Thread: Cheap Hone

Originally Posted by rjezuit

I truly believe you can get into honing for around $100 or so. Around $75-80 for a 4K/8K Norton and another $25 or so for a Chinese 12K. You can set a bevel on the 4K, although it will take longer and more strokes than a 1K and finish on the 8K, and 12K.

1k is the only stone i couldn't live without

Originally Posted by infamous

1k is the only stone i couldn't live without

Agreed. I would skip the hit-and-miss PHoIG (People's Hone of Indeterminate Grit) and spend the money on a Norton 1k. The ability to set a good bevel in a reasonable amount of time is very important, and if your touch is light and your honing good you will get very good shaves straight off the 8k.

I think the cheapest usable set up is a King 1000/6000 followed by a Chinese 12K

The jump from 1000 to 6000 is a little larger than you really want but you can use a cheap diamond stone (something like this) to raise a slurry to help bridge the gap, start with a slurry on the 12K and dilute down and you'll be OK.

Not an optimum set up but with time and effort it works OK.

If you are honing a bunch or razors, a 1K is indispensable. If you are honing 1 or 2 every once in a while I would still prefer the 4/8/12K. "Reasonable" time is in the eyes of the beholder. I like honing. I would rather do 200-300 strokes on a thuri or 12K than 20 on a 1K.

If you're not stuck on the idea of having a stone (or set of stones), a cheap alternative is microabrasive film, like that sold at Lee Valley:

3M Micro-Abrasives for Sharpening - Lee Valley Tools

From the site: "The 15 micron (approx. 1000x) removes steel quite quickly; the 5 micron (approx. 2500x) refines the edge to usable keenness; and the 0.5 micron (approx. 9000x) gives it a mirror finish."

I've found these films work really well on razors, and they're only a couple of bucks a sheet.

Mike

Sorry to highjack the thread, I'm new here and just wanted to know if the naniwa or the chinese 12k will suffice in basic maintenance of a professionally sharpened edge.

Apart from cost difference, it seems like chinese 12k offer 2 disadvantages:

Being a natural stone, results can vary. (grit levels)
It is a very hard stone and will take many more strokes to maintain an edge.

I'd like to know whether the cheaper price of the chinese 12k can make up for its disadvantages (in your opinion and from a practical standpoint). Forgive me for posting here, its pretty overwhelming the information out there and I didn't want to start a new thread with people redirecting me to the faq etc. I have read the archives here and I guess I wanted some confirmation personally before I commit to any of those choices. Or if you have better suggestions please tell me, personally I was under the impression that it's either barbers hone, polishing stone or pasted strops.

Some additional info in case it helps:

I have some experience in knife sharpening.
I plan to tape the spine.

I'd like to say hello to everyone also, and I value your opinions.

welcome to srp

Originally Posted by drgreen

Apart from cost difference, it seems like chinese 12k offer 2 disadvantages:

Being a natural stone, results can vary. (grit levels)
It is a very hard stone and will take many more strokes to maintain an edge.

It's not the hardness that makes it slow, there are plenty of hard stones that ar fast, soft ones too. It's just slow, unless you get one that isn't that slow...

Originally Posted by drgreen

I'd like to know whether the cheaper price of the chinese 12k can make up for its disadvantages (in your opinion and from a practical standpoint).

Well, that's really something that you have to decide. The price and the function are really orthogonal quantities, so there's no objective way to determine an answer. I suppose people who like their PHIG would tell you cheaper is better, those who don't will tell you that you get what you pay for.

I had good results with mine, not amazing or anything. I currently own a set of naniwas, coticules, eschers, various other esoterics, but no PHIG or nortons. I eventually decided that I'd prefer a bit less clutter.

Try both and decide, you can still recover most of your money, so the cost of trying them out is less than the cost of owning them.

Thanks, I'm leaning towards the naniwa due to consistency.

I understand the superstones are much softer, will a lapping stone be necessary? Can I expect to get a lot of use out of it (nani12k) and not worry about buying other things for a long time, given I do everything right and not ruin the edge?

Originally Posted by drgreen

Thanks, I'm leaning towards the naniwa due to consistency.

I understand the superstones are much softer, will a lapping stone be necessary? Can I expect to get a lot of use out of it (nani12k) and not worry about buying other things for a long time, given I do everything right and not ruin the edge?

The superstones are on the softer end of the spectrum. You will without a doubt need a stone fixer to lap with.

In my limited experience I spend my time on a dull edge:
90% on 1k
9% on 2-5k aoto
1% on 8k kitayama

So to me a 12k seems like it's not the most important stone to have.

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

You can buy a kit like this and have everything you need for $120

Amazon.com: Norton Waterstone Starter Kit: 220/1000 grit stone, 4000/8000 grit stone, SiC flattening stone: Industrial & Scientific

When I connected to that link it came up costing $180.