Natural-Polishing-Water-Stone?

[James White]

Woodcraft has this
http://www.woodcraft.com/Family/2004...ter-Stone.aspx
Natural Polishing Water Stone for $34 minus the $10 off $20 coupon I had to get one. It looks promising 12,000 Grit! Has anyone tried it yet? What are your thoughts?

James

[Dick Sylvan]

I think my finest stone is 6000 and it leaves a chisel mirror smooth. So, maybe 12000 is overkill, but maybe not!!

[David DeCristoforo]

That looks like "blue stone" which is an "intermediate" grit used before the final polishing stone. Probably "around" 2,000 - 4,000 grit. No way to know exactly with natural stone. A good natural polishing stone would cost much more than thirty or forty bucks.

PS...looked again and the specs claim 12,000 but also say it's a stone from China. Don't know too much about Chinese stones. What the heck, for twenty bucks it would be hard to go wrong...

[James White]

Originally Posted by David DeCristoforo

PS...looked again and the specs claim 12,000 but also say it's a stone from China. Don't know too much about Chinese stones. What the heck, for twenty bucks it would be hard to go wrong...

Hi David,

This was my thinking. I have found a few reviews on the net that were favorable. But those people were using them to finish strait razors. I haven't flattened it yet. But I took one of my Japanese kitchen knives to it and the stone is quite hard. You don't get much of a slurry from the stone and if you press too hard you will dull the knife again. This was just a quick test. As I stated I haven't flattened it yet and did not bring the knife "through the grits". But I was shaving hair with relatively little effort.

James

[Zach Dillinger]

Make sure you have a nagura to make the most of that stone. I bought one in a moment of weakness and I practically never use it. I've heard that the stone is hit or miss, with some being quite fine (maybe close to the stated 12,000 grit) and others have stated it is more like 6000 - 8000 in use. I finish honing on a 6000 grit stone then strop with Noxon metal polish on leather. Ridiculously sharp and cheap in the long run.

[Derek Cohen]

I think that I may have that stone.

About two or three years ago I bought a natural Chinese polishing stone from my local woodstore, Carba-tec. It is a grey-green in colour, exactly like the one in the one at Woodcraft ...



I have never managed to get this stone to work well. I pull it out every now-and-then and try again. It is very, very hard and I have never managed to work up a slurry on it. It leaves a scratch pattern that is difficult to assess - the steel is very hazy .. opaque... nothing that resembles a mirror.

How does the blade work? Chisels cut but I've never thought them the sharpest .. so my guess is around 4000 grit.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[John Guarino]

These $20-30 Chinese polishing stones must vary quite a bit.

I used one for a few years with excellent results. It was smoother than 8000 grit. It polished beautifully on plane blades, chisels, and straight razors at the end of the waterstone sequence. I also used it to polish a set of kitchen knives, although that wasn't necessary -- just me getting carried away with a good stone.

Ultimately I gave it to a returning serviceman who expressed an interest, as it was the least I could do to thank him. It is still dead flat and going strong.

Anyways, great stone in my experience. Sorry to hear others did not get such good results.