Not cheap eh ? My King 8k cost about $140 from Carba-Tec a few years back. I see they dropped their prices now which is a good thing..
I hone the odd razor :) If you want me to assess your 10 k let me know by PM.
Not cheap eh ? My King 8k cost about $140 from Carba-Tec a few years back. I see they dropped their prices now which is a good thing..
I hone the odd razor :) If you want me to assess your 10 k let me know by PM.
It was from Carba-Tec. Link I just looked , it was actually $129
Well you've taken the plunge on some nice stones now.
You'll have to buy your girl some Manolo's to balance the yin/yang . :D
I thought i would put one more post about the Ice Bear stone on here.
I will try and describe the feeling of the stone a little more.. see if you guys have any other ideas.
So it has spots where the blade glides across and other section where it sticks...
When i soak it, there are dark spots and light spots (it seems to stick on the light areas)
Also there are small fragments of what looks like a shiny metal all through the stone, the largest would be 1mm and the smallest just viable by the the eye (who knows what i cant see). I'm guessing its hard stone and not metal but it shines in the light like polished steel.
Before i lapped the stone, those shiny spots were actually above the surface.. Enough that, using the tip if my finger nail it would stop my finger from slipping across or it put cut a line through my finger nail. If i ran my finger tip over it i could feel them with my fingers. now that its lapped its smooth all across.
I have heard people say that polishing a stone with a second could help some stones.. what do you think?
Attached are some photos of the silver\stone like bits in the stone under magnification (about 10x) with a contrast enhancement that shows them a little better (in natural light they shine although in the photo the don't)
contrast enhancement
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9400754/Stra...20View%201.jpg
Standard
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9400754/Stra...20View%202.jpg
To give you an idea on the size of the black/silver in the stone that image on the stone would be about 10mmx10mm. There are bigger pieces of the stuff but they are to hard to get a photo of them.
onimaru55 as suggested that it may need more of a lap so i will do that with some heavier wet n dry that what i was currently using. I have currently removed about 1/16"
If i can get it in good shape, that's awesome, if not its no real loss as I'm getting the new stones.
Thanks Guys!
ok, maybe another update or two.. it never ends lol
I purchased some 80, 120, 180, 240 grit sandpaper and lapped the hell out of this thing. i would have removed another 1/8" and there is still some of that dark/light clolor patten when its wet although and its still gripping on some sections. The grip is a little better. maybe 25%.
So I re honed my razor and it made a notifiable difference. I'm still not happy with it but it is a little better. maybe i should lap it until all the color patten has gone. i might not have any hone left though lol
Edit: the hone as dried now and there a some new silver reflections. I'm actually 99% that they are shiny\polished metal shavings embedded in the resin of the stone.. Do any other hones have material like that in them?
hm, looks like impurities to me. Woud not be good and explain the difficulties you are experiencing.
You should give this stone to a more experienced honer and let him evaluate it
Looks like large xtals of natural rock. Logically, 1.5mm particles don't belong in a stone claimed to be a 1 micron finisher.
If those particles are scratching the bevel I'd be looking for a refund.