Thread: So, I am Shopping for a 1k Stone for Setting Lots of Bevels

Originally Posted by CrescentCityRazors

Okay, thanks, all. Looks like the consensus leans toward the Chosera and I found one quite a bit cheaper than the $99 offer I first encountered, so I pulled the trigger. I did give the monster 4" wide King some thought, But really I went in to this thinking the Cerax would be the most likely candidate. I have one in 320 grit and it is overall a nice stone.

If a store, where did you find the cheaper price?

I think everybody loves their Chosera Green Bricks. I concur with Mike on the efficacy of the "brown turd" for getting a bevel started, especially on hard steels!

It has been over 10 years but I remember my Choosera 1k was aroud 50$ I hope they have not gone up to much as I need to replace one in year or two. Lol!

Originally Posted by JP5

If a store, where did you find the cheaper price?

www.Chefknivestogo.com $80, free ship, don't know if it comes with the slurry stone or not but I got all sorts of rocks and plates I can use if I want to go that route including a little DMT card somewhere. I had pretty much decided I wasn't paying $99 for it. Just seemed awful high for a bevel setter.

Current honing batch is already past the 1k stage. Next batch I might do say 10 on the Chosera, 10 on the sandpaper and compare results and estimate wear and tear and cost per razor. I will probably hand pick the razors to need no coarser work than the 1k. I usually use the red resin type wet/dry sandpaper for bevel setting, then film. I have a Naniwa SuperStone setup, from 1k to 12k, and I have some big guns from 120 grit Shapton up to a 600 grit Chosera but no heavy duty 1k, just that Naniwa so if I want to do a batch of razors on rocks I kind of have a gap where I least want it. The Naniwa SS 1k just isn't aggressive enough for honing a big batch of razors, and it wears quickly considering it is already not very thick. Otherwise it is a nice bevel setter when only one or two personal razors need honing. That's not the case, right now. I have about 275 razors waiting to be honed, 60 more supposedly on the way, and another order of 100, blade only, custom logo etch, in the negotiation process. So the honing is getting kinda industrial here. Honing new Gold Dollars in quantity can eat up a lot of rock, paper, or film, you know.

I have or have used most of the top line 1k stones on the market, of your 4 I have the King, Shapton and the Chosera. It does not really matter which stone you use at 1k, some are faster, (a wee bit) some smoother, (another wee bit) but you will not be shaving off the 1k edge.

If you are doing repair work, reprofiling, you will be using lower grit stones or Diamonds. I do use a 1k stone after 1k diamonds to smooth out the edge of knives and tools to reduce much of the deep 1k stria, it does not take much.

For razors my go to 1k, for the past year has been the King, I have several and pick them up at flea markets for a couple bucks. I think they are still about $20 new. I like the feel of the muddy stone, it cuts quick and can polish depending on stroke and pressure, it is a good teaching stone.

I do not like any of the Super Stones, because of the load up issue, I rarely use my 12k and switched to the 8k Snow white instead, with the same or better performance, and no load up. I go to a finish stone from there anyway.

My recommendation for any new honer is the King, because of price and performance, spend your money on your finisher

For you, that will be hogging off steel or resurfacing Diamond or Low grit shaped steel, buy the cheapest stone that works. There is no benefit in buying a high dollar 1k, because of the feel.

Don’tget me wrong the Chosera and Shapton are nice stones, but after any finisher, no-one could tell the difference, even if you set the bevel on 1k wet and dry.

I'd suggest keeping the slurry really thin if you're going to try to have the Chosera 1k release the slurry. Pieces can get pretty big, and they can cause scratches above the bevel, especially on heavier ground blades. When I want a slurry on my Chosera 1k (which is rare, because it's a pretty quick cutter), I use a finer, softer stone. I have a soft coticule that's great for this purpose.

Also, I know you already bought it, but I just wanted to chime in and say I think you made the right choice. I've used the King 1k and Norton 1k a lot, the Naniwa Superstone 1k a fair bit, and tried the Shaptons very briefly; the Chosera 1k is my preference by a long shot. It's a great balance of hard, fast, gentle, and shape-stable (my main gripe on the superstones). Plus they last a LONG time.

I think I have had my chosera 1k for 10 years now. I have never used it with slurry and never found the need to do so. I got mine from Paul’s finest and it’s really great. I must have honed over 500 razors on it, and it still looks as thick as the day I bought it

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Don’tget me wrong the Chosera and Shapton are nice stones, but after any finisher, no-one could tell the difference, even if you set the bevel on 1k wet and dry.

Good point. I could set the bevel on a brick and nobody would have a clue after a full progression including three stages of pasted balsa. I am just trying to maximize my cost and time efficiency. Part of my time with any stone is spent re-lapping it. The cost is the price of the stone delivered to my door, divided by the number of razors that the stone hones in actual use with appropriate lapping. Feel is good but mainly I was looking for a good balance between speed and time and cost, on a per razor basis, with fairly high volume for a one man operation. Looking at the King, I would probably be lapping it after every razor. Buying sandpaper, changing sandpaper, back and forth between house and shop, etc and it just didn't look efficient in terms of time per unit. I will admit that the cost of the stone is attractive, and there is enough meat there to stand up to a fair number of razors. I will also confess to not really liking them very much just on principle and the way they feel to me in use, but I could ignore that if it looked like the best choice. My customers won't care how much I enjoy honing their razors and they won't even know.

I wanted to give the bevel setting stone choice some serious thought because out of all my honing tools, it is probably the 1k stage that I will be spending the most time with. Even with coarse stuff for the heavy steel removal, the 1k will be seeing a lot of laps just cleaning up after the big guns and setting up the bevel for the progression. If I was only honing the odd razor now and then, the issue would be a non issue because I already have several alternatives. They just don't lend themselves well to honing a dozen or two dozen razors at a time.

[QUOTE=holli4pirating;1909597]I'd suggest keeping the slurry really thin if you're going to try to have the Chosera 1k release the slurry. Pieces can get pretty big, and they can cause scratches above the bevel, especially on heavier ground blades.

This is why I recommended the Naniwa dressing stone.
Its particularly designed, for the 1k chosera.

Might want to hold off until you here from Joseph aka JOB15.
I think he picked up the new Suehiro Debado MD 100. It's good size at 8.85 x 3.54 x 1.06.
Last I talked to him about it,he said he prefers it over the Naniwa.
This is what he said to me about it: "Personally i think the Debado 1k is great. It is not as violent as the Naniwa which makes for a better bevel set in my mind.
It is rock hard and you get great feedback as it cuts the steel."