Thread: Chinese 12k grit waterstone

I received one of these in the post today for touching my edge up.

It seems obvious which side I'm meant to use, but even that has small chips in the surface. They feel smooth to the touch. Is This normal? I bought it from the invisible edge and trust Steve completely not to send an unfit stone. the stone on his website even shows these imperfections. It just seems kind of weird to me as a novice that such an unperfect stone can put a perfect edge on a razor.

Again, I'm aware it's a natural product, I'm just trying to learn and have nothing to compare it against.

Hi, I believe they need lapping with wet n dry paper before use. I'm no authority on such issues, so best wait for somebody wiser than myself to chime in. Ryan

pic's of the stone would be nice so better advice could be given

I decided to give it a use anyway followed by a CrOx pasted strop, and I've brought my razor up really nice and sharp. Of course it remains to be seen if they edge will hold for any duration.

I wasn't accurate in my honing, I was nervous and inconsistent, but I've had a fantastic shave comparable to yesterdays.

I'm going to put my camera on charge and take some photos so you can tell me what you think about the stone. Thanks!

If you hand is unsteady when you hone, then you will likely create some sort of rocking motion across the width of the hone. This will result in the full force of the blade, normally distributed along the entire length of the edge, being concentrated at one point of the edge against the top edge of the hone. This can cause micro-chipping on the edge of your razor.

You can solve this two ways.
1. Hone better!
2. Round over the long corners of your hone so that the transition from the honing surface to the side of the hone is not a sharp corner. You can do this with sandpaper.

With my Chinese 12K, there are parts that feel a little rough, so I use my DMT 325 on it. After I use the lapping stone, the surface feels as smooth as the rest of the stone.