Thread: Hones to start with?

Originally Posted by Audels1

One more question for you all that use King stones. What would be better the King 1000 or the 1200 for razors?. I do already own a 1000 Norton but I figured I could leave that with my knife stuff and not mix the two.

I don't know anything about the King stones but honestly, if you think there is any chance you might need honing advice or mentoring, I would be inclined to go with stones that most of the experienced and knowledgeable guys here use.

Nortons and Naniwas are two of the widely used stones by the guys that know what their talking about for a reason, they all might think Kings are the bees knees too but I haven't heard that.

I'm not an experienced honer, certainly not expert and wouldn't presume to give you honing advice but I will say this, I got the Nortons to start because there are a lot of guys that have them and could help a lot. I bought Naniwas more recently because I didn't have to soak them and I like them more than the Nortons but again they are stones that a lot of guys have and there is lot's of advice available.

Unless you already know what you're doing I would get stones that you can get help with when you need it.

There are cheaper stones out there but they might turn out to be a false economy, I prefer to stick with the synths that everyone else has because if nothing else, they are tried and trusted.

Just my humble opinion.

Originally Posted by STF

I don't know anything about the King stones but honestly, if you think there is any chance you might need honing advice or mentoring, I would be inclined to go with stones that most of the experienced and knowledgeable guys here use.

Nortons and Naniwas are two of the widely used stones by the guys that know what their talking about for a reason, they all might think Kings are the bees knees too but I haven't heard that.

I'm not an experienced honer, certainly not expert and wouldn't presume to give you honing advice but I will say this, I got the Nortons to start because there are a lot of guys that have them and could help a lot. I bought Naniwas more recently because I didn't have to soak them and I like them more than the Nortons but again they are stones that a lot of guys have and there is lot's of advice available.

Unless you already know what you're doing I would get stones that you can get help with when you need it.

There are cheaper stones out there but they might turn out to be a false economy, I prefer to stick with the synths that everyone else has because if nothing else, they are tried and trusted.

Just my humble opinion.

I get That and the difference in cost between the full progression in the brands comes down to $20-$30 so it is not really a cost saving measure its just me being me. I tend to not change once I get used to something so I try to find the best fit from the get go.

Kings are good stones, they get a bad rap, because they are soft. But because they are soft, they do not have the load up problems that other stones do, and they cut fast, with lite pressure and no slurry they can polish. Outside of the USA, King, (Matsunaga) is the oldest and most popular synthetic Japanese brand in the world.

It’s a $20 dollar stone!

Witch 1k you use does not matter, they all have 1k grit and leave 1k deep stria. You can use your Norton for both, just mark the end of one side for razors and the other for knives.

There are no rules, you can mix stones brands without any issue. I almost never use the same brand of stones in a progression, it does not matter.

Keep this in mind, the goal of honing is to use a bevel setting stone that will flatten the bevels, in the correct bevel angle and, get the bevels to meet and form a straight edge. Depending on the razor that could be an 800 -12K stone.

Most of us use a 1k for bevel setting. Once the bevels are fully set, (90% of honing), the next stone, the transition stone,(You transition from shaping/grinding to polishing/refining the edge,4-8K) removes the deep bevel setting stria and makes the edge straighter. The finishing stone polishes the bevel by refining the transition stone’s stria to a finer stria and straightens the edge further. The end goal is as straight an edge as possible.

From there you can go natural, paste, film or just strop.

You are way over thinking this.
Which stone you buy does not matter as much as using any stone and understanding, what it is you see through the loupe. For hundreds of years guys maintained razors with 2 stones, a course, and a fine stone.

There are no rules.

Originally Posted by Audels1

have a read through the reviews https://www.amazon.com/KING-KW65-Com...ustomerReviews

I'm not an expert on radioactivity, although my uncle was a radiation physicist. He's no longer alive or else I would ask him. But my initial reaction is...

I just find it really hard to believe that between the EPA, all the tree hugging dirt worshipers and the department of customs that a product that had dangerous levels of radiation would be allowed to be imported into and sold in the United States.

Kings are a very good stone and cut very cleanly and quickly. That said if you already have a 1k stone I would use that instead of buying other stones. You don't really need a 1,200 if you already have a 1,000. Save your money for stones that you do need.

When I joined Norton 4K/8K was the stone to have, for refinement of the edge a chromium oxide paddlestrop was used.
Members were experimenting with barber hones (vintage man-made hones), coticules and Eschers. Late arrivals were Japanese naturals and synthetics like Naniwa, Shapton, Chosera etc.
Nowadays you cannot see the forest for the trees. Everyone has their go-to hone(s) and preferences change. The holy grail being an edge that is sharp enough to cut whiskers without effort but not too sharp and uncomfortable.

Inwas going to suggest to use your knives on one side and razors on the other of your 1k, but i see Marty beat me to it.

Why use a different stone for knives and razors?

My feeling is because you will dish your hones more with a knife. So you will have to lap your precious razor hone more often. A hone as flat as possible is recommended for razors, for knives it isn't that crucial.

I have had a couple of King 1k’s and use mine for razors and small tools in simple carbon steels. It doesn’t cut aggressively enough for me on more alloyed steels. Most my knives just see a 400 grit diamond plate then a 1k diamond plate and some stropping on a wood loaded a fast cutting crox.

I haven’t tried any other King stones but if the 1k is an indicator of quality then I wouldn’t hesitate to buy their other stones. Listen to Marty, he has forgotten more than most of us will learn when I comes to honing a tool.

Originally Posted by Audels1

have a read through the reviews https://www.amazon.com/KING-KW65-Com...ustomerReviews

Hm, that is very interesting and worrisome.

Makes me wonder if someone could test the Suehiro ceramic stones