Anyone had experience with this product? How can I make its surface smooth and to make it work like it should? Should/could I just rub it against another hone, like fine or ultra fine? I have thought about doing that, but I fear that I might damage the stones by doing that : S..
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How to readdress Lansky's Super Sapphire Hone?
- Thread starter J-P SAN
- Start date
I've got a Lansky with that stone. I haven't had this problem yet though. (Stone has become rough?)
When people flatten waterstones they use extremely low grit stones like 80-120 grit and it works fine.
Are you sure your problem is that your sapphire stone is too rough?
I'm a little unclear what the problem is.
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You can lap/flatten the Lansky ceramics (600, 1000, and the 'Super Sapphire') on a diamond hone. BUT, it'll take a LONG time (they're very hard) and it'll also alter the finishing characteristics of the hone. They'll likely end up at an effectively higher grit rating (finer) than originally intended. That may or may not be a good thing, depending on what you want out of it.
If you do it, use a Coarse or coarser diamond hone, and it helps to immerse both in water, to help flush away the slurry created. Use LIGHT pressure, or you might scrub excess diamond from the diamond hone (a little will come off anyway).
I've done two of mine this way. BUT, in retrospect, I'd likely just have Lansky replace the bumpy/uneven hones with new ones. If there are just a few bumps on an otherwise decent hone, you might be able to lightly scrub them off without having to re-surface the entire hone. Again, go about it lightly.
David
If you do it, use a Coarse or coarser diamond hone, and it helps to immerse both in water, to help flush away the slurry created. Use LIGHT pressure, or you might scrub excess diamond from the diamond hone (a little will come off anyway).
I've done two of mine this way. BUT, in retrospect, I'd likely just have Lansky replace the bumpy/uneven hones with new ones. If there are just a few bumps on an otherwise decent hone, you might be able to lightly scrub them off without having to re-surface the entire hone. Again, go about it lightly.
David
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I have the dark red Lansky stone, not sure which one that is. It had a bump and I lapped it on a diamond plate. I like the finish that it gives now, but it probably is much finer than it was intended to be from Lansky. It leaves a slightly hazy mirror polish.
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That's the 600 'Fine' ceramic (red stone in blue holder); it's one of the two that I flattened also, with identical results as you've described. I also flattened my 1000 'Ultra-Fine', which did essentially the same thing to it.
David
My problem is that the grit on sapphire stone is lower than in my ultrafine (wich I have used quite a lot). The sapphire stone is geometrically uneven only in one little portion of the stone, in a part that barely hits the blade in lansky system, so I guess that it isn't that big of an issue. BUT I would like bring the grit of superapphire hone to high as possible. I have one DMT pocket sharpener, but I believe its grit is not even close to super sapphire's *supposed* 2k : \ Would it still work? Or would it just "copy" its scratch pattern (grit) to my sapphire stone?
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Most any hone used to lap a ceramic will leave it somewhat finer than before. It has more to do with the way the ceramics are made, and less with whichever grit is used to lap it. The binders used in making the ceramics are extremely tough, so the flattening comes more from abrading the individual grit particles held firmly in place, as opposed to dislodging them (as would happen with flattening a waterstone, for example, which creates a 'slurry' of the loosely-bound particles being dislodged). The flattening/smoothing of the tightly-bound grit particles in the ceramic will result in the effective 'grit' of the stone becoming much smoother & finer overall (approaching 'glassy' in finish; even more so with a finer-grit lapping hone).
And comparing a diamond's grit rating to a ceramic's grit is meaningless anyway, as they're measured by completely different means or standards. In sharpening a steel blade, a '2k' diamond hone will always leave a much coarser grind pattern than a '2k' ceramic, simply because it's diamond, so it digs much deeper for the same 'grit' size (diamond is easily 3x-4x harder and more aggressive than the alumina used in ceramic hones).
As I mentioned before, if just a few isolated bumps need flattening out, then you might be able to gently abrade those off, without really altering the finish of the remaining surface of your sapphire hone. This is what I'd likely pursue, instead of trying to lap/flatten the entire hone. Most any hone will gradually become a bit smoother/finer with regular use anyway, and this includes ceramics (though the 'break-in' will be more subtle).
David
I don'mind that at all, because I want it to be fine as possible, but I keep that in mind if I ever need to flatten my coarser stones : )!
Now my super sapphire hone gives a lot better finish to my edges : )! It's still quite hazy/foggy finish, but the sapphire hone gave realy keen feel to the edge : )
Now my super sapphire hone gives a lot better finish to my edges : )! It's still quite hazy/foggy finish, but the sapphire hone gave realy keen feel to the edge : )
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As the ceramic starts to load up with metal it will give more of a burnishing effect giving you a shinier finish. Just don't let it get too far as eventually you can get a buildup of really hard steel and carbides that can scratch softer steels giving you a really bad finish and a jagged edge. This will take a really long time on a lansky and you shouldn't need to worry about it if you clean the stone off after sharpening. On a ceramic benchstone I can manage it in one sharpening job if I use too much pressure.
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Good to hear it's working better for you now. :thumbup:
The hazy/fogginess may be coming from not fully minimizing coarser scratches in previous grit stages. It's very easy to not quite go far enough in previous steps, and the finer finishing hones will have difficulty removing the coarser scratches, if they weren't fully reduced in the previous steps.
If (when) the ceramics become loaded up with metal swarf, Bar Keepers Friend powder, mixed to a paste with water, does a great job cleaning them up. Just use it with care, as the oxalic acid in it will etch other metal surfaces, if left in contact for more than maybe ~60 seconds or so. On a ceramic hone, not a big deal, because the acid removes the metal swarf by dissolving it. That's why it works so well in this application.
David