Thread: How flat is flat for a hone

For some odd reason Euclid440, I can seem to Google or Bing GotGrit. I always comes back a "Got Grip". I have tried other terms as well, but cannot seem to find any place that carries loose grit to do what you are suggesting.

Here is the link to the Silicon Carbide page. GotGrit.com.


Just click on the above link and it will take you right to the site and the page.

The best way to check for certain regarding flatness of a straight edge is to either buy a reference surface such as a granite surface plate with guaranteed flatness or to create one yourself using the "3 surface" method.

Checking micrometers is accomplished either with "standards" which are rods made to exact lengths or checking with "gage blocks" which are basically equivalent to granite surface plates but rather than flatness they reference length. They are lapped to lengths accurate to within millionths of an inch and to a finish that allows them to "wring" together on the lapped surfaces and hold almost like they are glued.

BTW no one is saying that hones need to be perfectly flat here. I don't know why everyone always gets their panties in a knot every time checking for flatness is discussed. Necessary flatness can be as flat as you want it or as wavy as the sea - as long as it works for the person honing. Knowing how to check for flatness precisely is useful regardless.

Personally I prefer my stones flat for razors - within .002" is what I consider acceptable. For knives and tools I can live with much worse.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Obviously the upper chalk is the ebay Chinese 15k and the lower one is the ebay Chinese 3k. The fact that they are the same stone is just a bonus!

Ebay sells Chinese 3ks? You're joking. I was literally honing on mine the other day and I could swear it was just a little less course than coti with thick slurry

Euclid440: Thanks. Got to it. I Binged it and Googled it but kept getting GetGrip. Finally I typed in silicon carbide and came up with sites. I note the other sites I landed on were more expensive and sold only in one pound pkgs.

Did you pre-slurry your stone? My 12K shreds on the belt sander as I worked at flattening it. Haven't had an opportunity to actually try it yet as all my blades are honed at the present.

No point everyone having 'Heart Failure' over this flat issue. Whether you are doctor or a patient when you have your razor and are about to hone, and it is your hone, then you know before you start the hone is OK. 'OK', fellas is OK....If you need to drag out all these implements, to satisfy yourself your hone is flat, why isn't it flat? From your observation? Poor razor performance? How did you find out it was flat? More likely a post on the internet trying to sell you feeler gauges!
Truth is fellas, generally flat, mostly flat, looks flat is most of the time,fine. Unless you hone dozens of razors a day, then probably check it once a year (If you do hone dozens, you already know this). Seriously, reasonably flat is fine for most people.

Originally Posted by bobski

No point everyone having 'Heart Failure' over this flat issue. Whether you are doctor or a patient when you have your razor and are about to hone, and it is your hone, then you know before you start the hone is OK. 'OK', fellas is OK....If you need to drag out all these implements, to satisfy yourself your hone is flat, why isn't it flat? From your observation? Poor razor performance? How did you find out it was flat? More likely a post on the internet trying to sell you feeler gauges!
Truth is fellas, generally flat, mostly flat, looks flat is most of the time,fine. Unless you hone dozens of razors a day, then probably check it once a year (If you do hone dozens, you already know this). Seriously, reasonably flat is fine for most people.

That's what I was thinking. My response, 'flat enough for razor work.'

bobski. Thanks for that. I have to say that your remark is one based on faith or trust in the product. I did, however, discover the Chinese finishing hone was not flat. There were multiple points wherein it was not flat and I could determine it would have produced an uneven finish. That was the significant point I was attempting to generate a discussion on what individuals do to assure as flat a stone as they can. My solution arrived at a belt sander than hand sanding then measure with a straight edge. I can't say my stone is flat within some national standard, but I think it will do o.k. for my purposes.
Thanks for your input. I appreciate it as well as all the other responses.