Japanese Knives A different kind of diamond stone... feeler

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JBroida

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So, its late and i'm at work sharpening knives... i needed a break from sharpening, and i stated thinking about this. I ordered a few of these a while ago, hoping to sell them at some point. I've also talked about them from time to time on the forums. There are a few things that have been holding me back from selling them- price point (they are expensive... really expensive), mounting (they are not mounted to anything, but need to be before they can be used), free time (i have none).

Anyways, i've been using this stone all night (and quite frankly, its probably my most used stone since early 2012) and thought since i only have a few, there might be a couple people out there interested in trying these out and ok with mounting it themselves (its pretty easy... i've dont it twice now).

So here's the deal... these stones are 200mm x 75mm x 3mm (yup... 3mm... hence the need for mounting on something larger). They are 800 grit diamond stones. But unlike the other diamond stones i have, these are make more like traditional stones. They are porous, need to be soaked (they soak in seconds due to their thinness), feel like a very grippy ceramic stone, are the fastest cutting stones i've ever used (keeping grit range in mind), dish EXTREMELY slowly (i've worn through 2 of the other kind of diamond plates before i wore through one of these), and are just a joy to use. Whenever people try mine in the store, they always say its the best stone they've ever used by far.

I use this stone after my wheel (which leaves very deep 150 grit scratches), but have easily used it after stones as coarse as 80 grit. It can easily clean up scratches from those stones, and prepares your knife for a finishing stone. I tend to follow this one up with a 6k stone (either a gesshin 6k, 6k s, or one of the many other stones i have around here).

Essentially, i use it in place of a ~400 grit stone and ~1000 grit stone, as it does the work of both. I dont use it to thin (and i will explain why in a bit), but i do use it to clean up scratches after thinning. However, i use it for repairs and to speed up sharpening a lot. It works well on both single bevel and double bevel knives (with a very important exception, which i will get into in a second).

So, the one thing i have trouble with on this is that it tends to tear at soft stainless cladding (on both single and double bevel knives. That is not to say you cant use it on them, but its crazy aggressive, and the tactile feedback is significant enough that i feel pretty serious drag over the stone when soft stainless cladding is involved. Soft carbon cladding hasnt been a problem at all, but when i first started using this one, i used too much pressure when cleaning up scratches after thinning a stainless clad vg-10 blade, and the stone ripped a few very small chunks out of the cladding. Like i said, it's aggressive.

Anyways, I have 3 of them, and the run $400 each. Any interest? I'll try to post some pictures soon (both of an unused one and my well used ones).
 
pictures as promised... the left one is mine that is currently in use and mounted on an aluminum base. The right one is the unmounted stone.

3ynNXc.jpg

uR1pts.jpg
 
Do you need/can to flatten it over time?
 
Jon, I understand it is very different from a diamond plate. So it will give you feedback and operate more like a whetstone.

However, what is it like in terms of cutting performance when compared to e.g. and Atoma plate of a similar grit size?
 
Do you need/can to flatten it over time?

you can flatten it, though it is a very slow process. Its also one case where the synthetic flattening stones work better than diamond plates. It does need flattening, but not often. You can see minor dishing on mine, but its been used for 1000+ knives (and often for the brunt of the work).
 
Jon, I understand it is very different from a diamond plate. So it will give you feedback and operate more like a whetstone.

However, what is it like in terms of cutting performance when compared to e.g. and Atoma plate of a similar grit size?

This stone is as fast (if not slightly faster than depending on the steel) my gesshin 400. I havent used an atoma in this grit range in quite a long time to be honest.
 
in doing a lot of sharpening again tonight, this stone, as always did the bulk of the work. I think if i ever sell them, they will be called the Gesshin "Most Badass Stone Ever" 800 grit. Took out high and low spots and 150 grit scratches faster than my 400 stones and nearly as fast as my 220, but doesnt dish as fast as either (in fact, really slow dishing period). I can go from 150 grit to this stone, and finish on a 6k so fast its stupid. Just wanted to throw it out there.
 
Is this different than your diamond 500 grit most awesome stone ever?
 
yeah... better... i stopped using that 500 stone a while back when this one took over as my go to stone
 
This seems like a stone that I've been looking for. But for that price, I would expect it to be mounted. I don't have blocks or the ability to machine something that would make a nice mount for this stone. Maybe consider that as an option as I bet others are in the same boat. That is the only thing holding me back.
 
This seems like a stone that I've been looking for. But for that price, I would expect it to be mounted. I don't have blocks or the ability to machine something that would make a nice mount for this stone. Maybe consider that as an option as I bet others are in the same boat. That is the only thing holding me back.

the first ones i ordered (for myself for testing) were indeed mounted. Having them unmounted is the only thing that allowed me to get the price as low as it is. I had originally intended to mount them here, but we had a couple of customers who wanted them unmounted, and, quite frankly, i dont really have the time to mount tons of stones, so i figured i'd pass the savings along instead of increasing the cost of the stone to include mounting (which would include the cost of the mounting material and my time). Hope this makes sense. For what its worth, the first one of these i ever had made cost me $600.
 
the first ones i ordered (for myself for testing) were indeed mounted. Having them unmounted is the only thing that allowed me to get the price as low as it is. I had originally intended to mount them here, but we had a couple of customers who wanted them unmounted, and, quite frankly, i dont really have the time to mount tons of stones, so i figured i'd pass the savings along instead of increasing the cost of the stone to include mounting (which would include the cost of the mounting material and my time). Hope this makes sense. For what its worth, the first one of these i ever had made cost me $600.

I completely understand. But message me if you change your mind, as I would purchase a mounted version. It seems like a fast stone and doesn't have that nasty sound of a normal diamond stone.
 
I completely understand. But message me if you change your mind, as I would purchase a mounted version. It seems like a fast stone and doesn't have that nasty sound of a normal diamond stone.

honestly, more than anything right now, i just dont have the time. I wish i did, but i really dont. Sorry.
 
I completely understand. But message me if you change your mind, as I would purchase a mounted version. It seems like a fast stone and doesn't have that nasty sound of a normal diamond stone.

I am sure someone here is able to reliably mount it. This is where the community shines.

I would be in the same oat if I was looking for it. I wouldn't trust myself to mount it either.
 
I am sure someone here is able to reliably mount it. This is where the community shines.

I would be in the same oat if I was looking for it. I wouldn't trust myself to mount it either.

there is actually someone online who already offered to do that, as they would be doing it for themselves anyways and are already set up to be able to do it easily.
 
there is actually someone online who already offered to do that, as they would be doing it for themselves anyways and are already set up to be able to do it easily.

Is this person on the forum and willing to offer this service? If so, can you please message me? Or did they want to go through you, Jon and you might consider taking them up on this offer? Just wanting to see if this is a possibility. As I said, I'm interested but also don't have the time or resources to find a mounting block and get it glued on properly.
 
just PM-ed him to see if he is interested and has time. We can continue when i hear back from him.
 
Is this person on the forum and willing to offer this service? If so, can you please message me? Or did they want to go through you, Jon and you might consider taking them up on this offer? Just wanting to see if this is a possibility. As I said, I'm interested but also don't have the time or resources to find a mounting block and get it glued on properly.

Ok... got this all figured out... see your PM's

Also, if anyone else is interested, please let me know.
 
It sounds like this 800 grit diamond stone together with the 6000 one would be all one needs at home. Once I wear out all of my stones I will give you a call :)
 
BUMP... these are the vitrified diamond stones i was talking about... i have a few of them in stock and mounted on glass bases... we're trying to get pictures done this week or next week and get them up for sale.
 
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