Thread: Newfound respect for the PHIG.

Do both sides have an equal amount of inclusions? If not lap both side so you can compare. Mine have silver/copper veins and don't seem to effect anything

Originally Posted by J743

Thanks Marshall! I had to adjust the brightness a little so you can see it a little better. In natural light when wet it's darker and the orange spots a little more muted but still there.
The dealer told me they were iron veins. I don't suspect they will intrude, I hope not.

I did notice the slurry when lapping was rather brown, so I'm wondering too. I need a razor to hone on! I have a gold dollar coming in the mail soon, I hope it's not too warped.

Mine slurries a light grey, almost white color. But again, it doesn't have all the orange deposits, so whether that means anything really depends on the concentration of the coloring agent VS every thing else in the stone. Color bands aren't always a bad sign. Hopefully it hones as nice as it looks.

Here's mine: The top one from Woodcrafters, the bottom one from Ebay. The Ebay stone has long white strips and is the finer of the two

Originally Posted by rodb

Do both sides have an equal amount of inclusions? If not lap both side so you can compare. Mine have silver/copper veins and don't seem to effect anything

Yep, both sides. The other side only has two "iron" veins (the orange spots, as described by the seller; coincidentally, another seller described "iron" veins in the La Lorraine stone I purchased a week ago). The other side has two iron veins, tiger strips, and white veins running through it. Each side, about 25mm, has thick tiger stripes, much more pronounced, running through it. Even the slurry stone I have has tiger veins. It's a really visual piece, just beautiful. For 40 shipped I knew I made the right choice. But I have to wait until another razor arrives to know for sure. I just restored a razor and finished it on a Black Arkansas which I also just acquired, and I need to test that one out first. Too many stones!

What's your technique on the CNAT? I'm reading through several threads. A lot of people have different techniques it seems. I'm happy with the finish I put on both sides today. I can get excellent reflection of light even when dry. She's ready.

Kinda depends on what I'm doing. If I'm doing a 2 stone type thing I'll set the bevel on a soft Ark or a 1K, then slurry up the rough side of my PHIG with Coticule slurry to expedite stria removal. Once the stria is gone, I'll dilute that several times until it's starting to get clear. Then I'll flip over to the polished/finishing side and work up a light layer of PHIG slurry with the PHIG slurry stone, dilute that to clear, wash the surface of the hone off and do some clear water laps, and finally lather it up for one final set of laps.

If I'm coming off the Norton 8K then I'll skip ahead to a very light PHIG slurry to help transition/get anything I may have missed and go from there. Same final 3 steps with light slurry, water, then lather. You might be able to skip the slurry step all together coming off the 8K stone, but I like playing with it.

On the smaller stone which is VERY hard and glassy and slow I use about the same as I would a black Ark, 3 sets of 20 1/2 x-strokes per side, one set of 20 circles and 50 rolling x-strokes all with very light pressure. The other stone is softer and I use that more like a Coticule or Escher and start with light slurry moving to plain water, all with light pressure.

I use this after an 8K Norton

Originally Posted by J743

What's your technique on the CNAT? I'm reading through several threads. A lot of people have different techniques it seems. I'm happy with the finish I put on both sides today. I can get excellent reflection of light even when dry. She's ready.

I was playing around last night with a gold dollar and noticed I set a very even bevel with the 25mm wide side of a g 1K. I treated the blade as if it was warped because of the stabilizer and it worked like a charm.

The side of my C-nat is also 25mm, and I have an equally narrow bbw lying around. I have the tools to really tame this one.

Robd, I was thinking the same about my guangxi. I lapped it and it's hard as hell. I thought for starters I should like it almost like a black Arkansas and just go for broke with laps on water for the first try.

I will report my results soon.