Sharpening on a King again.

Bought a King Deluxe 1200 because the Sigma Select II 1200 was beginning to annoy me more and more. It's like sharpening on coarse sand and after using it for a while my opinion is that the feedback isn't very good to be honest. I also don't believe it's a true 1200 grit stone, it feels much coarser, maybe somewhere in the 800 grit range. The King Deluxe 1200 is a delight to sharpen on in comparison. It's very responsive and lets you know exactly what's going on. It's also a much finer stone so the transition to the Sigma 6000 is smaller. But the best part is the price. At €23 is an unbeatable stone. I can buy 3 Kings for the price of one Sigma 1200.

King deluxe 1000 was the very first stone I ever bought. I've spent lots on other stones but nothing has been able to replace it.

To each his own. Never tried knives on Kings, they are used for doorstops after bad experiences trying to sharpen woodworking tools. Don't stay flat long enough.

I greatly prefer a Bester 1200, but if the King works for you, they are cheap!

Peter

I've never had any problem keeping a King 1200 flat. It's actually very easy to do when you use it to sharpen chisels. I do long strokes on the bevel side over the entire surface of the stone, and circular motion with the back of the chisel at both ends of the stone. That way you are using the back of the chisel to keep the stone flat. I taught this method to some carpenters at a shipyard I used to work at and they went from flattening the stone once every week to once every 5-6 weeks. And that's with 4 guys using the stone.

I also went ahead and ordered the largest 1200. It's a whopping 230x100x80mm in size. That should be enough for years to come. The standard sized one is coming home with me as soon as I get it.

I don't have much prolem keeping king 1k flat but I only sharpen knives and I don't mind lapping.

David

Surprisingly I find myself enjoying King 1200 more now compared to when I first bought it. It was my 2nd stone and I did not like it much back then.
I took it for a spin a month ago(+-) and the feedback is there, cut speed is ok, nice feel and muddy. My finger tips turned black of so much slurry. Requires often flattening, but it's an easy task.

Even though this stone is often regarded as a beginner stepping stone, I think you need to have experience to really appreciate it. It's not a part of my regular progression but $/quality is definitely there.

+1 couldn't be better said.

I don't have as much experience with synthetic stones as most others here but in my opinion the King 1200 is a very nice stone. The combination of feedback, good cutting speed, size and price is hard to beat.

king 1000 has very good feedback, only problem is slow speed and fast dishing.

From what I've heard the 1200 is a completely different animal. Don't know if that's true because I've never used the 1000.

Dave Martell wrote somewhere here that the 1200 is great and the 1000 not so much.

I completely agree with him even though I have no idea who he is. I've always liked the 1200 and it cuts the steel used for my chisels and plane blades fast enough, even A2 and the PM-V11 powder metal steel from Veritas.

Dave M. is Mr. Big.

What about the king polishing stones I got a smaller 4k for about 30 bucks locally (interestingly with hiragana staying the bottom of the stone "does not sharpen") and have been enjoying it. Doesn't hold a candle to rika 5k but a good portable alternative to be sure. Plus it leaves an altogether different edge.

I have the king 6k. Not my favorite but gets the job done.

I have a king 1000 that lives soaking in a third pan on my station and works totally fine for touch ups or a quick strop.

Just out of curiosity, what's the biggest difference between the 1000 and 1200? (besides the obvious)

dwalker said:

I have the king 6k. Not my favorite but gets the job done.

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The 6k with the base was my first polishing stone, I recall not really liking it especially for vg-10 knives it made them run like crazy but in retrospect (and I mean no disrespect to you) it could have been a lack of experience that yielded those runny edges. Though there are these weird dots in the king polishing stones and sometimes I feel like they actually wear at a different rate than the rest of the stone.... The real mystery is the hiragana on mine seems to suggest it's sealed or something on every side except the side that says king 4000 s-3

No offense taken. I am a amateur sharpener at best. I think every stone takes some getting used to. Some more than others. I just started using my first natural finisher and am getting better edges than I've ever been able to achieve before. I can't wait until I actually figure out how to use it to its potential.

PalmRoyale said:

I completely agree with him even though I have no idea who he is....

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Read more, type less.:beer:

800 Grit is the only king I like. Id rather spend $10-30 more per stone and use a better product.

labor of love said:

800 Grit is the only king I like. Id rather spend $10-30 more per stone and use a better product.

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The 1200 is pretty good actually.

Noticed today why I ditched my king 6k... king polishing stones dont like to be soaked it seems, could be my penchant for bleach in the water... My 4k started to fall apart, I could remove abrasive by rubbing with the pad of my finger lol... so dried her out because she's actually a decent little stone for my vg-10 knives.

I brought pics, just for fun.





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labor of love said:

800 Grit is the only king I like. Id rather spend $10-30 more per stone and use a better product.

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King 1200 is $20 @ Amazon + free shipping. Hard to beat deal. And Keep in mind +$30 more comes to 2.5x the cost.

Ive got the king 800 and 1200 in my lineup and they work great for 1084 and 1095 steels.

Ruso said:

King 1200 is $20 @ Amazon + free shipping. Hard to beat deal. And Keep in mind +$30 more comes to 2.5x the cost.

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Sure. The king brand is all about bargain, performance not so much. I've used/owned the 300,800,1k and a finisher(can't remember which one). They're all pretty forgettable due to their slow cutting speed. I like the 800 as a low budget polisher(speed seems fast enough for the purpose).

undoubtedly if I need to do actual work I pull out the bester XD