Thread: 12K Advice Please

I am in Woodcraft all the time and have never seen a 12k stone. The finest thing they have is a Japanese 8K which is a micron or more finer than an 8K Norton (grit vs mesh sizing).

I have problems with a wire edge which does not happen often but I have had issues with it lately on some new custom razors. I have been getting perfictly good edges off the 8K norton and 0.5 chrom Ox with old sheffield and german blades. The harder steel in the Chandlers and Harners like to wire edge so I go to the japaniese 8K with a light slurry then with no slurry, then CrOx to finish but the edge is stll a bit rough. Edgy or scrapy on the shave.

Anyone know what the micron rateing for the WoodCraft 12K is? My King polish stone is around 1.8-.9 micron. How about a link to it on WC, cant find it on a search.

The 12K rating is up for debate....

Here is the stone:

Natural Polishing Water Stone - Woodcraft.com

Originally Posted by cannonfodder

I am in Woodcraft all the time and have never seen a 12k stone. The finest thing they have is a Japanese 8K which is a micron or more finer than an 8K Norton (grit vs mesh sizing).

I have problems with a wire edge which does not happen often but I have had issues with it lately on some new custom razors. I have been getting perfictly good edges off the 8K norton and 0.5 chrom Ox with old sheffield and german blades. The harder steel in the Chandlers and Harners like to wire edge so I go to the japaniese 8K with a light slurry then with no slurry, then CrOx to finish but the edge is stll a bit rough. Edgy or scrapy on the shave.

Anyone know what the micron rateing for the WoodCraft 12K is? My King polish stone is around 1.8-.9 micron. How about a link to it on WC, cant find it on a search.

Thanks for the link. I may pick one up just to see how it works. For that price it is a good bet.

Can't say anything about Naniwa, but as a finishing stones i have Chinese 12K and an old Shumate dry barber hone. Both work ok, Shumate is much more faster. It takes much more laps with the Chinese, but it can be used both wet and dry, with slurry or not.

I wouldn't much care about the fastness if it costs about 3x as much as the cheaper Chinese. You don't need to hone so often, and once you do it's all the same if you have to take 30 or 100 laps. Just my opinion.

They actually work pretty well, especially for the price. Just takes a lot of strokes(think 100+)

When i had one, i played around with doing 50 w/ slurry(i cut off part of it with hacksaw to use as slurry stone) and then another 50 or so water only.

Holli and JoeD use them a lot i believe.

Originally Posted by cannonfodder

Thanks for the link. I may pick one up just to see how it works. For that price it is a good bet.

I had a Chinese 12k a long time back. I found it frustratingly slow, and probably never gave it the chance it deserved.

As posted in another thread, I just honed up my first Naniwa 12k, and had a great shave off of it.

[QUOTE=Scipio;472825]Im looking to buy a 12k as a new finishing stone.

Currently I use a BBW and Crom oxide, but reading on this forum suggests to me that I could be getting better results. Define better, I know, however Id like to try a 12K and before I buy one Id like to consult the wisdom of the hone meisters and HAD men on this forum to determine:

a) To what extent is it superior / will provide me better results than a BBW (8k)

b) Which 12K. Im looking at 2 - the Nainwa 12k, and the Chinese 12k.

*******>>> I use a 13K Chinese Waterstone I obtained from Woodworkers Warehouse here in Mass. It was pretty flat to start, and does a nice job finishing and polishing an edge. I use it after a Norton 4k/8k pyramid, and it seems to finish nicely. I sometimes use Barber stones to finish the edge - I like my "Velvet" stone the best for that!

Good luckl! Experiment and collect a whole arsenal of sharpening paraphernalia - it only enhances the experience, and the art!

Well, I took some vacation time this week so I spent part of the day at the cigar shop. On the way home I stopped by WoodCraft to look for the stone again. He did have 2, one of each size. I dont think he even knew he had them.

When I got home I lapped it with a 320 diamond plate and plopped it in some water. I got out 3 razors. A Harner, Williams and Chandler. I back tracked a little on the hones to start from a fresh edge. I gave them 50 passes on the Japanese 8K with a light slurry. Then another 50 with no slurry. A close look at the bevel and you can still see the frosted edge from the stone.

I got out the 12K and started with 50 passes on my favorite Chandler. Not much of a change. Another 50 and and I could see a difference but not as much as I wanted so it got another 50. So i had 150 passes on the polish stone. It had a noticeably more polished bevel. I gave the Williams and Harner the same treatment.

After that they got 20 passes on a 0.5 micron chrome ox strop and another 80 on leather. Now they wont get a shave test till tomorrow but a cursory pass on the arm reviled two things. The Chandler realized a big improvement. The blade glided with no harsh edge feel. The Williams and Harner did not change as much.

So as with most things, you mileage may vary. The Harner and Williams had no issue to begin with, the Chandler was a little scratchy. The Chandler has a noticeable improvement, the others not so much but they did not have a problem to begin with. So if you have a problematic blade, going to the 12k could fix it. I will probably stick with the Japanese 8K and chrome ox but if it is still a little rough then it will get the 12k Chinese. Worth the $35. I used it with no slurry other than what comes up during the passes.

The C12k is worth it. Nice polisher. May take a little longer, but that's ok with me...the whole process is kinda my "relaxation time" anyway

I can't speak for the Naniwa, never used it. Heard it works a little faster, but to me, it's not worth the extra cost. Just my $.02.

Have you tried felt pad for removing the wire edge? Is it too risky to use with a razor?

Originally Posted by cannonfodder

I am in Woodcraft all the time and have never seen a 12k stone. The finest thing they have is a Japanese 8K which is a micron or more finer than an 8K Norton (grit vs mesh sizing).

I have problems with a wire edge which does not happen often but I have had issues with it lately on some new custom razors. I have been getting perfictly good edges off the 8K norton and 0.5 chrom Ox with old sheffield and german blades. The harder steel in the Chandlers and Harners like to wire edge so I go to the japaniese 8K with a light slurry then with no slurry, then CrOx to finish but the edge is stll a bit rough. Edgy or scrapy on the shave.

Anyone know what the micron rateing for the WoodCraft 12K is? My King polish stone is around 1.8-.9 micron. How about a link to it on WC, cant find it on a search.