredged up this old thread. It's a fun read regardless of your opinion on this particular rock.

It would seem that the C12K is the name most use for them today.
PHIG is another one many use nowadays. That I really don't like.
I, however, would definitely prefer it to be called the Guangxi hone or finisher
Sadly that will never stick either, people are just too focused on putting a number on all natural hones.
If not in the name, most certainly in understanding and reference.
Ah well, it's still just yet another piece of rock.

It's not a C12k, it's the peoples hone of indeterminate grit. Or PHIG if you prefer.

OK then, how many k's should we give this earthy treasure? I only recently learned what PHIG stands for and am not nuts for acronyms as they work only for the in-crowd, among whom I am not counted. Cotis and Jnats are bad enough. Perhaps I need to join the texting crowd to get more into abbreviating, acronating, codifying, and stuff like that; then again, like I mentioned, my mileage already varies.