I learned on the King series. I also have others. If you are happy with your 12K grit then why spend more money?
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I learned on the King series. I also have others. If you are happy with your 12K grit then why spend more money?
I've got a king 1k/6k combo stone. They cut really nice once you get a slurry going. I very versatile places to start IMHO. I blame it for talking me into buying a whole collection of rocks.
Buy a nagura to go with it. Makes a huge difference.
Don't know who mentioned being happy with a 12K grit but it wasn't moi! Have an inexpensive Japanese Nagura also. Working long crazy hours performing hospital mnt., I have had more luck with the Norton 4K/8K than the Norton 1K. Then again, I did not realize until speaking with a senior member tonight how MUCH one must sometimes take off of a Norton 1K to get rid of the grainyness and make it work at setting a bevel! Spent another hour tonight lapping the Norton 1K to (hopefully) make it work. Needless to say, the Norton lapping stone leaves MUCH to be desired, and I am glad that I bought a DMT 325 after researching this forum. Fitting in honing between work and a girlffriend is not that easy, but I'm trying!
Disburden, if I can find a quality tool that makes my job easier, then I will buy it. I perform hospital mnt. for a living, after being laid off from hi tech after 12 long years. Work on a skeleton crew fixing anything and everything. Squeezed amongst my plethora of Harbor Freight hand tools are two DeWalt portable drills worth about $250.00, and a $100.00 Fluke multimeter. Even my boss makes fun of Harbor Freight, but then again he doesn't buy many tools for us!;)
Although I did ALOT of research before purchasing the Norton stone set, after reading how quickly the Chosera sets a bevel with very little soaking, I'm there! The King 1K looks like a great stone also, but I understand that it is a softer stone and requires more soaking prior to use, besides more work to set the bevel. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Am the first to admit that I'm a newb, but am learning!
Still, I have been very happy with how the Norton 4K/8K has honed some of my razors. Still learning, and that is why my nicer blades that were professionally honed are tucked away, and I'm shaving (and nicking sometimes) with my $10.00 Golden Monkey, my $60.00 Dovo, my $60.00 Cowboy, my free Hamburg Ring, my $40.00 Sheffield Herskovitz, $30.00 Jahn's Jewel and 2 vintage Gillete safety razors, when the straights just aggravate me. Heck, I even cross over to the dark side and shave with the Gillette Fusion I inherited from Dad, when the face is recovering from some of the more painful straight razor attempts;)
Again, great forum. Really learned alot from everyone and hope to continue to do so. Great group of people with a wealth of experience-Rant off!;)-Gearhead
I have the King #1000 for bevel setting, and am very impressed with it, now looking at King #4000 and #8000, but there seems to be more than one King #8000 and they vary in price alot. One is called G3, significantly cheaper, the other G1. Can't seem to find any info on the difference. Anyone know?
I remember having that confusion when I bought a second stone for home recently. The G-1 is the one I have.
Correction edit: the G-1 is thicker, the G-3 is a thin version. It's 22mm thick vs 15mm thick.
Naniwa does the same thing, making a thick and thin version of their 12K.
The King is a muuuuuuuuuuch better stone than the Norton........ at starting the kasumi polish on Japanese kitchen knives prior to finishing with jnats. :p
As for razors , here's a good comparison thread : http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...l-setting.html
Sounds like you need to fix or replace your Norton or is it HAD ?
I remmeber one japanese seller saying that it's a closely guarded secret in japan that the King stones are made from ground down JNAT Particles hehehe
Dear Onomaru55 and others-Although I lapped the heck out of the Norton 1000 (and may lap it some more), I broke down and ordered a Naniwa Chosera 1000 for around $95.00 shipped. Now, I have only myself to blame if I cannot set a bevel;) Will still use the Norton 4/8K, as it is working, the King small Nagura, the Naniwa SS 12K and my big Daddy 3" wide strop. Will keep you all updated:)-Gearhead
You'll probably buy a King 1k at some point too .
Can't have enough bevel setters. :)