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Top-notch bevel-setting stone and one almost as good

I had this question a few months back. It has a lot of great insights from experienced honers here.


 
Define bevel setter.
What are you expecting it to do?


If I might be allowed to be even more facetious than normal, I might venture that ‘set a bevel’ could be the answer to this q... ;).

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OP - tbh any synth from about 700 up to about 3k should do you fine I imagine. It’s less about the stone, more about knowing when you’ve done it right.
 
If I might be allowed to be even more facetious than normal, I might venture that ‘set a bevel’ could be the answer to this q... ;).

- - -

OP - tbh any synth from about 700 up to about 3k should do you fine I imagine. It’s less about the stone, more about knowing when you’ve done it right.
I deserved that one:)
I just feel like the term means different things to different people. For me setting the bevel is a one shot deal, and the bevel is from the apex to the end of the hone mark on the spine. Resetting the bevel is like changing the engine of your car. It should not need to be done if all you need is an oil change. I guess the OP already knew that. It just seems like that 1k green brick is default solution for every honing situation. At least on youtube:)
Ok. Back to the subject. Sorry.
I guess you answered the question in your post.

A 1k-2k Sharpton GS seven, if you can get by with a smaller stone is quite budget friendly in my opinion.
 

Legion

Staff member
King 1200 is what I’d get.

Or a coticule, and kill all the birds with one stone (as it were).
Originally I used a king 800, then I changed to a fast coti with slurry. A DMT will get it done in no time. Many ways to skin a cat.

On an easy blade the coti is a good choice because it can set the edge, and can then refine it, removing the need for several other hones.
 
I have two cotis, one a vintage, I use the non vintage for bevel settings. The first stone I bought was the king 1000/6000 which I also use a lot when setting bevels, which is not an expensive stone. On the cheap options, I bought a 4000/8000 stone from the auction site which surprised me how good it was, so I also went back and bought a 400/800 stone which has come in handy. They also have a 1000 stone which I have not got, but they were seven pounds each with free postage, so there are stones about if you want to take a gamble on, though not saying that they will all give results 🙂
 
Originally I used a king 800, then I changed to a fast coti with slurry. A DMT will get it done in no time. Many ways to skin a cat.

On an easy blade the coti is a good choice because it can set the edge, and can then refine it, removing the need for several other hones.
Agree, you may pay out a few pounds more for a coti, but you can take a blunt razor to shave ready without forking out for multiple stones.
 
I deserved that one:)
I just feel like the term means different things to different people. For me setting the bevel is a one shot deal, and the bevel is from the apex to the end of the hone mark on the spine. Resetting the bevel is like changing the engine of your car. It should not need to be done if all you need is an oil change. I guess the OP already knew that. It just seems like that 1k green brick is default solution for every honing situation. At least on youtube:)
Ok. Back to the subject. Sorry.
I guess you answered the question in your post.

A 1k-2k Sharpton GS seven, if you can get by with a smaller stone is quite budget friendly in my opinion.


It was a cheap shot admittedly, but I couldn't resist ;).

(Though as you intuited - I was also interested to understand what you meant by the q. So thank you for explaining further!)
 
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King, Matsunaga is one of the oldest well respected synthetic stone manufactures in the world. You cannot beat the 800 -1200 stones for bevel setting razors. And they are about $20.

Bevel setting is about grinding. Grind a bevel flat, in the proper bevel angle and get them to meet at a straight edge. How you get there does not matter, how the stone “feels” does not matter.

You will not be shaving off that stone, so all that matters is. does it do the 3 things above well? You can spend 5 times as much and get exactly the same performance.

You do not want,” one that's on the bargain list that will do it almost as well”. You want the bevel fully set. For $20, why would you buy anything else?

The stone does not need to be soaked, a quick dunk and a squirt bottle in place of a spray bottle and it is good to go.

A King 1k/6k combo stone is $27, then all you need is a finisher.

I own most all the big name 1k stones, a King 1k is the bevel setter, I use most. Spend your money on your finisher. 8k Snow White, Fuji, Jnat or Ark.
 
I agree, but you need to tell me where you can get a budget friendly one:)
I got mine from AC. It's pretty small but it eats steel and it pretty dang fine for a coticule. I wish I would have bought it first instead of wading through several medicore ones first. I don't think it was insanely expensive. I'd email them, if you get a bout it'll be cheaper. I was surprised I could raise a burr on a coticule, especially a big burr with hard plane iron steel.
 
