Thread: Making the Chinese 12k perform faster and finer (my secret)

Originally Posted by rodb

I tried this with a DMT C as I don't have a XXC.
I took a razor that very reluctantly would pop arm hairs and did 50 laps on the C12k with heavy slurry, then 20 on a green Chromium paddle then 70 on leather. Now it pops arm hair almost silently!!

I haven't shave test this yet, but this seems to work pretty well with my C12k. Through magnification the razor almost has a mirror finish on the edge.

You used the C12k and Chrome Ox - how do you know which did what? Gotta isolate a single variable. I could propose that the C12k made things worse and then the Chrome Ox made things better, and my theory would be no less valid than yours.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

You used the C12k and Chrome Ox - how do you know which did what? Gotta isolate a single variable. I could propose that the C12k made things worse and then the Chrome Ox made things better, and my theory would be no less valid than yours.

Very true with the variables

I forgot to mention it was popping arm hairs much better after just the 12K, and the edge had a hazy but very smooth look under the scope.

I'm going to try this on a few others this afternoon without the paddle and see what happens

Originally Posted by zib

How do you lapp a stone into a different grit. If it's 12k, and you raise a slurry, isn't the slurry 12k too?
Isn't it just cutting faster?

Well, with a synthetic abrasive this is true- the abrasive is very hard and for all practical purposes invincible.

With a natural stone- for the most part- the grit is either a.) Soft enough to get smaller or B.) friable- which means that it is cryptocrystalline and will fracture into smaller and smaller particles as it is subjected to pressure.

This means that although the People's Hone may start around 12k, provided the grains are friable if they are freed into a slurry they will become progressively smaller ad infinitum....



That said, I do not own a People's Hone and have not tried this. I can only speculate as to the actual nature of its abrasive particles.

This was interesting method in the opening post but i do get the point why not use a slurry stone but DMT?

From my experience i know that using Chinese with slurry speeds things a lot but doesn't leave as fine finish as water only.
When working with my Chinese i usually start with slurry and then add little water every 20-30 strokes until the slurry is almost gone. Then i clean the stone and make the final 20 strokes with water only. I make these last strokes with different stroking directions: x-strokes, straight strokes, u-strokes (couldn't tell better name for it). This will leave the bevel real nice polish. Works at least for me.

I believe I have mentioned this before but here it goes again. Some stones don't cut by leaving grooves on the metal but rather planes, I once made the analogy that most stones and all synthetic stones leave a deep V groove in the metal depending on the harshness of the cutting agent (think of it as how sharp the cutting agent is) but some stones like the Jnats cut in a different way. If you were to run a fork across butter it would leave those V grooves Jnats don't cut the same way, running a knife across butter would cut like a Jnat so you would end up with straight plateaus or something similar which would form the edge.

Any slurry will refine with use due to the cutting agents running into each other and also by sheer forces acting upon them, anyone ever seen that DMT's refine with use? same principle. I have tried the CH12k slurry method before and I must say that stone isn't slow once you have a heavy slurry, I do have to disagree with finish though, I used the diluting method and got a crazy sharp edge off the CH12k but still not as comfortable as my Jnat.

Hope this helps!

I was going to comment on this post, but felt it would be nice to leave it alone. If it's working for you, great. I would just like to ask that you not tell folks they are honing wrong unless they REALLY ARE. I'd recommend just mention a honing practice that is working for you.