Combo Stone for my next trip: Cerax #280/#1500?

[DitmasPork]

Any thoughts on the Cerax #280/#1500?

Here's my situ—going on trip to visit my parents in April, mom wants me to sharpen her knives ('cause I'm cheaper than sending them out to a sharpener). She has cheap-ish stainless—dull Original Mac, etc.

Typically I travel with a Shapton Pro 1.5k to tend to the knives in my travel kit, but her knives need a rough grit to start with—so I figured a combo would be the way to go.

Any insights, suggestions appreciated—the Cerax is a soaker, I'd prefer a splash 'n' go TBH.

Below, a couple of mom's knives, plus my late aunt's sharpening stone that I keep on the counter for inspiration.

 

[labor of love]

I’ve reset the edge on over a hundred house knives by this point with the cerax 320 and it’s pretty quick and relatively painless

 

[Cliff]

I like SG320 and 2K in a SP box for this kind of situation.

 

[DitmasPork]

I was seriously looking at that—but feeing cheap. Do two SG fit in the plastic SP box?

 

[M1k3]

Glass 220 and 1k or 2k plus a box from the pro line. Both stones fit inside AND you get a stone case.

BUT WAIT!

THAT'S NOT ALL!!

You also get a stone holder.

 

[cotedupy]

The Cerax 1.5k is a glorious, glorious stone. Right up there with the SG500, King 800, and Ouka in: The Greatest Hits of Japanese Synthetic Waterstones.*


* As chosen by me.

 

[M1k3]

@DitmasPork

 

[Cliff]

Exactly. It is a little expensive for one trip, but if you like to travel, I think it's hard to find a better solution -- maybe a lone Belgian Blue?

 

[DitmasPork]

@M1k3 Cheers, good food for thought—that's the same blue case I have for my SP1.5k, and I already have a SG500.
@Cliff I actually travel with my knife roll quite often; I'm unfamiliar with Belgian Blue, they appear to be too fine a grit for my purposes, need a lower grit to aggressively remove metal.

 

[Cliff]

If you already have the case and a SG500, adding a finer stone isn't so bad. This is what I would do.

Belgian Blue is quite versatile. It can move metal pretty effectively and is a good travel stone, but not so much for your application.

 

[DitmasPork]

@Cliff Cheers, dunno why I can't see what's right under my nose!
Thinking I'll just take the SG500 along with my SP1.5k as a cheap, portable option of what I already have—and both are S&G.
the SG500 probably not as aggressive as I wanted, but this'll save me some money.

 

[SirCutAlot]

DMT coarse Credit Card size in my wallet every time. no need for more refinement.

SirCutALot

 

[Se1ryu]

Suehiro RE-153 300/1500 is a plash and go

 

[DitmasPork]

Suehiro RE-153 300/1500 is a plash and go

Cheers! Lotta good options, I’ll probably end up going SG500/SP1.5k, …or if I feel flush, the Cerax 280/1.5k combo (yeah, I know it’s a soaker).

 

[Se1ryu]

Cheers! Lotta good options, I’ll probably end up going SG500/SP1.5k, …or if I feel flush, the Cerax 280/1.5k combo (yeah, I know it’s a soaker).

Yup cerax need to be soaked in water ,RE-153 s a true splash and go.

 

[Fedusa]

Piggybacking onto OP, is there any downside to a double sided stone other than just having less stone?

For example, the CR-4800 1k/6k won't have an inferior 1k side to the full Cerax 1k stone correct?

I'm aiming for a budget setup and want to get that for my fine to intermediate before a full on polishing stone. Plus I want to try the Cerax to see if I like how it sharpens too.

 

[Choppin]

I recently had a somewhat frustrating experience sharpening trying to sharpen my dad's crappy stainless knives with SG500. Not fast enough. Maybe it's the sharpeners' fault, but they weren't damaged or anything, just dull.

I also hate SG220 for edges (too coarse, although I like it for thinning / repairs). So something in the ˜320 grit range sounds ideal to me for raising a burr in cheap stainless.

On the other hand, the SG500 was very competent in removing chips and sharpening my mom's Mac Superior Santoku. I'm not sure what the steel is like on those older Macs. A SG500 could get the job done. For worse steels, I would go coarser.

 

[DitmasPork]

I recently had a somewhat frustrating experience sharpening trying to sharpen my dad's crappy stainless knives with SG500. Not fast enough. Maybe it's the sharpeners' fault, but they weren't damaged or anything, just dull.

I also hate SG220 for edges (too coarse, although I like it for thinning / repairs). So something in the ˜320 grit range sounds ideal to me for raising a burr in cheap stainless.

On the other hand, the SG500 was very competent in removing chips and sharpening my mom's Mac Superior Santoku. I'm not sure what the steel is like on those older Macs. A SG500 could get the job done. For worse steels, I would go coarser.

What stone do you like for ‘crappy stainless’? Besides Macs, my mom has several very cheap (circa $10) stainless knives that’ll need work. Hence my original attraction towards the Cerax 280/1.5k.

 

[Cliff]

I haven't sharpened those steels, but I love the SG320 to put an edge on a seriously dull knife. It's quite a bit faster than the 500

 

[Choppin]

What stone do you like for ‘crappy stainless’? Besides Macs, my mom has several very cheap (circa $10) stainless knives that’ll need work. Hence my original attraction towards the Cerax 280/1.5k.

honestly I don’t know lol… I’m looking for one right now, preferably S&G and around 300 grit, based on my previous experience.

maybe SG320? easy to travel with and about the same price of a Cerax combi. you get more of the coarse stone and could use another midgrit for finishing

 

[blokey]

Norton crystolon, very coarse and works well on cheap stuff.

 

[Cliff]

Is it good for edges?

 

[blokey]

For the soft stainless yeah, I think @stringer has more experience with them.

 

[DitmasPork]

honestly I don’t know lol… I’m looking for one right now, preferably S&G and around 300 grit, based on my previous experience.

maybe SG320? easy to travel with and about the same price of a Cerax combi. you get more of the coarse stone and could use another midgrit for finishing

Tempted to grab an SG320, which I'd take along with my SP1.5k. ...if not I'll just make do with the SG500.