Thread: Chinese Natural- Great New Discovery

leadingedge

I believe nobody here said that CNat is bad. I personally think it's great for the price. Have fun with the stone and keep us updated!

Originally Posted by Traskrom

leadingedge

I believe nobody here said that CNat is bad. I personally think it's great for the price. Have fun with the stone and keep us updated!

Personally I also believe the trusty old Chinese 12K is a brilliant stone, from what I can read. In fact, I'm going to see if I can get hold of one myself from woodcraft.

What I meant in my above post, is that this C-Nat I have found gives me a better edge than my Naniwa 12K, not better than the Chinese 12K you guys have. I cannot compare it to the Chinese 12K until I can get one for myself.

I think there are 2 main issues with the general perception of C12Ks, one which is fact, the other opinion.

The first is that while some appear to be excellent, others are claimed to be of lower polishing quality in the 8k range rather than 10K+. There just isn't the consistency that Eschers have.

The second issue I believe is a silly one. They are cheap, therefore are inferior. Price never dictated quality - Eschers were considerably cheaper when they were being mined, even if one takes into consideration inflation, they were around 6-12 dollars depending on size and colour!
I haven't got the price inflation index calculator, but I dont think that was anywhere near the 300+ being paid today.

I'd really like to try a 'good' C12K and compare it to the finish of my Eschers. They are certainly good looking rocks.

Well, I just ordered one of these, and I ordered a PHIG from Poland not too long ago, so we'll have a run off!

Unless...the ones from Poland don't come in a box, and are a different size from the ones from Woodcraft.

Hmmmm...

Originally Posted by JimR

ones from Poland don't come in a box, and are a different size from the ones from Woodcraft.

My stone is from Poland, and probably the biggest size that he has. AFAIK he has 4 or 5 different sizes. I got it from Polish eBay and not from the US site, but from the same seller though.

Edit - Just doublechecked it, biggest size that he has 10"x3" I have 8"x3"

Don't think anyone's yet mentioned the box they sometimes come in, so here's a shot with the box:




and a dry closeup:
[huge version]




and a wet closeup:
[huge version]




The little veins are definitely brown/red in color, although I can see how they'd appear black at a glance.

I've messed around a little with slurry on mine, but I get the best use out of it with just water, lots of strokes, and zero pressure. I should also mention that I lap it up to 2000 grit wet/dry, since I found that to make a difference.

I've had ones with and without the stripes. The color is hard to pin down, but something like a black/brown/redish sort of thing.

If the one's you are getting in HK are fast cutters, I don't think they could possibly be the same stones, though. Well, I suppose "fast" and "slow" are highly subjective, and one would have to test the hones head to head to be sure.