Thread: Re-visting the Chinese Hone

A little over a year ago I was asking some questions about the Chinese hone...

In this thread http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...uestion-s.html


Since then I have learned quite a bit and wanted to share some thoughts...

#1 and this is the biggy, this is a natural stone, it varies and they vary quite a bit I have used 4 of them now and I finally have one that really works exceptionally well...

#2 There are some very hard stones out there that are scratchy, these take forever to get settled in and even then they are not all that great...

#3 There are some very soft stones that produce slurry off of just the razor without touching a slurry stone, much like the lower grades of Coticules these actually cut rather fast, but don't leave a very sharp edge...

#4 The people that love these hones I would think have the ones that are a dull Grey with no blueish tint and have slight black grains in them...
This is the one I have found to really work it leaves a very sharp very smooth edge the feel is like you threw talc on the stone, a very smooth, soft feel, really reminded me of the Charnley Forest that Lynn let me use at the NC meet...
Also it only takes about 30 laps off of a Norton 8k (my testing routine) to finish off the edge...

All in all after 4 stones and a bit of testing I have found that like most Natural products it all comes down to which one is in your hand...

+1 Glen...my sentiments, exactly!

mac

And the stones in categories #2 and #3 just lost their value while those in #4 increased dramatically.
The good thing is that I talked to Glen before this post, so I've already cornered the futures market on chinese stones!!!! Yeah, I'm rich, baby!

Originally Posted by gugi

And the stones in categories #2 and #3 just lost their value while those in #4 increased dramatically.
The good thing is that I talked to Glen before this post, so I've already cornered the futures market on chinese stones!!!! Yeah, I'm rich, baby!

Ivan's new website will be dedicated to the People's hone, where he grades them, and tells you which are for what purpose...

I expected variations in quality from stone to stone since it is a natural material.
I find mine to be fairly fast especially with slurry, I however have no idea if it is one of the smoother ones or not, it has brown figuring going on it.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

#4 The people that love these hones I would think have the ones that are a dull Grey with no blueish tint and have slight black grains in them...
This is the one I have found to really work it leaves a very sharp very smooth edge the feel is like you threw talc on the stone, a very smooth, soft feel, really reminded me of the Charnley Forest that Lynn let me use at the NC meet...
Also it only takes about 30 laps off of a Norton 8k (my testing routine) to finish off the edge...

All in all after 4 stones and a bit of testing I have found that like most Natural products it all comes down to which one is in your hand...

+1, Yup, my findings also.

Another +1

I have used maybe 7 or 8 and found a lot of difference. It's those scratchy ones I don't like!

Regards,
Neil

Mine is the dull gray Glen described. I hate to admit being a hone snob but ..... I got the Chi 12 or whatever it really is from woodcraft and a slurry stone from Zib. I had read of Joed's and Dylan's liking them and wanted to give it a try. So I honed a few razors on it and mine is a good finishing hone but I am a hone snob and would rather hone my razors with my high $ Eschers. Bang for the buck you can't beat them ..... IF..... you get a good one.

Whew, I'm glad I got a good one then. I have no problems with scratches. I like that talc analogy. Mine is gray and has a small amount of noticeably darker gray figuring on it much like the flake of quartersawn oak.

Chris L

I know this is a slightly old post. Glen, any chance you can post pics of the hones you tested, indicating which are which?

Goog