Has anyone seen the Poltava vitrified CBN stones?

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blades and sheaths

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May 13, 2025
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I was just browsing around on the Hapstone.eu site and saw Poltava vitrified diamond/CBN stones for only 79.99 euro. So I figured I'd ask if anyone used them or knows anything about it. I always thought Vitrified bonded CBN Stones were expensive. Or did I get that wrong? I mean, I'd buy 'em if they're any good. Anyone know anything about them?
 
As far as I know, those seem to be older models of the PDT (Poltava) Premium line. The latest ceramic-bonded products should be from the Premium Silver series, which incorporate metallic components. These models offer higher wear resistance. I have a 650 grit one, and the grinding experience is very smooth and quite fast.
 
I don't know if it's an older or newer model (honestly their model naming schemes are a bit confusing), but I have a PDT "Premium Vitrified" 6x1" stone, 550gr 40/28um. It's great. I use it as my finishing stone when I use a guided system.

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They are of the new line of PDT stones. Blank size 4mm thick
They are not the Premium Silver Vitrified, that are the more expensive ones. These are in an category of their own. Made for bevel formation and re-profiling. Only made in 3 grit sizes. 225, 285 and 550
 
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Ilis said:
As far as I know, those seem to be older models of the PDT (Poltava) Premium line. The latest ceramic-bonded products should be from the Premium Silver series, which incorporate metallic components. These models offer higher wear resistance. I have a 650 grit one, and the grinding experience is very smooth and quite fast.
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That’s good to know. Thank you.
 
bmo419 said:
I don't know if it's an older or newer model (honestly their model naming schemes are a bit confusing), but I have a PDT "Premium Vitrified" 6x1" stone, 550gr 40/28um
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Yeah, I find it a bit confusing as well. Good to know you’re happy with them. I like their metallic CBN stones, but haven’t tried any other PDT stones.
 
First, forget about premium

Yes, they call stones so, but this is old good metal bond M2-01 (copper-tin). It performs well on coarse grain sizes, and worse on microns (below 50 microns=270/325) , just because this bond is hard plus it's difficult to distribute micron powders, which form agglomerates in bronze alloy.

Also they make stones 1.5 mm thick and call them Lite. Apparently, dealers asked for this product to compete on the market. Product passport contains 1.5 mm in dimensions, but may not contain magic word "Lite". Yes, Premium Lite

Recently PDT introduced few new bonds and call them hybrid; this is correct from technical point of view, but it's wrong for sharpeners, because for hand sharpening you need only one hybrid: resin bond, which work well on fine grains, and still has as long life as metal bond: resin bond with metal powders. Below are recommendations from manufacturer on my site. You may see, they recommend resin bond (Expert line) for all finish operations (fist option is just a joke) , while on others, bonds compete with each other. Advantages of specific bond just should be underlined in combination with other bond, but not offered alone.
Premium nickel is a nonsense, because Ni-coated powders have better heat conductivity, thus better performance, but it works on powered tools.
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abrasivetools said:
Yes, they call stones so, but this is old good metal bond M2-01 (copper-tin). It performs well on coarse grain sizes, and worse on microns (below 50 microns=270/325) , just because this bond is hard plus it's difficult to distribute micron powders, which form agglomerates in bronze alloy.
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I see. Could you elaborate more on that please? This is interesting. Why do the use the term vitrified? To me vitrified sounds like a different bond than straight up metal bond.
 
blades and sheaths said:
I see. Could you elaborate more on that please? This is interesting. Why do the use the term vitrified? To me vitrified sounds like a different bond than straight up metal bond.
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Vitrified bonds are kind of ceramic bonds (venev stones) which contain glass, and other ingredients
ceramic bonds are used in SiC wheels
vitrified - in cbn or diamond wheels
all their advantages can be seen on powered operations, but not in hand sharpening

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abrasivetools said:
Vitrified bonds are kind of ceramic bonds (venev stones) which contain glass, and other ingredients
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My Venev stones are resin bonded if I’m not mistaken, but I know Venev make different differently bonded diamond and CBN stones. I didn’t know they produced vitrified bonded super abrasive stones. Thanks for clarifying.
 
blades and sheaths said:
My Venev stones are resin bonded if I’m not mistaken, but I know Venev make different differently bonded diamond and CBN stones. I didn’t know they produced vitrified bonded super abrasive stones. Thanks for clarifying.
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venev made private label for other well known brand; they used ceramic abrasive wheels' bond for sharpening stones.. Now I do not see these bonds on sale...
resin bond of venev's stones is good old bond with filler: SiC (B2-01) or diamond microns (OSB)
nothing special or innovative can be expected from them
 
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I've been using the PDT premium silver vitrifed-mettalic CBN stones in 160>550>1500. Overall I've been been enjoying them slot, although I haven't tried many other bonds in 1x6 size to compare. Id like to try the metallic bond or vitrifed bond at some point. But I am also considering getting electroplated diamonds in, because they are zero maintenance and I am only concerned about sharpeness so not bothered about the deeper scratches.
 
