worst stones you ever tried?

[inferno]

and why?

1 spyderco UF - slow. needs to be used dry to work. not wide enough. not flat from the factory.
almost impossible to flatten (needs sic powder). lots of stray particles that sticks up from the surface from the factory.
too hard to be of any knife use. total pos stone imo.

2 missarkas - its just like a spyderco but now its a god damn soaker instead that takes a week to dry. i mean they work, but not very fun to use.

3 noname 100 grit black sic stone. i use this with water. this stone abrades steel for about 30 seconds then it just makers grinding sounds. i think i would need to push down with 10-15kg or so to make this stone work.

4 green sigma 240. this stone cant hold any water. doesn't matter how long you soak it. every 30 sec or so it feels "dry".
i sealed mine with spray paint and now its better. the scratches are atoma 140 deep. no kidding. need to follow up with another coarse stone which takes extra time. no me gusta!

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name your ****** stones guys. dont hold back. this is free therapy for you.

 

[M1k3]

Naniwa Super Stone 220. Muddy, dishes, cuts slow, dishes, is muddy...

Only redeeming qualities is the scratches are very even and smooth, and removes old, built up patina pretty good.

 

[Iggy]

Standard cheap 1000/3000 Kombistones like you get branded from all the "not so good" knife companies... mine were from Solicut, Linder and Zwilling.

Rubbish...

 

[stringer]

Naniwa Lobster Chemical 4k. The abrasive that gets released sticks to the knife and provides it with a protective shell that prevents any meaningful contact between the stone and the edge making actual abrasion near impossible.

 

[Benuser]

I once had a Sun combination 320/1000. The 1000 was pleasant, a bit creamy, fast. The coarse side whose grit I'm not sure about did exactly nothing but leaving deep scratches without removing any steel, how paradoxical that might sound.

 

[Mr.Wizard]

I think almost every stone has a place unless it's garbage to begin with. This seems to be borne out by the fact that whatever one person hates another likes. The Spyderco Ultra Fine is very popular in some circles for example. I've seen Atoma described as both "the worst diamond plate I've ever used" and "the best diamond plates ever made." So I recommend including how and on what you were using these stones you hate.

I nearly tossed out my Cerax 320 in frustration because it wore so fast while doing so little. However I was misinformed as to the nature of the stone and thought it would be good for thinning and beveling. Now what remains of it sits on a shelf waiting for the day I want to apply a kasumi finish.

 

[user 16756]

I have a very, very hard shobu iromono that, if it can be used to polish knives, requires super expert skill to not basically polish at 2 different grits, one what you'd expect and one about 200 grit -_-

 

[spaceconvoy]

Beston 500, never understood why that used to be a popular stone. Slower than many 1ks and feels like sharpening on a concrete paver. Also the blue nonpareil synth aoto, ludicrously muddy and slow... I guess it's been a while since I bought a bad stone

 

[Rangen]

I agree with Mr. Wizard. No doubt there are stones out there that are just crap. But when think about stones I disliked most, it's mostly a history of me failing to appreciate them.

I have JNats I have never found a use for, but I think I just need to figure out what they are good for, and how to manage them. A couple of them are probably really really good.

I owned a 6000 Naniwa diamond stone for decades. I had put it aside because it seemed to barely do anything. Now I know that it just glazes easily; if I go over the surface often, it's actually wonderful to sharpen on, with very good feedback for a diamond stone.

I have a Jasper stone that seems to put nasty scratches on my edges, and is sitting unused, but apparently I need to learn a lot more about surface management to use this sort of stone. Someday.

Meanwhile, while I don't use them much, because I have better alternatives for my tasks, I do like my Spydercos, and at one point used them all the time. They are great for pocketknives. I even have the larger version of the UF. I also found them useful for developing my sharpening technique, precisely because they were slow. I could work on my hand and arm placement without doing too much damage. I agree they should come flat.

Update: Actually I do have a stone to nominate here: the King 6000, the yellow stone on the wooden base. Hard and slick and slow...hmmm, maybe that one just needs a glazed surface fixed, too.

 

[Qapla']

I owned a 6000 Naniwa diamond stone for decades. I had put it aside because it seemed to barely do anything. Now I know that it just glazes easily; if I go over the surface often, it's actually wonderful to sharpen on, with very good feedback for a diamond stone.

What constitutes "going over the surface" for a diamond stone? What material do you use?

 

[Rangen]

What constitutes "going over the surface" for a diamond stone? What material do you use?

Naniwa diamond stones actually come with a conditioning stone. I had long ago lost the one that came with the 6000, so I use the one that came with the 3000, under running water.

I sometimes use a Nanohone NL-10, which can be used with resin-bonded diamond stones.

Haven't tried silicon carbide powder on glass/granite, but I assume that would work too. You're cutting resin, not diamonds.

 

[M1k3]

I agree with Mr. Wizard. No doubt there are stones out there that are just crap. But when think about stones I disliked most, it's mostly a history of me failing to appreciate them.

I have JNats I have never found a use for, but I think I just need to figure out what they are good for, and how to manage them. A couple of them are probably really really good.

I owned a 6000 Naniwa diamond stone for decades. I had put it aside because it seemed to barely do anything. Now I know that it just glazes easily; if I go over the surface often, it's actually wonderful to sharpen on, with very good feedback for a diamond stone.

