Originally Posted by
BertMor
I have a Shapton Pro 5k and a Kitayama 8k/12k stone. These should be alright to use for initial honing. Now here is the question.
There has always been a debate as to actual grit rating of the Kitayama. Some say 8k, some 12k. A knowledgeable person over at KnifeForums, who really knows their stuff and is a geologist (I think), has a theory that during intital work the stone is an 8k, but as the mud is worked, it breaks down and winds up being 12k.
If this is true it would be very difficult to use this stone during an 8k/12k pyramid, as you would have to do a few passes at 8k, work the nagura stone up for mud to 12k, do a few passes, clean the stone off and then go at it all over again. This would suggest getting a finer finishing stone, an option I would like to avoid.
Can I do a pyramid between the 5k and the Kitayama, and then work the Kitayama up to 12k, and then finish with CrO2 or diamond paste on a polished granite reference stone? There is a technique that uses (believe it or not!) Post-It notes paper as a holding vehicle for the compounds on a reference plate, which makes using various grit sizes on one piece of granite easy; just lift off one piece of paper and replace with a different charged piece. These can be saved for several sessions, and then replaced.
What say you? Good ideas, bad ideas? Any other possibilities? Also, anyone familiar with any of the boron based polishing compounds? Are there any benefits or negatives to them?