Thread: question about C12K hone

i have my c12k *(love it.... with a couple of caveats).....

i lapped it flat when i got it.... but when i am honing my kami i notice that the blade wants to "stick" to the flat surface of the stone.... and unless i am very deliberate with my movement the blade will almost want to skip from the sticktion..... i use filtered water and have even went as far as putting a drop of dish soap in the water to see if the added lubrication would help smooth it out...

also i seem to get a lot of small grit particles on the face and if i am not careful they will scratch the face of the stone.... they always seem to catch on the spine side of the blade so i haven't noticed them screwing up my edges... but they are a pain.... what can be done for this???
if needed i can make a short video or take photos of this phenomena for better understanding....

thanks in advance...

Don't want to discourage you but all PHIG's are not made the same by Mother Nature, here is a thread I did on my journey with them...It took me 4 of them before I found a superb finisher I have honed on 4 more at the various meets I have gone to since then, and there are distinct differences in them...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...nese-hone.html


The best ones IMHO for razors are the ones that produce a milky white slurry and it feels like you are honing on Talc as you move the razor

G man is correct. I've handled lot's of these hones. When you go to Woodcraft (if you can, recommended) Tell them you want to look at the hone first, Your checking for cracks, and it gives you the opportunity to find one you like. Here's a couple of pics to show you the difference.

Look at the 8x2 on the right, You see all those stirations, looks almost like woodgrain, That's what you want. It's also much grayer than the 8x3 on the left, which isn't bad, but not nearly as good as the 8x2. Escher is my go to finisher, but this guy (8x2) is equally good, that's not BS. Creating a slurry on these will greatly improve your situation. I've even used it with a Crox slurry before, It's like a C12k on steroids....

P.S. The Pics don't do these hones justice. I tried several times and no joy. Although the 8x3 looks blue with speckles, it isn't. It's actually more of powder gray, and clean. It's not a bad hone, but the one on the right is superior.

P.S.S. Your sticky situation, Try less water, as little as possible. Sounds like you did a good job lapping it. The blade is flat, the stone is flat, creates suction. Too mucy water will make it worse, like a vacuum. J nats are notorious for this. Try a few drops of water, and spread it with your fingertip. Also, try a slurry. Sometimes that will help, even a very thin slurry.

For your grit particles, I haven't heard that one, but I'd try lapping it again.

let me rephrase... the particles are particles of slurry.... i really really do not like using a slurry on this stone.... it seems counter productive to me and i get a MUCH better edge slurryless *(new word for the day)....

seems like when honing on this stone with slurry it will feel like i have something *(foreign object) between the razor and hone..... it *(the grit) gets caught between blade and hone and scratches the hone.... long white scratches....

You have one of the really hard scratchy ones...

Relap the stone and treat it as if it were an Arkansas stone take the lapping to at least 1k and try and get the stone as smooth as possible,,, it should have a sheen to it when you look across it toward a light.
Let the hone soak for at least 30 minutes before honing and use no slurry, you might even try 1 drop of soap on the stone when you start honing. Between the more fine grit lapping and the soap perhaps this will get you the smooth honing action you need minus the scratches...
This is not a sure fire recipe for success but it is a start in the right direction, you might have to adjust even more to get a fine edge off of that stone... The PHIGs are very capable of nice comfortable edges

Originally Posted by gssixgun

You have one of the really hard scratchy ones...

Relap the stone and treat it as if it were an Arkansas stone take the lapping to at least 1k and try and get the stone as smooth as possible,,, it should have a sheen to it when you look across it toward a light.
Let the hone soak for at least 30 minutes before honing and use no slurry, you might even try 1 drop of soap on the stone when you start honing. Between the more fine grit lapping and the soap perhaps this will get you the smooth honing action you need minus the scratches...
This is not a sure fire recipe for success but it is a start in the right direction, you might have to adjust even more to get a fine edge off of that stone... The PHIGs are very capable of nice comfortable edges

i relapped it couple razors back... went 400/800/1000..........

tomorrow i will drop back to ~220 then 400-800-1000......

its really only a problem with the kami.... with my "normal" *(read that as non jap) razors i don't have this problem......

Yeah Kamisori are a whole different breed of razor, I hope that works ...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Yeah Kamisori are a whole different breed of razor, I hope that works ...

thank you gentlemen for your responses.....