Thread: Honing with a Chinese 12k

Ok so I about to take the plunge into the world of honing.
I am going to start off by trying to refresh the edge on my vintage Sheffield straight which had been previously made shave ready for me.

The blade is starting to snag and cause some irritation. It haas been stropped as recommended and it remained usable for about 6 weeks so I think my stropping technique is sound. I tried a pasted strop with chrome oxide, which gave some improvement but not much.

I have read the wiki & watched the videos. I will be using a Chinese 12k Hone which has been lapped, I was wondering approximately how many passes on the stone will I need to make or is it a case of try 10 and see what it shaves like?

Will I need to tape the spine or is this personal preference. Having read the forums the jury seems to be out on this one.

I do have another Sheffield straight that has just been made shave ready to compare it against.

Any adive before I take the plunge would be appreciated.

If your razor was previously honed with a tape on the spine then you have to use tape with C12K as well. Otherwise you wont reach the cutting edge but only sides of it.
IMHO C12K is a slow cutter. I usually make about 30-50 strokes with slurry and 30-50 with water only. Try to find the amount of strokes that works best for you.

Here is a link you may find useful
http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...nese-hone.html

Just contacted the honemeister who confirmed that he taped the spine when honing.
Thanks for the advice on that one.

Will read the link again shortly.

Ok.

Have just taped up the spine and honed the razor on the 12k.

Did about 20 laps & tried the HHT, nothing, although would shave arm hair.

Probably ended up doing another 50 laps in total and decided to stop there. Did 50 laps on linen & 100 on leather, then went and used it to shave with.

Probably slightly better than when I started, although still felt like it was snagging.

Do you think I should do more laps on the 12k or try pasted strop with chrome oxide or both.

Any ideas please

With just water, you are looking at 100ish strokes probably.

Originally Posted by Craig101

Ok.

Have just taped up the spine and honed the razor on the 12k.

Did about 20 laps & tried the HHT, nothing, although would shave arm hair.

Probably ended up doing another 50 laps in total and decided to stop there. Did 50 laps on linen & 100 on leather, then went and used it to shave with.

Probably slightly better than when I started, although still felt like it was snagging.

Do you think I should do more laps on the 12k or try pasted strop with chrome oxide or both.

Any ideas please