Thread: Naniwa 12000 underperforming

I just bought one and waiting for it to arrive, My friend in Vegas recommended it and his word is good

I eventually did get the Naniwa 12k to work great. It is a nice stone. The problem was that my previous methods of lapping stones weren't quite doing the job. I eventually got a DMT 220, and that makes the stones perfectly flat.

Be careful overwetting the N12k--it can swell out of flat if leave it for a full soak.

Originally Posted by MinATX

I also have one of the (now controversial) C12K/PHIG/Guangxi stones that performs at a level below the Norton 8000. I read somewhere before that they need considerable preparation before use, but I can't remember exactly what that involves.

Does anyone have advice on prepping and using the Naniwa 12000, or also the C12K?

All you want to know on the PHIG available via 'search window'


http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...uestion-s.html
http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...nese-hone.html
http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...-athon-26.html

I've got my C12K prepped now as well. It actually is quite good. I'm testing it out with different blades and comparing it to the Naniwa to see how alike or different the two stones are.

Those C12's can be very variable in efficacy. I have one, but find my Nani 12 much easier, quicker and more reliable to use.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Those C12's can be very variable in efficacy. I have one, but find my Nani 12 much easier, quicker and more reliable to use.

lol - well don't throw it away. I couldn't stand mine when I first got it. I eventually put an olive oil on it, and started using it on knifes... which was a bit of overkill.

About a month or two ago, I pulled it out (why I'll never know), I took my DMT to it (again), soaked it for 20 minutes and ran a blade over it. Nirvana!

I haven't the slightest idea if working knifes over it was the ticket (many say to get an Arkansas going, you should run a chisel over it a few hundred/thousand strokes first), if it was the puting on and then scraping off of olive oil, or if the last run with the DMT finally got it flat??? But it works - and I am growing really fond of it.

But then I have no problem taking a blade to a stone for an extended run. I mean its WAY slower than a Nani.

Either way, its working, and the shaves are smooth. Yay !!

This is another reason folks get so confused. We start talking about a Naniwa synthetic 12,000 rated stone and then shift over to a natural stone from China that unfortunately wound up with a eroneous "12k" name. MOF if you go back far enough you'll see that some referred to them as 13k back in the beginning.

For the noobs: please realize that naturals cannot be rated XX-grit as synthetics are. Yes, any stone can be graded, but to blanket the entire bloody production of Chinese naturals as XX grit is a bit silly. It is common to apply a range of grit to many naturals, as it'd be a total crapshoot if we couldn't expect that, but to single-point nail a label on any general group of natural stones is simply incorrect and mis-leading.

I'm not picking on anybody just trying to help keep the young fragile minds (or old and senile, take your pick) from perpetuating disinformation. [/minirant]

AS to the OP, I bought a 12,000 Naniwa second-hand and it has performed flawlessly, after i flattened it more better.