I have a Jasper stone that seems to put nasty scratches on my edges, and is sitting unused, but apparently I need to learn a lot more about surface management to use this sort of stone. Someday.

Meanwhile, while I don't use them much, because I have better alternatives for my tasks, I do like my Spydercos, and at one point used them all the time. They are great for pocketknives. I even have the larger version of the UF. I also found them useful for developing my sharpening technique, precisely because they were slow. I could work on my hand and arm placement without doing too much damage. I agree they should come flat.

Update: Actually I do have a stone to nominate here: the King 6000, the yellow stone on the wooden base. Hard and slick and slow...hmmm, maybe that one just needs a glazed surface fixed, too.

Oh yeah! King 6k sucks! Resurfaced or not.

 

[pgugger]

Beston 500, never understood why that used to be a popular stone. Slower than many 1ks and feels like sharpening on a concrete paver.

Yup, I was gonna add this one when I first saw the thread but momentarily had decided to shy away from controversy. Certainly my least favorite of the now large number of stones I have! I agree with your reasons plus it seems to glaze and need flattening fairly often (not the worst) and soaks forever and still drinks.

 

[Jovidah]

Not a ton of experience with different stones, but the cheap Chinese knockoff crap I started out with were definitly the worst. Grits were...well... advertised amibitously, the feel was atrocious on the low grits, while the higher grits were so soft you'd cut into it about as easy as cheese.
Although they sort of tie with the cheap ass Naniwa flattening stones. Those things just clog up and glaze over, and while they start off doing the job reasonable it's sort of like they go 'dull' over time. Really should have just bought an Atoma straight away.

 

[Carl Kotte]

My worst experiences: Ohishi 220. Sg220, sg3000, sg8000.

 

[Ruso]

I never understood the newly appeared hype over shapton glass stones. They are just okay (subjective, obviously) at least the ones I tried.
The worst stone I tried must be $10 stone in hardware store. It concaved 50% during 2 sharpenings.
JNS 1000 SnG (new one), is definitely a disappointment.
Super Stone 5K good for mirror, bad for sharpening. So depends on ones needs.

 

[Carl Kotte]

This is not the appreciation thread, but... for balance, I do love sg320, sg1000 and sg4000.

 

[Rangen]

Oh yeah! King 6k sucks! Resurfaced or not.

I've never, before or since, used a stone with no feedback whatsoever. I never want to use one again.

 

[Rangen]

This is not the appreciation thread, but... for balance, I do love sg320, sg1000 and sg4000.

I was prepared to say that I have Shapton Glass stones from 320 through 30K, and they all seem consistently good to me, and very similar to use, grit aside. (I have the 220, but that one is not similar)

But it turns out that I don't have either the 3K or the 8K. So maybe I dodged a bullet? Or, maybe, if I had them, what seems so obvious to you would escape me.

 

[M1k3]

I've never, before or since, used a stone with no feedback whatsoever. I never want to use one again.

Ignoring the feedback of the stone, it still sucks. Leaves a smooth edge with no bite (my 10k stone leaves more bite). Random small stray scratches when trying to polish. To hard yet soft enough to cut into.. at least it's splash and go enough?

 

[zizirex]

Naniwa Pink 220, Tanaka 150, Naniwa Pro 400, naniwa lobster 150/180.

 

[GorillaGrunt]

Naniwa SS 12k until I realized that it was a soaker and I was using it as a splash and go. Beyond that hard to say, I’d want to say a lot of my beginner stones but I likewise didn’t really know how to use them.

 

[esoo]

Shapton Pro 5000 - super hard with minimal feedback. My higher grits stones responded better.

 

[Michi]

Any of the unbranded el-cheapo two-sided stones that you can buy on Amazon for $20 are terrible. Smaller than a normal stone, much coarser than the nominal grit rating, and they wear away in no time.

The best low-cost stone setup I'm aware of is the King KDS 1000/6000. Good enough to sharpen anything, and the only stone non-sharpening nerds will ever need.

 

[Pie]

Naniwa traditional 220. I may not have tried enough stones to qualify but it’s easily the least pleasant one I own. Scratchy, thirsty, easily gouged and glazes fast. Coarse stones I’ve tried never feel peaceful to use but it’s night and day with SG220.

Naniwa SS 12k until I realized that it was a soaker and I was using it as a splash and go. Beyond that hard to say, I’d want to say a lot of my beginner stones but I likewise didn’t really know how to use them.

Wait, what? Soaker?

 

[M1k3]

Wait, what? Soaker?

It's a resinoid stone. It can be soaked.

 

[NO ChoP!]

Pink Naniwa Superstone 3k. The thing gums up so damn quick. I have the 5k and it doesn't gum up nearly as fast as the 3k; I don't get it.

 

[Pie]

It's a resinoid stone. It can be soaked.

Looks like I’ll be getting an hour less sleep tonight

 

[mrmoves92]

The worst stone that I have used is a $4 two sided coarse aluminum oxide stone that I found at H Mart. It loaded up almost immediately and became pretty useless after.

 

[M1k3]

Pink Naniwa Superstone 3k. The thing gums up so damn quick. I have the 5k and it doesn't gum up nearly as fast as the 3k; I don't get it.

Try soaking it?