Thread: Re-visting the Chinese Hone

About three weeks ago I bought a Guangxi river stone of of the ebay from a polish guy, Marek, who sells a lot of them. The one I got was really hard, narrow and had issues with cracks in between layers and pockets of sandiness, so I got him to trade it out for one that had no density issues and is close to three inches across and eight inches in length. It is, as some have indicated with the better ones, a dull grey with occasional tiny flecks that for the life of me appear under magnification to be tiny perfect squares of gold-ish colored metal. Really tiny, like the size of a grain of table salt. a bit strange. Anyone else see this in a C12k?

The draw on this stone feels awsome. It came with a chunk of natural stone for slurry, but creates its own slurry with some time. The residue is like talc.

I am new to razor honing, but I have lived with a knife in my hand for many years as a chef. After lapping both sides, I finished a razor on it today and have to say, and the edge feels pretty good.

David

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

It is, as some have indicated with the better ones, a dull grey with occasional tiny flecks that for the life of me appear under magnification to be tiny perfect squares of gold-ish colored metal. Really tiny, like the size of a grain of table salt. a bit strange. Anyone else see this in a C12k?

Have seen this. Possibly some kind of mineral inclusion . Gold squares sounds like Iron Pyrites but I'm just guessing.

Dragging up this thread...just read it and it's predecessor...motivating stuff with a C12K on the way!

Got mine in two nights ago. Actually managed to lap it with the Norton lapping stone...lapped three grids off in about 45mins...guess I got a softer model? Haven't tried higher grit w/d yet because I'm still waiting for it to come in the mail....but the surface is so smooth, I don't know if I need to.

Will post my thoughts after doing 30 or 40 laps to start.

Since I got my re

Oops, since I had my c12k replaced by the supplier for quality issues, I have been achieving decent results, that is, sweet baby soft shaves with no issues. Certain blades still have their individual quirks with honing, of course

I have to concur with previous comments on the dark grey stones. Their density and even grain are really nice
David

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

Oops, since I had my c12k replaced by the supplier for quality issues, I have been achieving decent results, that is, sweet baby soft shaves with no issues. Certain blades still have their individual quirks with honing, of course

I have to concur with previous comments on the dark grey stones. Their density and even grain are really nice
David

Just out of curiosity, YMMV and all...how many laps for you to finish?

Originally Posted by Ru4scuba

Just out of curiosity, YMMV and all...how many laps for you to finish?

How many laps after what? A norton 8k? naniwa 8k? 12k? A razor that needs refreshing, with various degrees of wear? Aside from the fact that, each stone is different. That's for you to decide. Trial and error.

Originally Posted by Vasilis

How many laps after what? A norton 8k? naniwa 8k? 12k? A razor that needs refreshing, with various degrees of wear? Aside from the fact that, each stone is different. That's for you to decide. Trial and error.

I believe that the entire thread is about the Chinese Stone, so just a guess but perhaps that is what he is asking about ...


@Ru4scuba on mine I end up at about 40-50, the harder the stone the more you will do,, 100 is not unusual at all

Also one drop of dish soap or a swipe of lather adds a new dimension, or if you can get Smith's Honing Solution it works really well too

There's no recipe for naturals. I would hone to the highest hone I have and go to work on the c12. If you maintain sharpness you are on the right path.If you are dulling, then keep working on the slurry. I would raise a small amount of slurry with a dmt and see where it goes. Welcome to the world of naturals! A naniwa 12k is 10-15 laps and your done. This one maybe 50 maybe 100 maybe 200.