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  • PorkButtsNTaters666
    5·
    1 year ago

    Reposting, because I managed to get the original at the very end of last week’s question thread:

    I aquired two stones from a Chinese stone brand, Proyan, a 1k and a 6k. I had heard good things about the brand, so I wanted to give it a try. I spent about half an hour on the 1k, and both djundjila’s Styropor beans and a cherry tomato are completely unimpressed by the edge. I am wondering if I suck completely at honing (definitely a possibility), or whether maybe the stone does not have the granulometry it is supposed to have.

    The stone feels smooth to the touch (but that may be because my fingers spend too much time honing: Edit: today I feel some structure). I only have a Shapton 12k and the other Proyan to compare (which feels less smooth IMO). How should a 1k synthetic stone feel? Or how could I find out whether it is indeed a 1k or not?

    • gcgallant
      3·
      1 year ago

      I suggest you make sure the stone is flat, start with a thin slurry on the stone, and use the sharpie trick to see where you are, and aren’t, abrading metal.

      wondering if I suck completely at honing

      I have 15 years experience freehand sharpening knives of all types (and scissors, chisels, planes, etc.) on water stones and about a year and a half of focus on sharpening razors (which are much easier, btw). And, I have taught people how to sharpen. Even though it’s just rubbing metal on a rock, there’s feel and nuance to sharpening on stones that only comes with experience that can’t be conveyed on a YouTube video. With some patience and practice, I think it is a very approachable skill that most people can do well.

    • djundjilaMA
      2·
      1 year ago

      I’m not an expert on this question at all, but I think it’s worth mentioning that the 3k and the 10k sides of my naniwa combination stone feel the same. You wouldn’t easily know which is which by touch alone.

      You feel a big difference when honing, though, and the coarser stone produces black steel particles (unsurprisingly) much more quickly.

      I spent about half an hour on the 1k, and both djundjila’s Styropor beans and a cherry tomato are completely unimpressed by the edge

      This doesn’t feel right. I don’t think you should need more than 3 to 5 minutes on the coarse stone to feel a big difference, if the geometry is right. Are you sure your some is reaching the apex of the blade? Maybe the previous honer set the bevel with a tape over the spine?

      • PorkButtsNTaters666
        2·
        1 year ago

        I was the previous honer on a 12k Shapton, and I used a tape. I used also a tape on the 1k. I got abrasion, but it wasn’t black, rather gray.

        • djundjilaMA
          2·
          1 year ago

          Ok, i think you need the paint the edge with an edding/sharpie, whatever, and check whether the stone even reached the edge, and take it from there