Thread: Help me choose a 12K hone!!

Hey guys, I am looking to purchase a 12k stone and need your expertise. I am working on a tight budget so I have chosen few stones. Please help me out.

Thanks

Gregory.

Kitayama North Mountain 12000 Grit Water Stone - eBay (item 380217828622 end time Apr-21-10 12:49:53 PDT)
Shapton Water Stone 12000 Grit M-15/ Wood Base-Cream - eBay (item 380111401289 end time Apr-11-10 14:08:38 PDT)
Shapton Pro #12000 Grit Waterstone - eBay (item 380104154225 end time Apr-09-10 14:20:05 PDT)
Razor Strops, Hones, and Accessories

Many people are raving about 12k
Super Stone.
12k Chinese natural is very slow, I can't compare to 12k Superstone finish because I never owned the Super Stone.
Then there are other natural stone options, such as Escher and Turingian but Jimmy and others that have tried them can give you their take on the performance, I know those nat stones are extremely well regarded.

Gregory, the natural stones such as the Escher are expensive. Your best bet on a tight budget is the chinese stone . You can find a link to it here.

I don't think the Kitayama is actually a 12K but they are considered to be very good finishers.

I haven't used the Shapton waterstone, but Shapton products in general are excellent.

Thanks to Jimmy, I got to try the Shapton Pro hones, including the 12K. I really like the feel of the hones when honing but I did not get consistent results with them. That may have been the nature of the hones or my inexperience with them, or a combination of both.

Among those choices, the last one, the Naniwa 12K, is probably the best deal as it is the cheapest and certainly works very well.

What other hones do you have to use prior to the 12K? How many razors do you intend to be honing?

Thanks Jimmy, I was hoping to find a stone rather then a slurry. If you could be so kind can you comment on the links I have provided.

Thank you again.

Gregory

Originally Posted by mainaman

Many people are raving about 12k
Super Stone.
12k Chinese natural is very slow, I can't compare to 12k Superstone finish because I never owned the Super Stone.
Then there are other natural stone options, such as Escher and Turingian but Jimmy and others that have tried them can give you their take on the performance, I know those nat stones are extremely well regarded.

The Chinese hone wasn't listed as one of the options. Though it is not actually a 12K, as it is impossible to identify the actual grit of a natural hone. However, if you are looking for a cheap finisher and if you are not honing a lot of razors, then the Chinese (Guangxi) is a perfectly viable option. It is quite slow, but that can be sped up with a rubbing stone.

Thanks Utopian, I have the 1k/6k and 4k/8k combos. I have 5 razors and looking in for few more

Originally Posted by GrEgZteR

Thanks Utopian, I have the 1k/6k and 4k/8k combos. I have 5 razors and looking in for few more

There went the tight budget. It's a slippery slope.

Originally Posted by GrEgZteR

Thanks Utopian, I have the 1k/6k and 4k/8k combos. I have 5 razors and looking in for few more

Okay, if you are only looking to hone your own razors, then honing time is not as much of an option. The Chinese hone simply requires a lot more strokes than the other finishers you listed. The Chinese hone is an excellent finisher for the price.

And by the way, you can get excellent edges off of the Chinese hone!

Originally Posted by Utopian

The Chinese hone wasn't listed as one of the options. Though it is not actually a 12K, as it is impossible to identify the actual grit of a natural hone. However, if you are looking for a cheap finisher and if you are not honing a lot of razors, then the Chinese (Guangxi) is a perfectly viable option. It is quite slow, but that can be sped up with a rubbing stone.

You are right not determined, for what its worth, the scratch pattern looks about as refined as a 16k to me. My only attempt to use it a s finisher provided a nice edge and I did not spend a lot of time on it. With a little bit of patience this stone will work fine for a beginner I think.