Cretan Hone

[Wid]

Just wondering if anyone has used one and if so what are your thoughts? Also how much does these cost ?

[gary haywood]

yes i have one and there pritty damm quik. they don't slurry dull at all. i used mine with thick slurry and i removed some chips from s/s dovo . the hone leaves a nice sandblasted scratch pattern no deep scratches , i was able to shave arm hair easily and move to coticule.. cost aprox 40 euro's

regards gary

[Hammertime1]

I got mine early on before he was selling em on the Artisanshaving forum so not sure what current prices are. I know Emmanuel is very good people. I love mine, it is my first hone followed by a coit and I'm done fast. I have lots of other hones to play with but that has become my fav setup. its pita to get slurry. They have some very good trips n tricks listed to get em to slurry more. I haven't even tired to get a heavy slurry yet. Just a little has gotten the job done for me. But I haven't tired to remove chips n such yet. I have a few project razors with chips. I just haven't gotten around to getting em yet. That will be the final test for me with the Cretan hone.

[Gamma]

8" stone runs about 60.
Should be lapped dry, not wet, start on 50 or 100x.
Stone worked best for me after soaking. There were many distractions in the surface, cracks and what appeared to be inclusions, but they did not have a negative affect.
Not fast and not painfully slow either. I didnt enjoy the feel/feedback so I sold it.
Good stone though - worth the wait for one and the price is good.

[linguist]

i have a high density cretan hone my estimation is between 12-18k. Grece has sent these kind of stones to swiss. it is wonderful as a finishing hone.

[Gerry_]

I got mine early on before he was selling em on the Artisanshaving forum so not sure what current prices are. I know Emmanuel is very good people. I love mine, it is my first hone followed by a coit and I'm done fast. I have lots of other hones to play with but that has become my fav setup. its pita to get slurry. They have some very good trips n tricks listed to get em to slurry more. I haven't even tired to get a heavy slurry yet. Just a little has gotten the job done for me. But I haven't tired to remove chips n such yet. I have a few project razors with chips. I just haven't gotten around to getting em yet. That will be the final test for me with the Cretan hone.

Now I first have to say I am a novice when it comes to honing so I'm no expert whatsoever but I think the Cretan hone is a great addittion to anyones setup especially if you already have a good finisher. I got mine from Emmanuel who very kindly sent me one all the way from Greece for a nominal fee. Setting a bevel on this stone is quick and pretty easy. However like Hammertime1 I find it very difficult to create a slurry on my stone using the slurry stone, maybe my slurry stone is not coarse enough but what I did was to use some sandpaper when lapping the stone dry and kept the dust that came off to use as slurry. When I want to use the stone I toss some of the slurry dust onto the wet stone and work it into a slurry with the slurry stone, this works better for me. I know the slurry issue I have is not typical of these stones as I have watched a video of AlaskaRicks setting a bevel using a cretan and he created a nice heavy slurry in about 30 secs. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ijNE...layer_embedded).