Looks kinda like a synthetic bbw
chinesse cheap sharpenning stones, works? for a beginner?
- Thread starter camilorosso
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For coarse stones just buy some loose grit and have at it on anything flat - glass, metal, mdf, etc. (soft materials still work, within reason as the grit beds into it and cuts the harder stone)
Back to the OP, the stones are better than they could be as they do work, and will give a usable edge, but they’re not much fun to use. I picked up a set to see if I could recommend to friends as gateway stones, and they were kinda good enough that if I went round and they wanted a knife sharpened I’d be ok to use it, but would wish they’d said so I could have brought a better stone.
Soft, low abrasive volume, smaller size, as others have said- but better than having to use a garden brick, a roof slate and the inside of a cereal box smeared with toothpaste (which I’ve done when no better alternatives available- needs must)
Back to the OP, the stones are better than they could be as they do work, and will give a usable edge, but they’re not much fun to use. I picked up a set to see if I could recommend to friends as gateway stones, and they were kinda good enough that if I went round and they wanted a knife sharpened I’d be ok to use it, but would wish they’d said so I could have brought a better stone.
Soft, low abrasive volume, smaller size, as others have said- but better than having to use a garden brick, a roof slate and the inside of a cereal box smeared with toothpaste (which I’ve done when no better alternatives available- needs must)
I've never tried one of these before, sound interesting. And I love the funky colour!
Though I've always been slightly put off by the marketing... rubies are effectively made out of corundum, the same abrasive used in most synthetic stones. While 'Sintered' and 'Vitrified' seem to get used interchangeably by people making and selling whetstones. So my guess would be that something like this would be basically the same as if you had a 3k India stone...?
(Which obviously is no bad thing, cos India stones are great!)
GeneParmesan
Well-Known Member
@stringer
What do you mean by a bbw?
@cotedupy
Don't know how they are made. But the stone I have feels much denser then any other stone that I have. So maybe they didn't completely lie about the sintering aspect.
Personally I had the hope the stone was made out of the same material as the 'Sieger Long Life Sinter Rubin Stab'.
What are these 3k Indian stones? I am interested.
What do you mean by a bbw?
@cotedupy
Don't know how they are made. But the stone I have feels much denser then any other stone that I have. So maybe they didn't completely lie about the sintering aspect.
Personally I had the hope the stone was made out of the same material as the 'Sieger Long Life Sinter Rubin Stab'.
What are these 3k Indian stones? I am interested.
Belgian blue whetstone. A close cousin to the coticule. The look of the texture (at least over the internets) reminds me of a bbw. Except red instead of blue obviously.
BillHanna
Gotta get ready for ARM
On one hand, I’m like “these fools got me looking to spend cash on every stone someone might have used to get sharp”; but on the other hand, all the money I’ve spent on stones still wouldn’t get me an oochie coochie marisa tomei urban hang suita or whatever they’re called.
Unless @SolidSnake03 sold one for 69.42USD
Unless @SolidSnake03 sold one for 69.42USD
Yep I imagine your one is sintered/vitrified, the way you describe it sounds very much like how they are.
India stones are a kind of vitrified Aluminium Oxide / Corundum stone made by Norton Abrasives. Very heavy, very hard-wearing stones, that abrade very well. Though they don't make them as high as 3k, which is why I said I thought your one sounded interesting, and that it might be similar to what one would be like if they did.
gc0220
Banned
In my experience, they are not. I purchased some of these from Amazon under the "Amazon basics" label no less. Meaning it's an Amazon branded product, sold and shipped by Amazon itself of course. The grit on the "8000" was more like 800. Same for the others. For the record, I have a pretty big collection of stones which includes rather pricy items like the 10k chosera but also including some cheap crap like that just to mess with it.
In my opinion, even at $20 these products really aren't worth purchasing. They do work. They do cut very fast. Also dish very fast of course. They need a proper soak, probably 15 minutes at least, before they're ready to be used and will of course make a big old mess as they dish out, and they will dish out immediately. Which is good and bad, it's also why they cut so fast and some of them even provide good feedback. One thing is for sure, the so called grit ratings are a total crapshoot. 3000 is more like a lumpy 300 and the 8000 is literally 800 grit at best.
If you want a proper soaking stone, I suggest, get a Suhero Cerax 1k and call it a day. You can grab a 1k/6k or 1k/3k combo stone from legit resellers on amazon for like $40. Is it worth double the price? Yes. Now you will own an excellent soaking stone combo, and all you'd ever need to maintain pretty much any knife. I really like this product. I also really like the Naniwa traditional line of soaking stones. Either are readily available and excellent choices for a soaking stone.
I think your best bet for a stone to learn on would be something like the 2k shapton pro. I realize it's not super cheap, I guess. It's a much harder splash and go stone that could easily serve as the only stone you'd need. In my opinion it's the best stone in the entire shapton pro line. 3 best shapton pro stones in my experience, only ones you'd need. 320, 2000, either the 8k or the 12k. Both the 1000 and the 1500 sharpening stones are okay too, consider them like course, medium and fine, within the range of a sharpening stone (800-2000 grit). The 320 is great cuz a hard stone like that is a welcome and quite useful thing at a course grit like 320. The 5000 I'm not a big fan of. You're better off with the 8k or the 12k in my opinion. You don't need both, just pick one. 12k is pretty close to 1 micron and I love using this stone to quickly touch up all of my carbon steel blades. I rarely use this for stainless steels but if you have immaculate technique and can execute it it does work. I just prefer to use the much faster cutting, more aggressive cutting, which is a better fit for most stainless, and also imho much better feedback of my shapton glass stones. The glass stones are in my opinion the best splash and go stones on the market bar none. The nanohone, which honestly seems like it's basically just a rebranded shapton glass, is similar. Anyway, I rant on, but a 2k shapton pro is an excellent one and done choice which will cut anything and lasts forever.
Of course if you're not concerned with the price, I've seen 1k choseras on Amazon for like $60. I've seen the 3k on there, which kinda a weird in between grit but a very popular stone for whatever reason, for $80. These are great because they have the vibe of a soaking stone, but they perform basically on the level of a slightly more gentle shapton glass. The gentleness is a pro and con, probably a pro for carbon steel knives and razors and con for harder more wear resistent stainless stuff. The 800k/3000k combo some people promote is a decent way to go for sure. Personally, I'd go 1k or 2k and 5k or 10k. But that's just my preference. I have the 1k, 3k and 10k from this line. Do not soak these stones, even though they seem to take a decent amount of water, you will wreck them if you soak it.
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