Thread: Chinese Hone

For lapping, I always use wet/dry sandpaper. I dont use tape to hold it down as a little water will cause plenty of "stiction". Sandpaper is cheap, DMT's aren't. I usually start with 400 grit & stop at 1K, with nothing in-between. I was fortunate enough to get a piece of granite that was a "cut-out" for a kitchen sink for free. Before that, the counter-top worked just fine...just had to pay particular attention to not scratch it...SWMBO kept her eye on me.

Back on the C12K/PHIG, I wasn't fortunate enough to find one that would cut fast enough for me. I'm sure this is why I don't personally recommend them. I bought two hoping to get one that was worthwhile, but it wasn't in the cards/my luck. The big one is HUGE & you could easily use the side for those difficult blades that may have a bad grind.

For what it's worth, I have one set of hones and only do razors for myself. I can easily achieve a good shaving edge from my 8K stone. That being said, I purchased the C12K based partly on some reviews here, and partly on it's price and local availability. The stone I have is very hard, and as said many times here quite a slow cutter. The speed of the cut is greatly increased with making slurry on the stone. I make the slurry with my DMT. I observed in Glen's videos his technique of a couple of figure 8's on his stones right before he puts a blade on them. This cleans the stone, and does provide a slurry. If I feel I need or want more, I just give it a couple more passes.

I will usually get the edge as perfect as I can with the 8K, then move on to the 12K with light slurry, diluting as I go. I just did an experiment with my 12K that produced excellent results. After I finished honing the razor, a shave test told me that while it was very sharp and adequately shaveable, it could have been a bit smoother. I went back to the hones, and did a pyramid on my Norton 8K and C12K stones. I started them both with a light slurry, and diluted through the pyramid, ending with water only on both stones. I finished with a few passes on the C12K with only water. I'll tell you what, I was SHOCKED at how much smoother the shave turned out. The shave literally went from a "That's a good shave" to "WOW that was an AMAZING shave"

Long story longer..... I like my C12K stone. I don't see how it can be beaten for the money, and the results I am able to achieve from it.

Adam MA's post is my experience almost to a T.


Mick