I got mine from AC. It's pretty small but it eats steel and it pretty dang fine for a coticule. I wish I would have bought it first instead of wading through several medicore ones first. I don't think it was insanely expensive. I'd email them, if you get a bout it'll be cheaper. I was surprised I could raise a burr on a coticule, especially a big burr with hard plane iron steel.
I already have three Lest Lat Coticules. The next one is always better, right:)
One of them is almost as fast as a lower grit synthetic, even on just water. So, yes they can be a nice bevel setter option, but they can be hard to find. I have one that is not as fast, but much finer. They are on the pricy side in my opinion, but i guess if you have a good vendor you can work with it is probably a good option.
 
King, Matsunaga is one of the oldest well respected synthetic stone manufactures in the world. You cannot beat the 800 -1200 stones for bevel setting razors. And they are about $20.

Bevel setting is about grinding. Grind a bevel flat, in the proper bevel angle and get them to meet at a straight edge. How you get there does not matter, how the stone “feels” does not matter.

You will not be shaving off that stone, so all that matters is. does it do the 3 things above well? You can spend 5 times as much and get exactly the same performance.

You do not want,” one that's on the bargain list that will do it almost as well”. You want the bevel fully set. For $20, why would you buy anything else?

The stone does not need to be soaked, a quick dunk and a squirt bottle in place of a spray bottle and it is good to go.

A King 1k/6k combo stone is $27, then all you need is a finisher.

I own most all the big name 1k stones, a King 1k is the bevel setter, I use most. Spend your money on your finisher. 8k Snow White, Fuji, Jnat or Ark.
I agree, but some stones do seem to leave more random deeper striations that are difficult to remove. Most of my edge issues can be traced back to deeper random striation left by a coarser stone. Maybe it is just my OCD, but if i can avoid it i prefer a stone that has a more uniform grit distribution and a relatively hard stone to set the bevel.
It is the same reason i do not like diamonds. Even if the striation are gone, there seem to be more damage deeper inn the steel that show up during finishing.
 
The bottom line is. I defy anyone to blind shave test a properly Jnat or Ark finished razor with a bevel set on a King 800, and the same razor bevel set on the most expensive 1k. and tell one from the other.

I bevel set on a King 1k, remove all the 1k stria easily with a King 6k, near mirror polish with an 8k Snow White, maybe 20 laps and finish on a Jnat or Ark.

Removing 1k stria is a non-issue.
 
The bottom line is. I defy anyone to blind shave test a properly Jnat or Ark finished razor with a bevel set on a King 800, and the same razor bevel set on the most expensive 1k. and tell one from the other.

I bevel set on a King 1k, remove all the 1k stria easily with a King 6k, near mirror polish with an 8k Snow White, maybe 20 laps and finish on a Jnat or Ark.

Removing 1k stria is a non-issue.
I agree with the king combo, it does what you say for a very decent price
 
I already have three Lest Lat Coticules. The next one is always better, right:)
One of them is almost as fast as a lower grit synthetic, even on just water. So, yes they can be a nice bevel setter option, but they can be hard to find. I have one that is not as fast, but much finer. They are on the pricy side in my opinion, but i guess if you have a good vendor you can work with it is probably a good option.
I guess I got lucky with the first one I bought it's both fast and fine enough for me to shave off of. Yeah they are pricey but if I can sell 3 coticules in place of it....
 
Good stuff in the old thread for sure, helped prime the pump for my own thoughts.

My main experience is knives, but I’ve been happy with my results with razors so far.

In my mind, there are two goals for setting a razor bevel.
1. leaves your bevel flat as possible
2. raises as little burr as possible

If #1 isn’t true, then you need your medium and fine stones to “grind through” the convex part of the bevel before you’re hitting the apex.

If #2 isn’t true, then you need to debur for longer, probably leaving a ragged edge, go back to the bevel setter to clean it up, debur again …. takes time. If you leave a bunch of burr at this stage, setting up a clean, refined apex on a finisher is a real chore.

All this leads me to Arks. For the amount of steel removal you need to do, a dead-nutz flat washita or even cheapo soft Ark accomplishes both goals. Slower grinding than waterstones, but not necessarily slower for the overall process.

Last, I haven’t been talking damage repair and reshaping a frown, that’s a different ball of wax. For visible nicks, grab a 500+ grit waterstone, grab a beer…

I swear I’m not a 75 year old man in a rocker who smells of diesel but “here’s my full Ark progression”. Restored a flea-market razor while I was on the road and didn’t have my usual soakers I like for knives. Went much easier than I thought, left a clean edge that’s easy to refine with other finishers.

…not that there’s anything wrong with that…

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