Show Me Your... Bevel Setters!

So I am reading a case study on McDonald's and it turns out a core strength... if not "the" core perceived strength of the restaurants, is it's clean bathrooms -seriously! Hence the person with the crappiest job holds the power to the chains success!

It got me to thinking about honing! We don't celebrate our bevel setters nearly enough! I guess they just aren't as sexy. It's always this finisher or that... but with out a good bevel set...

So show em to me!!

What do you got? And why do you like it?

Maybe pictures later, maybe not, but bevel setters I have used and liked:

* medium india (for severe work)
* bester 1000
* bester 1200 (like better than the 1000)
* Sigma power select II 1200 (it's like the bester except harder and finer)
* shapton Glass 1000
* Shapton pro 1000
* Chosera 3000 (an abrasive dense stone that's very fine for its abrasion power))
* a huge 10x3 $29 new cut hard arkansas from a place that calls themselves naturalwhetstone (I like to use this one quite a lot)
* a deep rock coticule with a half-dried slurry, scary fast and can turn the slurry black really quickly

I like all of them, but I do get great pleasure out of running through a progression of arkansas stones that goes like this:
* scuffed side of the hard white arkansas (very fast)
* other side that is intentionally never scuffed (medium fast, but fine enough almost to go right to a finisher)
* norton hard black arkansas that seems to release just a little bit of stuff, not fine enough to finish ,but a good bridge stone
* yellowish-white unidentified translucent or a stone marketed as a black translucent from the same place that sold the big hard white (non-translucent) arkansas stone mentioned above

The edge from that is super keen. A scuffed hard ark has bigger abrasive than a medium waterstone (usually at least, everything natural is variable), and it's actually a bit faster. The non scuffed side preps the edge for finer stones. It takes me as little time to use that progression (maybe less even) than it does to work an ebay razor up through three waterstones. The hard white translucent can stand a little pressure for most of its working time and still leave a very fine and crisp edge.

Keeping arkansas stones together is nice, following arks with waterstones is OK. Following waterstones with arks, I don't like as much unless the ark is fairly coarse. I think it must be the shape of the abrasives in arks that vintage carbon steel razors love so much. I always get a good edge with them no matter how I use them.

Anything alloyed (stainless, or labeled "tungsten steel" or something) and I stick to any one of those ceramic stones mentioned above. Carbides and natural stones generally don't get along as well as I'd like.

My choices for bevel setting (photos later) are,
King 1k, but not for long, nothing lasts forever :)
An amakusa, it's more of a prefinisher, I have shaved with this stone. It hurts like a 4k-6k stone
An old SiC stone I used for years, lapping stones with it, and it somehow became 1k
Classic Cretan hone with slurry, but the slurry doesn't stay coarse for too long.
A worn out diamond plate, it started as a 600grit stone, but became 2k like fine
The medium stone from the pedra das meigas from Spain
And soon the Italian stone from Florence.

Bevel setters are underestimated.

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Originally Posted by Vasilis

Bevel setters are underestimated.

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Wow great responses so far!!

I have only one, well really it's two, but it's still just one....:)

Two Chosera 1K's, one with base and one without. I got the one with base first, but found that one without base would be more practical for me when honing razors, the one with base is now primarily used for other knives and things in need of sharpening.

What I like about it? It's fast and smooth, perfect for my use.

http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/...c/DSC_0056.jpg

[QUOTE=Zephyr;1041477] I got the one with base first, but found that one without base would be more practical for me when honing razors,


Ok so I have to ask - do you hold the stone in your hand when you hone and that's why you don't like the base? Inquiring minds want to know :).

Great post - and thanks for the photo.

For my regular honing progression I use Shapton Pro's and without the base on he Chosera I can just leave the Shapton base on the tray and use it for all the stones.
And it takes up less place, both in use and when storing.

I have used a few of these...but often I can get away with a Norton 4K.

Attachment 109361

Is it wrong for me to use a 2k green stone that i bought with alot of stuff.
i don't even know the brand but i would want another one once it's all used up.

