Thread: Chinese Hone

I have three Chinese finishing stones, two 12K and one 15K (they call it river stone). There is a big difference between these stones. Blueish 12K stone is good for polishing, but grey-blue color chinese 12K is a good cutter, especially with slurry. !5K is also not bad.

I've not heard of the 15K version. What does it look like?

I bought two C12K at a flea market a while back. They are both the same kind they sell at Woodcraft. One is a medium gray color with bluish striations. It cuts quick and under a loop , the edge looks like it came off of a 8k Norton. The other is dark slate gray and polishes more like a 16k.

See I haven't used one, but I have read some are much better than others, the 'norm' being 10K level. But then again if the 16K you compared it to happened to be a Shapton 16K, then I have also read that stone is more like a Naniwa 12K so.....

Originally Posted by Scipio

I've not heard of the 15K version. What does it look like?

You can see it 15k grit whetstone for final honing. 5.8" lapped - eBay (item 180651778509 end time Apr-16-11 17:54:15 PDT) , besides there is 3K Chinese stone. Don't have the picture at the moment. Wery much resembles 15K, but with whitish spots.

It's always like this with natural stones. They are very individual. It's like lotery with them. I very highly value one of my 12K Chinese stone, superb finisher. Second is disposable, use it for making slurry on my Nakayama kiita.

Originally Posted by Zelenbakh

It's always like this with natural stones. They are very individual. It's like lotery with them.

This is why I stick to the Escher. I've tried various Jnats and kept wondering "...what if...what if..." but I guess I'd always keep wondering. The Escher smoothes out all my insecurities and baggage about grass being greener.

I'm sure if I had an Escher my C12K would be used as a paperweight.

Let's see now. C12K ~ $30.00, Escher ~ $400-500. It's like comparing a Ferrari to a Vega, in price, but not performance. Is the Escher 12-15X a better finisher? Is it 12-15X faster. I have a thuringian, don't know if its an Escher, because no label, and I picked up a C12K just to compare. The Escher leaves a fine finish as does the thuri, but MUCH faster.

What is performance like between the 2?
Some Thuringians are as good if not better than the Eschers I have used. Some are definitely inferior.