I strongly considered getting the Premium vitrified, but I wasn't sure why it only came in a few grits compared to the Silver version. I find it interesting that both the Premium Vitrified and Premium Silver are advertised as having high concentration of CBN, I'm not sure what that means compared to the 100% concentration that some websites mention for the Premium Bronze, Expert Pro lines.
 
NWrain said:
I strongly considered getting the Premium vitrified, but I wasn't sure why it only came in a few grits compared to the Silver version. I find it interesting that both the Premium Vitrified and Premium Silver are advertised as having high concentration of CBN, I'm not sure what that means compared to the 100% concentration that some websites mention for the Premium Bronze, Expert Pro lines.
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According to the standard, 100% concentration is 4.4 ct/cm³.
The two pieces you mentioned are both standard-sized gemstones, 150mm × 25mm × 3mm,
so when converted, they should both contain 9.9 grams of abrasive material.
The main difference between them is the type of bonding agent used — the Expert Pro series uses a resin bond.
 
mikee1 said:
They are of the new line of PDT stones. Blank size 4mm thick
They are not the Premium Silver Vitrified, that are the more expensive ones. These are in a category of their own. Made for bevel formation and re-profiling. Only made in 3 grit sizes. 225, 285 and 550
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Also comes in 1100. I’m looking at getting 285,550 and 1100.
 
I may stand corrected... UKSG has the 1100 grit listed... But their US site usa-market and other sharpening sites doesn`t

Strange, the PDT representative i talked to a couple a months ago said it would be a 3 stone line up
 
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mikee1 said:
I may stand corrected... UKSG has the 1100 grit listed... But their US site usa-market and other sharpening sites doesn`t

Strange, the PDT representative i talked to a couple a months ago said it would be a 3 stone line up
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Doesn’t make sense the 1100 is listed in stock at UKSG but not available at USA-Market. I’m up in the air whether to order the 1100 vitrified or go with KDTU hybrid 1100. Just got a K03 so getting a whole set (160, 285, 550, 1100, 1700, 4k). Also up in the air whether to get the 285 in the silver or vitrified. Getting silver 160. 1700 and 4k will be kdtu hybrid. What say you?
 
Sweet, I also have the K03 :) I think its enough to get get 160 Silver Vitrified and Premium Bronze or Vitrified for the 285, 550 and KDTU for the ones above

I dont know why but i dont really like PDT metallic over 650 grit. So i would stop at 550 if i was to buy the Vitrified stones and go with KDTU Hybrids or TSProf Alphas for the rest!
I used to own PDT Expert Pro Resin for 1100 grit and up but since i tried KDTU Hybrids i sold my expert PROs.

I now have PDT Premium Bronze in 100,160,240,325 and 650 Grit and 1100 1700 3000 KDTU Hybrids and i really like that setup
I may in the future sell the 100 and 160 Bronze and buy an 160 grit PDT Silver Vitrified myself.
 
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Thanks mikee1!

I’ve been sharpening by hand since I was a kid (58 now). I have no problem getting a blade hair popping or paper cutting but push cutting is a different story; probably limited by my wore out plates. I wore out the biggest DMT dual side diamond plate. My current Smith’s plate (325/650) is about done. I’m retired from the city FD. Always sharpened all the kitchen knives at work and pretty much everyone I worked with’s pocket knife.

‘Have several CPKs now and considering the cost of good bench stones, decided to go with a guided system and I’ve researched that topic to death over the last few years. Have a buddy with a Kazak Pro Black with tons of stones. I used the Kazak once and was impressed with the results.

Everything I’ve read states that metal bond is a no go when you get to 50 microns and finer. ‘Haven’t heard anything but positive on the KDTU hybrids for finishing. Likewise, everyone seems to love the TS Prof Alphas.
 
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