Thread: Chinese Natural- Great New Discovery

Originally Posted by leadingedge

The C-nat stones I have found here in Hong Kong still seem a bit different to the ones you guys describe. They look similar to the photos above, but the lines are not black, like most guys describe...mine are a dark brown/tan colour.

I called the little wavy lines "black" on my C12K, but they're really a dark rust/brown. (As seen in the photos I posted.)

They are also fairly fast cutting stones, IMO, especially with slurry that I make with my DMT8C by rubbing it on the hone.

My C12K is a fast-cutting stone too.


Me

Well, who knows....maybe the C-Nat I have found here in Hong Kong is just the high-end quality version of the PHIG....or maybe something else.

Of what you guys are writing, some of you have the best quality C12K's that end up being great cutters with slurry and awesome polishers, similar to what these hones are giving me. Other C12K's seem to be very good, but very slow cutters, even with slurry.

The ones I have here really does seem to compare to Eschers, or even better as an all-round stone that cuts and polishes like the best ones out there....or maybe I'm just crazy thinking that a stone bought for 10% of the price of an Escher can out-perform, or at least equal it!

I don't have an Escher....yet....HAD...but this hone certainly seems to go well beyond the Coticule, IMO.

The performance of my CH12K hone has kept me from wanting or feeling the need for an Escher. It is great for touch ups. Finishes well. Nice followup for a few strokes after the Shapton 16K. I just wish that it weren't so doggone heavy.

I"ve probably handled more "Chinese 12k's" than anyone, except the people who mine them... There are variences from stone to stone...Since we're talking Hong Kong here, I wouldn't rule out that they may in fact be a close cousin to the aformentioned C12k..

Originally Posted by zib

I"ve probably handled more "Chinese 12k's" than anyone, except the people who mine them... There are variences from stone to stone...Since we're talking Hong Kong here, I would rule out that they may in fact be a close cousing to the aformentioned C12k..

That should read, "I would NOT rule out, that they might be a close cousin to the Chinese 12k....


BTW, I'd imagine you can use a Chinese 12k slurry for these hones, no problem...If anyone needs theirs cut, I have a wet saw, and would do it for free...You pay shipping...

I'd be interesting in a saw cut slab of People's Hone or Hong Kong hone, and would help pay shipping to our dear friend Zib. PM for questions, answers, and concerns. (mod's, is that cool?)
I played with one a while ago but was far too inexperienced to get anything meaningful out of it.

SO I picked one of these up from leadingedge just before I left on holiday, and I got one of the Chinese hones from Open Razor on eBay around the same time.

I just got around to lapping the one from Leadingedge for comparison.

I've only done some preliminary tests, but the similarities are marked.


This is the one from Open Razor:



And from LeadingEdge:



A short test honing session yielded results that are so close I couldn't tell the difference myself. The one from LeadingEdge felt a touch softer in raising slurry, but other than that I couldn't tell one from the other myself.

More testing is called for, though, because it was just a short hone test.

Originally Posted by kelbro

I just wish that it weren't so doggone heavy.

Take them to a masonry/tile cutter and have em ripped in two on a wet saw.. maybe cut yourself a couple slurry stones while you're at it.
It should only cost you a few dollars, less then the hone cost, and then you'll have two

Originally Posted by ezpz

Take them to a masonry/tile cutter and have em ripped in two on a wet saw.. maybe cut yourself a couple slurry stones while you're at it.
It should only cost you a few dollars, less then the hone cost, and then you'll have two

Good idea, as soon as I can get hold of more of these babies I might just do that for slurry stones.

For now, I am just using my DMT8C to stirr up a quick slurry on the hone, then I wipe the DMT across and over the side of the hone to "scrape" all the slurry onto the hone. Works great so far, and I am guaranteed of no cross-contamination of any different slurry stone! It also gives the hone a quick lapping before honing, so it's 2 jobs in one that leaves you with pure slurry on the hone.

I guess the real old days of slurry stones was when diamond coated plates were not available yet, IMHO, so they had to use a piece of the same hone to make sure the slurry was pure.

It's still a lot of fun to to it the real old way with a slurry stone, but, as Jimmy pointed out to me, the credit card size DMT's are great for making a quick slurry if you don't have a slurry stone.

I don't have the credit card size DMT yet, so I'm just using my 8" to make slurry.

I also use mine to make slurry on my Vintage coticule.

Good idea on slicing it into two hones. I have a slurry stone already. I guess that I could sell the other half since there's not enough years left in this body to wear even half of a CH12K out