However, the cutting action sounds a lot slower than normal. Are you presoaking the stones? It could be that you got a bad batch that doesn't have a high absorption rate. Maybe you could ask Ben to send you a replacement, ideally one which he has tried.
It is very odd. When I got them, they cut perfectly well. After reprofiling and sharpening only 5 short blades (all less than 4" long), they've clogged to the point of being mostly useless (i.e. the coarse and medium stones no longer cut steel and only polish.)
So I know they work wonders.
I've tried deglazing and lapping/cleaning the stones on 60-grit wet/dry, sand on cardboard, sand on marble, and they still re-glaze within 3-4 strokes.
How long do you need to presoak? I usually just let them sit under the faucet for 20-30 seconds before starting to sharpen.
Also, how wet do you need to keep them? I've been wetting them so they're soaked, and then wipe off the water on the surface so they're damp but not dripping (isn't that what's in the manual?) It sounds like I might have to run them with a layer of water on the surface?
In regards to lapping, you don't need a glass plate. That just insures that you are lapping on a flat surface, which is important if you are refinishing the hone to true. If you are just cleaning the hones just about anything will do.
What kinds of steels are you working with?
I went out and picked up a marble tile (easiest thing to get that was flat; there are no places where I can have a piece of glass cut!!) and it doesn't seem to make much of a difference compared to the others.
These are all the knives I've sharpened on it:
1 with CPM 440V
2 with CPM S30V
2 with 154CM
Hmm. Maybe I'm not lapping them for long enough, or maybe I have to run them dripping wet?
Thanks
-jon