Thread: Looking to buy a Chinese 12K or ?

Seeing as my new plan is to start with professionally honed razors and maintain them as long as possible I am looking into a finishing stone. I did get a Filly that has 1 side treated with abrasives. I would like to stay away from pastes, sprays and powders as a general rule only because They seem like they will be messy.

I like the idea of a 12K stone for $35 dollars but might be interested other stones like the Naniwa 12K or the Shapton 16K.

Any thoughts on this plan?

I am already in pretty deep:
DMT 325, Norton Lapping Stone, 220/1K, 4K/8K
Now I am just looking for a touchup/finishing stone.

Thank you
--Shoki

I'm not a fan of pastes, but they are not messy. Sprays are not messy either if you follow the directions and spray them on and wait until they dry.

The Chinese hone is not 12k. As a natural stone, it has no grit rating and the performance of your particular rock will vary compared to others' rocks. You can increase the performance/cutting power of the Chinese hone by using it with a slurry, which you can raise with your CMT325. Do not use the Norton lapping hone on a natural stone.

Either the Naniwa or the Shapton would work fine, but they are significantly more money.

They're all good finishers. The Chinese 12k is a good stone, just slow. A slurry will help with that one. It leaves a real nice edge on your razor. The Naniwa 12k is one of my favorites, fast, needs to be lapped under running water, also leaves a nice edge. The shapton 16k is probably the least used stone I have, next to the C12k. It's also relatively fast, you don't need to buy all the Shapton gear to use it. It can be lapped with your DMTC, it's really thin. You need to elevate it to use it comfortably.

If I got to choose, I'd pick the Naniwa....

The CH12K with one of zib's slurry stones works well for me. Slow but smooth and very sharp if you keep reducing the slurry and do a lot of strokes. The only negative is that it takes a while to lap it perfectly flat. The good thing is that you will probably never have to lap it again.

I really would not suggest raising a slurry on the PHIG (People's Hone of Indeterminate Grit - which some, including me, often call the C12k) with your DMT325 because it will leave scratches. Maybe they are shallow enough that they don't actually matter, but I don't like them.

The two most obvious low cost options are the PHIG and pastes. With pastes, you'll have to go back to the hones after a while because they'll round the edge after several uses. With the PHIG, you'll have a very slow cutting hone. The choice is yours.

If you are willing to invest more, doors begin to open. Naniwa 12k, Shapton 16, and a whole slew of natural hones. No matter what advice you get, you're still going to have to play around to see what you personally like best. I really think finishers are largely personal preference.

Sorry if this has all been covered but my C12K just arrived in the mail. I searched the forums but there is so much info that I was a little lost...

Ok so it seems to me that if I want to raise a slurry I should get a slurry stone from Zib. Could I use my Norton Prep Stone to raise a slurry or is the Norton Prep Stone too soft?

Also I have a DMT 8C 325 that I was warned against using to lap the C12K. What should I use to flatten it?

I would not use the Norton prep stone. It's soft and would break down, giving you Norton grit slurry. Another piece of C12k would work. I used a Spiderco medium pocked hone, because it's very hard and didn't break down.

You can lap the C12k with the DMTC (I did mine that way), but you will find it will leave some scratches behind. These can be removed by rubbing the C12k with something hard and fine, like an already lapped barber hone, or with higher grit wet/dry sand paper.

I use the DMT 325 to lap and to raise a slurry on all my naturals...
BUT to be perfectly honest my 325 is rather well worn.... Probably a 575 by now

But if you lap the new CH12k with a new DMT 325 it will help both the stone and the plate out...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I use the DMT 325 to lap and to raise a slurry on all my naturals...
BUT to be perfectly honest my 325 is rather well worn.... Probably a 575 by now

But if you lap the new CH12k with a new DMT 325 it will help both the stone and the plate out...

Nice I think this is where I am currently