King 1k variants

Hi all,

Due to (much appreciated) advice I'm on the hunt for a king 1k.

I've noticed about 5 different box designs and colours for the 1k stone as well as sizes.

Common sizes seem to be about 50mm wide and 70mm wide.

In my mind I'd rather spend a touch more and get the wider stone.

Are they all pretty much the same thing but just different packaging and dimensions?

Thanks, Rob

If they're all 1k: they're all pretty much the same.

I opted for the large brick. My local shop had the 1200 brick on hand. There wasn't much price delta between the brick and the thinner one on the stand. I would get a wider one if the price is negligible.

If your budget allows there are much faster and better (imo ) stones. For heavy work I think you will come up short. If your maintaining a few razors I think you will be fine though. I would get the wider stone.

The home stone version is harder and IME faster than the brick. A much smaller stone but can be found for under $20.

Thank you all. What I needed to hear. Just maintaining a small handful of straights (so far).

;-)

I've only ever tried the 1k King 'red brick' - worked fine for me, price was real nice too.

One variant that merits consideration IMO is a 1k/3k Suehiro combo. Really a great double whammy for the price, setting things up nicely for natural stones afterwards.

I've got a 1k brick I'm pretty sure is the King. It's pretty unimpressive in my opinion. The edge it leaves is worse than off my 600 DMT, damn near worse than off my 220. The particle size is laughably inconsistent.

Yeah I must have a real good one ... Mine is the king deluxe 1k... I have a chosera, norton and dmts... The king is still my favorite to use

Heespharm said:

Yeah I must have a real good one ... Mine is the king deluxe 1k... I have a chosera, norton and dmts... The king is still my favorite to use

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Ive used all of those and the king was my least favorite! Just goes to show how variable everyone is.

SliceOfLife said:

I've got a 1k brick I'm pretty sure is the King. It's pretty unimpressive in my opinion. The edge it leaves is worse than off my 600 DMT, damn near worse than off my 220. The particle size is laughably inconsistent.

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Could be a turd King, or something else. I think that form factor is common for the lower grit stones.
I was moderately bothered with the drying time and lack of speed. Worked well, just slow, took over a week to dry. I think thats why a lot of guys keep them wet. Consistency wise, it was on par with the Norton, but I cant say I liked either the King or Norton 1ks better. The Nani SS was better with that, and a bit faster and more consistent.
The main thing i found with the king was that it was best totally soaked, seems harder or something when fully saturated. Its alwYs a muddy stone though, so finishing the bevel meant clearing the stone diligently; otherwise I was just running the edge head first into too much slurry and final refinement was impossible.
To compare to Chosera stones, its markedly less 'fine' than a 1k - oddly though, the cutting isnt all that harsh and it cleaned up easily enough. Norton 4k followed it perfectly.
King Brick - Impressive ? no, functional - for me, yes.
For 20 USD delivered I had a bevel setter that would theoretically last a lifetime. I cut a boatload of fine bevels with it. The main reason I sold it was that the feedback was so starkly different than everything else, I never warmed up to it.
If I wasnt so fussy about stuff like that I could save a lot of coin and shave nust as well.
Every stone has liabilities, no stone is perfect. I love the C1k but no one needs to drop 100 bux to hone a bevel.

buca3152 said:

Ive used all of those and the king was my least favorite! Just goes to show how variable everyone is.

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That's an important point and why I'm OK to try the king. Will see how I go with it. It's cheap and if it performs well for me then great. If not, the hunt begins.

Yeah, the thing takes about a half hour to soak and it can still be thirsty afterwards. It's actually interesting watching the soaking water fizz like a soda for that long, it's like, where was all that air hiding? And yeah, Muddy is about the perfect description. I take old sheffield wedges to it when I'm mad at them and want them to suffer because frankly, it's not gonna make their bevels any worse.

I keep my soaked 24/7... It's in a Tupperware with enough water to cover it... A 1/2 cap of bleach in the water to prevent mildew... Then rinse before use and go for it

I'm getting ready to try one, it's still drinking lol

Gave it a shot, not to bad. Certainly no worst than I recall the Norton 1K being. It doesn't leave as nice an edge (scratch pattern) as the Chosera 1K but it's a stone that's capable of setting a good bevel.

Reminds me a lot of my 1k india, crystolon, et al.
They work, but I can't find a reason to use them when stones so vastly superior are made these days.

It's a good stone if budget is tight

Wid said:

It's a good stone if budget is tight

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This.

Is it better (easier to refine from) than a DMT 1200?