Originally Posted by
Euclid440
It is just lapping perhaps to a higher level and you only have to do it once. The Chinese stone is a hard stone, when I bought mine a couple of years ago, it was pretty rough and after lapping with a DMT, I was not impressed with the results. So I lapped it as I have with Finishing Arks in a method that has worked for me. I can get an edge from my C12K, but there are better options in my opinion. It is not a stone I would recommend especially to a novice honer.
Many folks seem to have problems with Arks and C12Ks as finishing stones and it could be the face is just too rough and needs lapping to a smoother finish.
As for the Smith’s Honing Solution, I do not know why it works, but with naturals it does work well, it only cost a few dollars.