If you'd buy another one, then it can't be wrong. :)

I'm with Zephyr I use a Chosera 1K for all bevel setting. By far my favorite starter stone.

I couldnt set a bevel even if my life depended on it. All my razors a shave ready. So I need my finishers only. One day I will learn from start to finish how to restore razors and I am sure I will need to learn the A-Z of how to polish and hone a razor from buffing it to polishing it to setting the bevel and finally finishing it

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Originally Posted by feelgeorge13

I couldnt set a bevel even if my life depended on it. All my razors a shave ready. So I need my finishers only. One day I will learn from start to finish how to restore razors and I am sure I will need to learn the A-Z of how to polish and hone a razor from buffing it to polishing it to setting the bevel and finally finishing it

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I picked up Eagle one Never dull Wadding Polish but forgot lytex gloves.
Seems like a good choice. Finer then steel wool. I would never use steel wool.
works well once ya get the bulk of the rust off with a single edge razor blade.
Some of the blades i working on cleaning the rust off would never be perty collectable razors.
just blades to shave with. Some are baddly pitten on the spines.
But vintage steel is such a nice quailty of steel. I am going to be busy picked up a lot of 20 rusty razors.
considering how old they are it's a sweet deal.
the seller said to will wrap each blade before i sniped it so they not going to get worst as far as the
edges are.

and for the blades that come with alot of metal ground off it in the middle of the blade i use a course
220 norton waterstone.
I just prefil waterstone over the oil stones.
cause the manmade oil stones are no good for razors in
my opnion due to you need to use presure to have those cut.
with the manmade waterstones they just cut steel with a light touch.
and all of my vintage hollow ground razors have paper thin blades.

I do wonder what brand that is cause i paid 50 bucks for those sencod hand. but i like those more
then the norton and king brand stones due to they don't require soaking i just let the water run with them
in the soak before using.
i got a 2k and a 5k and a unusable 12k for razors due to it not being flat i might flatten it
on cement the 12 k one. and a purple one that finer then the 12k but broken.
and unflat flatting stones lol. so i flated them with a diamond plate.
and three stones that i don't know what they are.

Here are mine: On the left is my Nani 1K. Works great - love it. The one on the right I picked up at my local Ace Hardware. I can't recall what the grits are, but it works wonders on those hard to set eBay razors that will even give my 1K a workout.

Attachment 109405

Then there is my Coti - people claim it can set a bevel, and I guess it can, but man is that work and on a eBay razor that's seen years of "box duty"... well as they say in NY - forget about it lol. But I love it too.

Attachment 109406

Thanks, earcutter, this is a great thread for me to follow as I am planning to buy a bevel setter. Am thinking of a king or the norton 220/1000. I have set my bevels with the norton 4000 on those razors I've bought from ebay that are not shave ready. And thanks to all for sharing.

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Originally Posted by vicmaldo

Thanks, earcutter, this is a great thread for me to follow as I am planning to buy a bevel setter. Am thinking of a king or the norton 220/1000. I have set my bevels with the norton 4000 on those razors I've bought from ebay that are not shave ready. And thanks to all for sharing.

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Thanks. I don't know what your collection consists of... but boy are you going to enjoy a real bevel setter vs. your 4K!

You will not use it as much as your finishers, but man will they make a difference for you.

Let's see, My go to Bevel setter is the Chosera 1k, No base. If I want a base, I use the Steelex adjustable holder, plus, you I can use both sides of the stone, Not that I need to...

I also have a full set of DMT's
The King 1k
Norton 1k
Naniwa 1k

I have a bunch of rocks, I may be forgetting some. Arks, some could be bevel setters, Coti's, I have one vintage pink one that's definitely a bevel setter. It's a hybrid. The other side is Let Lat. It's the "pinkist Coti I've ever seen, Pink slurry and all.

And I use the Shapton GS series for honing. No 1k. I have the 2, 4, 6, 8 and 16k

I like going from the Chosera 1k to the Shaton 2k GS. It's a nice transition.

For junkers I start on the Chosera 600 or even the DMT 325 if they're really bad. I don't fully set the bevel there, just get it close.

