Can You Help Me Find This Hone?

1

1SharpGuy

Joined
Jan 16, 2019
Messages
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Hoping this group can help me find this hone (or something very similar). Would prefer something in Canada, if possible.

It's ceramic and quite hard. Doesn't groove or wear out easily. Feels like a very slight abrasive on it - quite worn now though.
Dimensions are approximately 4" x 1-1/4" x 1/8".
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Any thoughts? Thanks in advance for your time.
 
Does that one have a tapered profile, edge to edge? As in one rounded edge a little wider (thicker) than the other? If so, that looks like what's called a 'slip stone'. They're usually used for sharpening curved-profile lathe & carving tools, like gouges. They'd also work well for serrations on some blades.

Don't know if you're looking for another ceramic specifically. But if you search on 'slip stones', you'll likely find some sources for stones like these. Norton makes some in aluminum oxide (their 'India' line), and Norton's parent company, Saint-Gobain, happens to be Canada-based, BTW. Spyderco also makes slip stones in their ceramic line (pic below). Both the Norton product and the Spyderco are in about the same size ballpark as the hones shown in your pics.

51FxNkEGX%2BL._SL1000_.jpg
 
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Hello, thank you for your reply. The stones that I have are not tapered. They are the same thickness throughout (flat bar), but do have that rounded edge on their long edges. I definitely want to stay with ceramic. I appreciate the information.
 
Is it possible that it's some sort of degussit hone? They're sintered ruby grit.
 
If it's a ceramic like the Spydercos then it's a sintered stone, in which case it'd normally be quite expensive and it's possible they were obtained by the seller as some sort of overstock, contract overrun, or clearance item. Or it could just be a vitrified bond ruby stone sort of like my Bull Thistle series of stones just with a very hard bond. Can you see individual grains in it?
 
Just curious, what are you wanting to sharpen with these hones? Depending on the finish desired, edge profile and the steel type, you might not need something quite so pricey as those sintered ruby ceramics. I saw some listings of the ruby degussit hones when searching for these yesterday (though none in the same rounded edge profile), and their price as listed by the vendor made my jaw drop.
 
Just by looking at it, my guess is this is a fused alumina "ruby" hone. Composed mainly of aluminum oxide with a small amount of chromium oxide.

http://www.electroabrasives.com/Products/Pink_-_Ruby_Fused_Alumina/

They are probably very similar to Spyderco ceramic hones, just slightly different composition. As 42 noted, there are also hones made of the same abrasive but with a binder instead of the sintered/fused version like Spydercos.
 
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Thanks for the replies. To answer the questions:
- It is possible they were a clearance/overrun item, because they've been extremely hard to find in the last couple years.
- You can see small grains in them, fairly wide-spread. These grains are still evident around the middle of the stone (which we don't typically use), but we've worn them off the corners.
- We use them to do a final honing pass on hockey blades after sharpening, especially on specialty coated steel that we can't "traditionally" hone with stone. It creates a very keen edge that our players love. Most importantly, they last us a long time and don't groove or wear out.
- I haven't previously resurfaced a stone (perhaps because these last so long for us, and purchasing new is relatively low cost). I will look into this too.

I'm thinking of trying a Spyderco 303F - it looks closest to what we've been using, aside from the colour.
 
Pretty sure that is a synthetic ruby stone. The one I bought from Baronyx looks a LOT like that, even with the rounded edges. It is a very coarse stone.

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Those do not appear to be put together with a binder. I think 42 would agree that they definitely appear to be of the sintered variety. We'd need some better close-up pics or to have them in hand to say for sure though. One giveaway that the hones are pretty fine are the swarf "smears" on the hones just like a Spyderco gets that are composed of such fine particles that they almost appear to be graphite or pencil lead. It may be that they're only loaded. A very fine stone of this variety when loaded does not cut well at all, since it becomes more of a "steel on steel" rubbing situation rather than abrasion.

A first attempt at refreshing these that I would suggest would be cleaning with some powdered Bar Keeper's Friend cleanser. Make a paste with some water and rub it on the hones, letting it sit for a few minutes. Then scrub with something like a Scotch-Brite dish scrubber pad and rinse clean. Should look almost like new afterward. It's important to use BKF specifically as it's the only cleanser I'm aware of that contains oxalic acid. Oxalic acid slightly dissolves the steel on a micro level and loosens it from the hone surface.
 
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Good observations, by eKretz above. Sounds dead-on, in that the dark swarf 'smears' on the hones might be the best clue that they're just loaded up. If they've been used dry, or sometimes even with water, sintered ceramics can still load up very fast, which really slows them down. If it is just loading, the BKF treatment might help with that, as it's oxalic acid will dissolve the iron swarf.

I otherwise think it'd take quite a lot to glaze something as hard & tough as the ruby abrasive. If it's used to sharpen some knives in so-called 'super steels' with high-vanadium content, it could happen. But I'd be surprised if the skate blades were actually in that same high-vanadium ballpark, and the ruby grit should handle them easily.

I've been trying to 'educate' myself on the specifics of sharpening skate blades, by looking at some tutorial videos on the web. Seems like many are just using simple oil stones, like SiC and India stones (even Norton seems to have made a kit specifically for this, including a Crystolon and India stone) and finishing or polishing with natural (Arkansas) stones. So, if those work well, the ruby stones ought to breeze right through the job.
 
Actually the skate blades for hockey skates and figure skates are sharpened differently. Figure skates are usually flat ground. Hockey skates are ground with a slight radius on the bottom so they bite in better in fast hard turns and directional changes. As I recall the radius used is dependent on skater weight.

I think the O.P. is probably using these hones to deburr the corners by honing the sides of the blades after the skates are sharpened.
 
My Bull Thistle stones are ruby grit, but they're vitrified stones, not sintered. A sintered ruby stone in that size and shape would probably cost $200+ :D

Now, there are two kinds of possible grit here--both are technically ruby, but there's "pink" aluminum oxide and then there's "ruby" grit. The difference is largely the amount of chromium added, although there are some other differences as well. Both tend to be most commonly found in fairly coarse grits -- 60-220 if I'm remembering right. Ruby grit is extremely tough and slow-wearing by aluminum oxide standards. Pink is between ruby and sapphire grit in toughness. White is the most friable type.
 
eKretz said:
Actually the skate blades for hockey skates and figure skates are sharpened differently. Figure skates are usually flat ground. Hockey skates are ground with a slight radius on the bottom so they bite in better in fast hard turns and directional changes. As I recall the radius used is dependent on skater weight.

I think the O.P. is probably using these hones to deburr the corners by honing the sides of the blades after the skates are sharpened.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's part of something new I've learned in watching the tutorial videos. The vids I looked at related to speed skating, I think; seems like they're going for a dead-flat bottom with very crisp edges, using special jigs to mount both skates side-by-side, each blade supporting one end of the stone used, so both skates are ground at the same time. I wondered if the OP's hone was the one used for deburring at the end, mentioning it was used for the final pass on the blades. Looks like they run the 'burring' stone flush to each side of each blade and cut the burr off that way.
 
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