difference between fine and ultrafine stones, help!

eafisher

eafisher

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I'm contemplating adding to my sharpmaker.
I'm curious, is there noticeable difference between the two? Is it for sharper Knives or more of a polish stone? I know Spyderco doesn't make gimmicky stuff but I would appreciate some insight before I make the purchase. Thanks fellow forumites!
 
It polishes the edge to a higher degree, like a "higher grit" if you will. I guess technically this does make it sharper, however it often depends what you are cutting. I get by just fine with just the medium and fine stones. I often sharpen my work knives only on the medium. edges start behaving differently at different levels of "sharpness", and we have some VERY knowledgeable guys on here who even recommend working edges performing much better finished on the gray stones, not the white.

But if you need that really fine edge, it will refine it slightly more than the normal whites, and I'd recommend stropping after to refine it even more.
 
I liked them, they will really take your edge to the next level , If your getting good results with the fine stones then the UF will give you great results, I wou;dn't own a sharpmaker without the Uf rods.
 
I have the benchstones. I find that the ultrafine is going to polish like a strop with a very fine compound. I now go to the fine stone, and then a strop. I have 1200 grit silicon carbide on one side of the strop and 1 micron diamond paste on the other. I don't use the ultrafine. If you are not going to use a strop, the ultrafine stone will serve.
 
The difference in grit are significant. I find my UF rods purchase to be definitely worth it.
 
From what i understand the primary difference between the Fine and UF rods are not the grit. They are the same rod except the UF rods are lapped. This does produce a finer edge than the Fine rods, but it is not due to the grit. That being said, i do own a pair of them and they work very well.

JD
 
I bought both the diamond stones and ultra fine stones. They make the sharpmaker so much more versatile. I definitely recommend getting the UF stones. You can get a mirror edge using the UF stones.
 
JudasD said:
From what i understand the primary difference between the Fine and UF rods are not the grit. They are the same rod except the UF rods are lapped. This does produce a finer edge than the Fine rods, but it is not due to the grit. That being said, i do own a pair of them and they work very well.

JD
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I have read that also actually. Also, I have heard that equivalents are ballparked at something like 1200-2000 on the Fine, and 6000-8000 on the UF. Not scientific but that is what I was basing my statement regarding grit from. They may be the same rods and lapped sorry I wasn't clear.
 
They work out great in producing a sharper edge. I had my fine rods for about a month before I realized that both the diamond and the UltraFine rods were necessary if the Sharpmaker is your preferred sharpener. The Ultrafine stones are great when you want to bring your edge to the next level, however don't expect too much at once. It could take some time and experience for you to truly feel the edge get the great results you are most likely looking for.
 
What do you mean by the ultrafine stones are lapped? Are you saying that the ultrafine are just taking the fine ones and doing something to them?
 
The fine and the ultrafine are the same material they're just finished differently. Think of them as they were a piece of titanium. One is bead blasted and the other was highly polished so the traction in hand is different but they're still the same material.
 
dragonist2 said:
What do you mean by the ultrafine stones are lapped? Are you saying that the ultrafine are just taking the fine ones and doing something to them?
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Lapping would be analogous to polishing. So imagine that the UF stones are a pair of regular Fine stones that have been polished. This polishing allows for the UF stones to mimic an even finer grit. They do work very well.

JD
 
Looks like I have "another" knife related expense coming up.....thanks everyone for the insight, it helped my desicion tremendously
 
So once you wear away the outer layer that was polished to be either fine or ultrafine on the fine or ultrafine stones, which one do you get?

I wouldn't want to buy a set of ultrafines only to discover that they become fines after you use them a bit.
 
You won't wear anything away as they're harder than the steel is.
 
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