Thread: Dedicated Bevel Setting ....

Well, I tried the Bester 1K on about 50 razors and this stone will be going to the closet. It is a harder feeling stone, but not as hard as the Shapton on Glass. It eats water even after a good soaking. This stone really loaded up quickly too. I won't necessarily say clogged, but definitely a ton of swarf on it and I had to clean/lap it every couple of razors. It is a slow cutter and I ended up finishing the bevel on every razor with a Chosera 1K. I was doing 3-5 sets of circles followed by 10 X strokes and not getting what I usually get on one set with the Chosera, Super Stone, Norton or Shapton Glass. I may play with this one some more, but doubtful. I have several others I want to test next.

If someone wants to play with this stone, I'll be happy to loan it to you. I'm betting it will get a little workout at the MO Gathering in a few weeks.

Have fun,

Lynn

Lynn, I'm not surprised.

But it does give me some insight as to what's 'desirable' in a bevel setting stone for a razor. Not completely of course, but some more ideas.

You'll probably find that cleaning more than lapping was required, the Bester stays pretty flat no matter what you do to it. Blessing for some, curse for others. It has a good reputation for knife sharpeners and Japanese tool users, but I found it to be a little gutless in the end but capable with most any steel presented to it, the tougher the better. Compared to the Chosera, slower to a degree but has a much wider operating envelope, so for tough stainless it might be a better choice and really makes it's mark with very tough steels like HSS.

All that tells me is the abrasive is good and hard, porosity is a little too great, binder is hard and durable. In some cases, the binder/abrasive match reasonably well, other times, not quite so much.

If you've got some tough battleaxe of a blade kicking around, give it a shot. On less tough steels, meh. I don't think you're playing with anything that a Chosera or Shapton struggles with, so the Bester's not going to be of much benefit. Maybe someone will like the feeling though, since there's no accounting for taste.

Just a passing observation...

And looking forward to more information as it arrives.

Stu.

OK, two more tested. Around 50 razors on each. Maybe a few more.

Arashiyama-Had a little grainy feeling to start, but it went away with a simple lapping. It required a light soaking, but is not a thirsty stone. It has a medium hard feeling that is similar to the Chosera. Pretty decent feedback. It is a nice cutter and shows swarf collection, but no clogging. Not quite as fast a cutter as the Chosera, but very close. Results were good with this stone. Although, I still prefer the Chosera, this is not a bad stone at all.

Sigma Hard-This stone was a bitch to lap for starters. Even with soaking for 15 minutes, this stone stayed pretty thirsty though out the honing regiment. It has a hard feel to it with decent feedback. The swarf definitely loads up and it clogged at around 3 razors. It is a decent cutter, but again, not as quick as the Chosera. Results were decent.

With both these stones, I was able to set usable bevels. I liked the Arashiyama so far, the best of the 3 new ones I've been playing with. I'll continue to play with these stones and have a Sigma Soft to test next. I have been sticking with sets of 40 circles with pressure in each direction followed by 10 X strokes. The Sigma Hard and Bester needed additional sets on virtually every razor. Not so with the Arashiyama. All razors tested were in decent condition although there were a couple of ebay dogs in there so I got to compare multiple sets on the Chosera to these stones. I'm going to try to put a couple hundred razors through each of these stones going forward to see if my opinion's on them changes.

So far, I won't be giving up the Chosera as my main bevel setter, but I would have no problem using the Arashiyama as an alternative.

Have fun,

Lynn

This is an awesome post!!! Answered like 10 questions that i had

Great post, thanks for the info Lynn, just to check is the Arashiyama you mention:
Arashiyama 1000 Grit

After typing moments ago that in 5 years I never really felt the urge to upgrade my King 1k I'm feeling a touch of 1K HAD.

That is the Arashiyama that I have. I really like this hone. It feels rather gritty compared to most 1k's, but I like its feedback, and gritty is not so bad for a bevel setter. The scratch pattern observed under magnification is deeper than that of a Naniwa Chosera 1k, but it is easily removed with a Naniwa SuperStone 3k.

I love this thread. I thought I'd give it a "BTTT" bump (Back To The Top)

Seems to me this thread is timeless and could be fitted in as very useful.

Sticky material?

Anyway, enjoy again.

I'll chip in a vote for the Shapton Pro 1.5K, I don't think it has been mentioned yet. I got rid of my King and picked the Shapton up a few weeks back. Grit wise it's rougher than the King 1K but it's hardwearing, fast, splash & go and makes short work of bevels.

Awesome thread for bevel setting stones for people just starting or looking to get started honing.
Have not been honing long myself but found out quickly from numerous Gssixgun posts that 90% of honing and/or restoration is an excellent bevel set.
Been using a King cuzz it was cheap and works OK for hollow grinds but just got my first really heavy wedge and man is it slow!! So now in the market for a good bevel setter with a little faster cut and this thread was invaluable in helping narrow my decisions!
Thanks to all who contributed info here, it helps a noob a lot!!

This is really a great thread!!
My King "Ice Bear" 1200 with slurry is super fast and without slurry is medium fast and starts the polishing/refining phase