Thread: Guangxi hone. What's the general consensus?

I am considering going to Woodcraft and picking up their Guangxi XII hone. Does anyone have na opinion on said stone? Honing ability, price point or anything else that has to do with this particular rock. Are you happy with it or not?
Thanks,
turbine aka Bill

If you are asking about the Guangxi hone (don't know about the XII designation), then yes it is a perfectly good finishing hone. It definitely needs to be lapped, occasionally needs to be refreshed, and is quite slow, but you can't beat its price. It works better if you can build a slurry on it but it works either way.
It is certainly a good starter hone without much monetary commitment and it's currently on sale!

I have one and never use it. IMO there are others stones (coticules) that give a more comfortable edge for a lot less work.

I've got one of the $20 ones. I find my edges off of it give better shaves than off my coticule (which was my previous finishing hone). I usually do between 50 and 100 laps on the Guangxi for my final polish. Considering the price, I don't see any reason not to get one just to see what it can do for you.

I love my Chinese 12K it use results in a great edge. It might be a little slow but that is fine with me. It is a hone that is great for people who enjoy the process of honing because it will take while to get a great edge. It is not a 10 pass uber hone.

Charlie

Click here for lots of info on chinese 12k stone:

Chinese 12k hone Info

The Chinese 12k is a great stone for the $$. It takes a bit to get the edge just right, but once there it's great. As long as you aren't wanting to be a pro honer, then it's the bang for the buck. Invest in a bit of Chromium oxide and your razor will be shaving with the best of 'em.

I haven't sold mine yet, if that says anything about it.

Well I broke down and picked one up today. The first one I looked at had a chip on one edge in the middle of the stone so i looked at the other one there and it was perfect. Now, I have been lucky to have been instructed by randydance on the art of honing. He did tell me that I needed to work on making sure I have all the scratch marks removed before moving up to the next size grit. Currently I have a 220 Norton flattening stone, a 800-4k King combo, a 8k King deluxe and now a Guangxi (Chinese) 12k.
If I am ready to move up to the 12k stone, what would be the average laps needed. I am sure it depends on the razor but just a ballpark number would be nice. I also have a inexpensive lighted magnifier to look at the blade while I'm working on it.
Thanks,
turbine

On mine, it's usually 80-100 strokes per side.

Somewhere, though I don't remember where, the whole "100 per side" was put out there. I probably tend to do 50-100. It's one of those things where if you find what you've done isn't enough, you can always go back for more.

Well, after letting the stone soak for a spell while I made dinner, I pulled the 12k out of the pond and lapped it flat with my Norton flattening stone followed by some 1000 grit wet dry on a piece of lapping glass.
I started out with all fresh lapped stones and followed up with a paddle with crom ox and then leather.
Well I can say now that I have the smoothest arms in town LOL After all the testing of the blade I have no hairs on my arms.
The blades are like a hot knife through butter. The 12k really improved my honing and with the addition to the paddle, it's sharp as the dickens.