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I'm curious about the quality of these stones, if anyone has any experience with them:
King Ice Bear 6,000 Grit Waterstone $27.99 @ Woodcraft.Com
I'm especially curious because these are less than thirty bucks for a 6,000 grit stone (the 8,000 grit jumps considerably in price). Any advice on these would be appreciated!
I cannot speak to the quality of the 6k or 8k one of these days I will get around to testing them out..
I have been testing their 1k for bevel sets for quite some time I would estimate 800-1000 razors have gone across it and it works quite well...
Most of these razors have been Hollow grinds as it doesn't quite have the same cutting power that a Norton 1k has, so I tend to use my trusty ol Norton for the heavier Sheffield blades..
Not much help there, but that's all I got right now,, Sorry :shrug:
Thanks, mate. That's a lot of help, actually. I was hoping you, Lynn, or one of the other honemeisters would pipe up with your thoughts on the stone.
Thatīs a King brand 6.000 stone. It is not uncommon in Germany.
Here most people tend to say stay away from the Kings.
The only exception are a few of the single (not combination stones)
like the 4k Deluxe.
If money is a problem, they should work,
but there are definitely better options to go
I have Kings -- a 220/1000, 4000, and 6000. I also have a Norton combo 1k/4k. When I got the Norton combo I was hoping for a little cutting speed---- but that just hasn't been the case for me. I do appreciate the extra width of the Norton sometimes, but when I end up in a rolling -x I 'm a little happier on the King. At any rate you can do perfectly well with the Kings, the 4000 is particularly nice, and I don't think they load up as much as the Nortons.
I had a set awhile ago. My Nortons work better, but they are good workable stones for a guy on a budget.
I like the feedback on the Kings, but I prefer the Naniwas. I'm pretty sure I'd take Nortons over Kings too.
Thanks for all the feedback, gents. HSNB, you hit the nail on the head. I'm on a very tight budget. I wish I could drop $70USD for a Norton 4/8 combo, or a good set of Naniwas, but I just cant. I've been needing something to fit the gap between my soft Arkansas and my 12K Chinese. So far, I've been making a fair showing for myself with the honing setup I've got, but I'd like something that would give me less of a massive gap in hones. I figure 1-2-6-12 is a little better than 1-2-12...:(
Have you thought about a BBW? These usually come quite cheap in reasonable (make sure of that, please) sizes.
A BBW with water could be used after a 2.000, and without water or with slurry diluting could get you up to the point of (near) finish
I've got a king 1k/6k I use for the bulk of my honing and it does the job. A slurry stones is useful. It works just fine with the Chinese natural hone.
From what I gather the grit rating is on a different scale to the Nortons meaning the 6k King stone is a little finer than a Norton 8K, I've never used a Norton though.
I don't have a lot of experience with honing but it was Neil Miller who recommend the King stone to me and h seems to know a thing or two about hones. He mentions them near the top of this post.
I use a Naniwa 1K/3K, King Ice Bear 6K and Chinese 12K. Total cost about $80. It works for me and I can get a decent shave.
I have a King Ice Bear 6K. Everything is fine with it, but it needs to be lapped rather often. And every lapping easily removes 1-1.5 mm of the surface. That is why life of the stone is rather short.