Thread: the correlation between stone's surface polishing degree and the honing it offers

arkansas, charnley forests, and rozsutecs are examples of hones that will provide a finer edge/bevel polish when the surface is lapped smoother, or worn and broken in.

I will add another vote to "it makes a difference". I would rather burnish the surface of my stones with use than lapping with something else, but I suppose lapping with something else can get you close.

The C12, as a stone that isn't that aggressive and with a particle size that's bigger than 12k would suggest (at least in my experience with the WC version) is very sensitive to whether or not there's a slurry. Mine with a slurry is no stunner - at all - the edge is abraded and cloudy (and the shaving ability commensurately reduced). Without the slurry and with the surface able to be burnished for a while, the scratches are shallower and the edge polished and you can shave straight off of it very nicely.

Same with my japanese natural barber hone - it is finer than the C12, but with a fresh slurry on it, it is more aggressive on an edge than you'd expect.

There's a good picture on the web somewhere of a C12 with slurry and one without - I can't remember where it is. Someone brought it up on a woodworking forum a while ago.

I'm 3 months into my coti honing and feel off the DMT325 is too rough to manage polishing a razor and swarfs up quickly. After lapping it with my BBW, it becomes a slow finisher with mellow edges and loads up roughly 5 times slower.