Thread: Small choseras, anyone?

Chef Knives to Go sells sets of smaller Chosera stones (6”x1”, I believe) to be used in the Edge Pro set-up. Is there any reason these wouldn’t work well simply as stand-alone hones? Everyone says Choseras are very hard and wear very slowly, and I only hone my own razors, so I’m not concerned about the “amount of stone” I’d be getting. I’ve been using Eschers and coticules of this width for years, with great results. My experience with synthetics of any kind however is extremely limited (DMTs for resto work, that’s it). So I guess what I’m asking is, is there any reason to think honing on narrow synthetics would be problematic? Or to think these mini-Choseras would be of sub-optimal quality compared to their bench hones?

Pretty tempting, to have a full range of Choseras in my preferred hone size.

setting a bevel on a 1" hone would be a nightmare IMHO.

In theory no, they will work fine

In practice these are very very thin as they fit the EdgePro system so holding them in the hand is difficult and using them on a table is also..
I would guess you will need to make a small stone holder to do that..

Much of the problem for new honers is getting the spine/ edge/ hone relationship to click for them, I would feel that these are going to be all that much more difficult to do that.. I see that you have experience honing but it looks like that is more toward the higher finishing on Naturals... Choseras are the fastest working stones I personally have used, good when the strokes are correct, but very bad when you do one wrong stroke...


Perhaps by adding a backing they could be used in hand

I have those Choseras, and let me tell you, they work great in the EdgePro.
As standalone hones they are useless. IMHO

Edit:
Here's a comparison-shot of the 1 and 10K's in both sizes...

Glen, thanks for pointing out how thin they are! I hadn't really noted that from the top-down photo. The ability to hold the hone in the hand — and thus use both the razor-hand and the hone-hand to get the right contact and control pressure — is the very reason I prefer small hones to bench hones. (Btw I should have been clearer, I've been setting bevels as long as I've been honing my razors. It's just that the only synthetic I've used extensively is the DMT 1200, for resto work + initial bevel. For subsequent minor bevel resets I use a fast-ish coticule with slurry. I have almost no experience with Norton/Naniwa/Chosera-style waterstones.) Your other point — about a single bad stroke on a Chosera messing things up pretty good — is exactly the kind of thing I was wondering about when I started this thread.... I'm a good honer but not a great honer, so maybe if I'm going to move to synthetics I should stick with the tried and true.

The idea of mounting these to make a hand-held hone is a good one, thanks. I can picture making a sort of 4-sided paddle, 1-3-5-10K, a bit like the ones Tony Miller used to make but you just hold the thing itself rather than having by a handle.

Birnando, when you say you use these in the Edgepro system, you just mean that you're using it as a hone-holder correct? I mean, you're not using that gadget the way you would with knives, right?

Thanks guys

Originally Posted by dylandog

Snip...

Birnando, when you say you use these in the Edgepro system, you just mean that you're using it as a hone-holder correct? I mean, you're not using that gadget the way you would with knives, right?

Thanks guys

I wouldn't even think of doing my razors, or even my finer kitchen knives, on the EdgePro. No way

What the EdgePro does good though, is keep my EDC's, hunting and tactical knives sharp, and with some speed and ease.

I have the same stones for my Edge Pro and totally agree.

I have tried to sharpen some straight razors using them. Got close on a few, but what a pain!

As Birnando says though, the Edge Pro is killer for my EDC, hunting and tactical knives and I have had good luck with it as well on my nice Mastro Livi set of Kitchen Knives.

Have fun.

Originally Posted by Birnando

I have those Choseras, and let me tell you, they work great in the EdgePro.
As standalone hones they are useless. IMHO

Edit:
Here's a comparison-shot of the 1 and 10K's in both sizes...