Thread: Question on stones

The way I understand it, the abrasive is chert (shell) from an organism called "radiolaria". It is a hard biologic material that is shield shaped and gradually broken down to finer particles in the honing process.

To the OP, I have a $73 combination Coticule shipped that gets unbelievable results. You don't have to have a perfectly rectangular Coticule to get good results. As Jimmy mentioned a bout is a good choice as long as it has one good straight edge to work your X strokes on.

HOWEVER, there is quite a learning curve with a coticule. It takes a systematic approach and a good honing stroke to use well (and at that we are talking several hundred strokes to work it from bevel setting to finish). I'm not trying to talk you into or out of anything, but I would just suggest that you really research all the options, think about what kind of honing you plan to do, and make the best decision based on that.

Disclaimer: I love honing with my coticule and have hardly used my Shaptons since I've gotten it, but I'm not saying it's the "best" tool for the job. It just happens to be my preferred tool.


Good luck in your decision and honing adventures

Take you razor and put it under running water for a few hundred years or more and you'll have a scary sharp razor. The question is do you want to wait that long. The idea is to get something that works fast, gives a great edge and polish. You need a stone with specific characteristics to do that. Throughout history all kinds of things have been used to sharpen edged implements. Try using ordinary beach sand.

[QUOTE=Kingfish;522133]

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

I wish I knew what the magic in the Japanese naturals was.


QUOTE]

Fom looking at pictures, could it be perfect chaos in terms of particle shape? In contrast the garnets show if not perfect symetry, a high degree. The chaos of the Japanese stone allows for tight packing of the particles thereby not allowing them to cut so deeply into the metal.

That is for sure possible.
I think if some kind soul was to send me a set of
twenty different ones to study and five or ten years I could tell
ya...

Should someone drop one and knock off a small chip I could try to have
some geologist/ mineralogist look at it.

Belgian hones are worth what they cost, and it can be considerable. Japanese hones strive to be as economical as belgians, and fail miserably.

If you're shocked by $200 rocks, don't even think of Japanese. There's this really nice one for $3800 that I could appreciate...