Thread: Chinese hones: am I wasting my time??

Hello everybody,

As new into straights, I bought some chinese stones from ebay.de like 6 months ago, I didn't know by then.. Its a combo 4/8 synthetic and a 12k natural one. Since then, I've honed many razors with them: The 4k I use for a bevel setter and it doesn't take so much time after all, I think, to get the job done. The 12k is a very slow cutting stone but it seems to give a smooth polish in the end..

That way, I manage to give a sharp edge considering HHT and TPT and finally by the shaving test. The blade slides nicely, cutting through whiskers effortlesly, so I guess that's a descent result.

So, considering the fact I never used any Nani's or other popular stones to know what They can do, the question is: do I really lose some edge performance because of the low quality of the chinese hones or its just the extra time that it takes to hone a razor with them?? or better, Is a chinese ebay stone capable of giving a theoreticaly perfect edge on a blade?

cheers

Originally Posted by Dalton

... That way, I manage to give a sharp edge considering HHT and TPT and finally by the shaving test. The blade slides nicely, cutting through whiskers effortlessly, so I guess that's a descent result.

Sounds to me like you are doing just fine.
That sounds like what everybody wants to achieve in their honing efforts.

If these are the hones from open_razor, I think sham tested them and said they work fine.

Thanks for the replies, unfortunately I think they're not from open_razor, the combo 3/8 has the logo "Hanzo" on it, here's the link
Hanzo Schleifstein Wasserstein K 8000-3000 XXL+ Sockel bei eBay.de: Küchenmesser (endet 28.02.11 15:28:13 MEZ)
they claim that its oxide molded in ceramic and they suggest for using it for straights and other hard steel tools.

The 12k has been reviewed here before so I guess its descent..

I guess there's only one way to compare them with the real deal and that's by getting a nice pair of Naniwa and use them too

Originally Posted by Dalton

The blade slides nicely, cutting through whiskers effortlesly, so I guess that's a descent result.

Did you expect a better result from your time than that? If it took longer to get there than you like, then maybe you are wasting your time

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Did you expect a better result from your time than that? If it took longer to get there than you like, then maybe you are wasting your time

Points taken.
But of course I've met some sharper edges honed by pro's, so I try to stimulate that level of sharpness by honing and honing for hours in those inexpensive stones. I just wanted to know if I will ever be able to get a close to those "ninja sharp" blades that come from professional equipment..

Howard! Where have you been!

I was in Bermuda studying the hones in the Bermuda Museum collection. I'll be writing an article for their magazine soon! Hones, to me, are where mineralogy, technology, tools, and history come together. Just LOVE it! Give me a call and we'll talk, 508-842-7132.

That is so cool, I'm looking forward to reading this article!

Originally Posted by Howard

I was in Bermuda studying the hones in the Bermuda Museum collection. I'll be writing an article for their magazine soon! Hones, to me, are where mineralogy, technology, tools, and history come together. Just LOVE it! Give me a call and we'll talk, 508-842-7132.

That sounds interresting. Please let us know when the article is finished, and where we can read it