Chosera 1K

[blackhhawk]

To anyone who is starting out honing - when deciding what to buy to set bevels, I HIGHLY recommend getting a chosera 1k. When I was purchasing my first stones, I wanted to save money and I bought a King 1k. We all know that no one saves money and you end up wanting more stones, so save yourself the trouble. I also have a DMT 600 which is now broken in a produces a very nice, non jagged looking edge. I can imagine the DMT 1200 would be great. But, don't be skimpy. Setting the bevel is the most important part of honing. The king stone is soft so it needs lapping quite often. Its a very thirsty stone and requires more water constantly.

So if you're on the edge of buying some stones, don't try and save money here. The chosera is more expensive but it's worth it. The king can get the job done but you're just going to buy another stone anyway so save yourself the trouble.

 

[Doc226]

Good advise.

I would also encourage folks to try different "finished" edges from different methods before investing in one. I went the way of synthetics and did not like them, coticules and found them not keen enough for my tastes, other naturals before settling on JNATs. Wish I could have saved some money

 

[blackhhawk]

Very true too. I have 3 coticules right now, as well as a BBW, and me thinks I like JNAT edges better. Not a huge deal, I can sell them very easily, but it would have probably made more sense to try some things first.

 

[buca3152]

Theres only one way to find out what you like. Ya gotta try em all! Cotis deliver a very smooth edge, but as Doc said not sharp enough. My best coti edge is slurry etc 100 laps finished on mineral oil. Nakayama asagi, ozuku asagi, shuobodani all deliver sharp and smooth. Nakayama is the fav. Kouzaki jnat is like a coti IMO unless I havent figured something out. Escher is great very easy, slight slurry or water only, done sharp and smooth, but not jnat sharp. So put JNS on your favorites , no better yet use it as your screensaver. Its fun and its time and money, but I spent more time and money on good scotch and cigars. At least now Im cleanshaven!

 

[jpcwon]

+1 on the Chosera. I have tried King, Norton, naniwa SS and DMT, and the Chosera blows them all out of the water....definitely worth every penny IMHO....

As far as finishing; I did the same thing. Started with synths, moved to coticules, then JNATS, and settled on them for a while. Then I went BACK to synths (with the 20k), sold the 20k, and now I am loving me some Escher & coticule....So yeah, you really have to try different things to see what your face likes. But that doesn't mean you have to BUY these things. There are plenty of us on here that would be willing to hone a razor for someone wanting to try a certain stone's edge.....

 

[blackhhawk]

Like someone else said here, at least the stones are an investment... sort of. I'm not sure how much they actually appreciate in value, but they do hold value. So, if and when the time comes, I could sell and make back my money.

I'm liking the green slurry though on the 1kC. I usually keep a few rags close by and they all turned green last night.

I also had another "ohhhh" moment. I realized I have never truly set a bevel. I've been real close, but I honestly feel like the King was holding me back a bit. It's super soft.

 

[jpcwon]

I also had another "ohhhh" moment. I realized I have never truly set a bevel. I've been real close, but I honestly feel like the King was holding me back a bit. It's super soft.

Yeah, the king is a bit slower/softer than the 1kC. Still fully capable, but you just might have to spend some extra time on it...

Setting bevels NEEDS to be done right. I used to make the mistake of saying that the bevel was "good enough", when in actuality it was not. I used to think I could make up for a half-done bevel as I moved up in grits but you really can't (at that point you're just polishing the sides of the edge and not the edge itself)...If you think that the bevel might be set, it is probably not. You have to be absolutely sure....

 

[blackhhawk]

Yeah, the king is a bit slower/softer than the 1kC. Still fully capable, but you just might have to spend some extra time on it...

Setting bevels NEEDS to be done right. I used to make the mistake of saying that the bevel was "good enough", when in actuality it was not. I used to think I could make up for a half-done bevel as I moved up in grits but you really can't (at that point you're just polishing the sides of the edge and not the edge itself)...If you think that the bevel might be set, it is probably not. You have to be absolutely sure....

I really thought I was doing it right. It wasn't until last night when I went to my JNAT and started honing. I said to myself, "wait a second, this isn't right. The bevel isn't set." So I went back to my 1kC.

Then I really went at it for 20 more minutes before I felt it was done right. I don't know what clicked, but I get it now. It all makes sense. That's when I realized I had never actually set a bevel properly. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to finish up and maybe get a decent edge for the first time.

As a new honer the 1kC is a much better option than the king. It's wider, not as thirsty, and harder. Since the king was so soft, I was worrying about lapping it all the time. I kept having to stop honing to spray it down with more water. It just makes the job a little more difficult in my opinion.

 

[jpcwon]

I really thought I was doing it right. It wasn't until last night when I went to my JNAT and started honing. I said to myself, "wait a second, this isn't right. The bevel isn't set." So I went back to my 1kC.

Then I really went at it for 20 more minutes before I felt it was done right. I don't know what clicked, but I get it now. It all makes sense. That's when I realized I had never actually set a bevel properly. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to finish up and maybe get a decent edge for the first time.

As a new honer the 1kC is a much better option than the king. It's wider, not as thirsty, and harder. Since the king was so soft, I was worrying about lapping it all the time. I kept having to stop honing to spray it down with more water. It just makes the job a little more difficult in my opinion.

That's great!! Yeah once you "get it" (bevel setting), the rest tends to fall into place much easier....