For anything that's close, I use the Norton 1k or Naniwa SS 2k depending on the condition and how close it is.
I always use the 2k SS after the Norton - I don't like the jump from 1k to 4k.

Sigma power 400 for real heavy work
1k Chosera for bevel set when no major repair is needed.
I have a nice Aizu that also works well but the chosera sees most work.

I use a King 1K but it can take a little longer with blades that need a bit more work than usual, I have been thinking of getting myself a 400 Naniwa super stone so I can just save myself some time and effort on some blades that need a bit more work.


Jamie

I love my SS 400 for lapping hard naturals without leaving scratches.
As a work-horse for honing, it's awfully soft and will dish quickly, thus needing frequent lapping and wearing fast.
If you'd only use it infrequently, it's probably no big deal. If you'll be doing a lot of razors, you may want to look for something harder.

I only have one, a cretan (natural). It works well enough with it's designated slurry stone, but for lower grit edge restoration I slurry with wet and dry sandpaper. Fast and pretty, although sadly I don't have a picture of it ATM.

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Originally Posted by Pithor

I only have one, a cretan (natural). It works well enough with it's designated slurry stone, but for lower grit edge restoration I slurry with wet and dry sandpaper. Fast and pretty, although sadly I don't have a picture of it ATM.

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Here are two, one oiled and one used as whetstone.I'm kind of in a business trip now, but I carry a few with me just in case. Attachment 109430

Norton 1K, 220 if things are really bad.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vasilis

Here are two, one oiled and one used as whetstone.I'm kind of in a business trip now, but I carry a few with me just in case. Attachment 109430

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Exactly like the right one, only slighty thinner. Works like a charm, and the slurry breaks down so it actually gets finer as you go along, although mine is pretty fast.

The right one is 7cm thick :) Yes, I know. It starts as coarse, 600-800, and it gets finer than the stone surface itself.

I am one of those boring Chosera 1k guys too :)

I sold everything else, the only 1k I need is the Chosera. If I need more, I use diamonds, but most of the time I use some slurry on the Cho and take my time.

I have a few that I have used as bevel-setters.
Some mre than others:)

Shapton pro 220 and 1000 Grit
DMT 325, 600 and 1200 Grit
Naniwa Chosera 400, 600, 800 and 1000.
Naniwa Super Stone 1000 and 2000
Suehiro Gokumyo Debado 400

I tend to use the Chosera 1000 the most, but the Suehiro and the Shapton pro 220 sees quite a bit of work on the ones in real need of some metal removal.
The DMT's are basically useless to me, way to scritchy feeling. I won't even use them on regular knives anymore

I have a king 1000 for bevel setting, when i want to take off a lot of metal I use a Coticule slurry stone on it. That really speeds things up.

Chosera 600, period
My worn dmt.1.2k is a good performer aswell

The Chosera 1K (Ol Sloppy), is my main bevel setter. If working with heavy wedge grinds or repairs the Chosera 600 works well. The Amakusa can be a good natural bevel setter but slower, some have experienced chipped edges off the Amakusa. Others do not like it at all and feel it would best be served as a base to hold the other stones. It is a natural stone so variations will exist. Have fun.
MIke

[IMG]http://i48.tinypic.com/2rnhl00.jpg[/IMG]
Chosera 600
[IMG]http://i49.tinypic.com/1zpgm4h.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i46.tinypic.com/2w7k37n.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/f3bz9j.jpg[/IMG]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pithor

Exactly like the right one, only slighty thinner. Works like a charm, and the slurry breaks down so it actually gets finer as you go along, although mine is pretty fast.

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Attachment 110271

ah looks just like mine. But I use my Chosera 800 and King 1k as my bevel setters. With the Cretan I scrape the surface with the Cretan slurry stone dry to make a some powder then add a tbsp of water and go. About 2-3 k level
Love it though and it will take it much higher on water

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 111Nathaniel

I have a king 1000 for bevel setting, when i want to take off a lot of metal I use a Coticule slurry stone on it. That really speeds things up.

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have to try that! thanks