New Spyderco UF stone!

samuraistuart

samuraistuart

Joined
Dec 21, 2006
Messages
3,158
I had to post! Wife got me the Ultra Fine stone from Spyderco!!! I have the Fine, but was wanting a hard very fine stone. The softer Suehiro 8000 and Chinese 12K being the finest stones I had previously. Seems like the two stones (Spyderco F and UF) are identical in composition, but that the UF stone is simply polished a bit more? Is that correct? I noticed that the surface was not lapped very well. I took a 1095 paring knife that was already pretty sharp, and noticed that the metal swarf was being deposited in a repeating swirl pattern on the stone. I think I'll take my worn out DMT fine plate to it, see if I can work that surface down a bit....to where it is nice and even...and no swirl marks. (I'm sure you know what I am talking about....they must use some sort of rotating device to lap the stones....and you can see the tracks left by that rotating head....whatever it is).

My fine stone....I have had that thing for years, and lately it was frustrating me, not seeming to actually sharpen anything. So I took that old DMT fine stone to it....and WOW what a difference that made. Instead of the steel feeling like it glides off of the stone, it now feels like the stone is actually cutting the steel....and has a much smoother, silky feel to it. So I suppose any of you gents out there who have these stones.....and you think they might not be cutting like they should....lap them with a diamond plate. It'll breathe new life into it.

I am religious about cleaning my ceramic stone and ceramic "steel", with a scouring pad and Comet. But when I lapped that fine stone....I was ecstatic at the change it made. We're talking hundreds and hundreds of sharpening sessions on that old fine stone. Now it acts brand new. Looking forward to removing the lapping marks from the UF....and I'll report back here the results. Got lots to do, tho...so it may be a while.

So, any thoughts, opinions, recommendations, usages, etc etc for the UF Spyderco Stone? Y'all are a treasure trove of knowledge! (It sure seems like the more polished I make my edges, the duller they feel! But they do cut). I really like the 1000-2000 grit edges on knives, personally. But there is something to be said for a highly polished edge....especially a new knife. It really adds to the overall aesthetics.
 
Yes, the grit on the UF stone is Not any finer that the fine ceramic stone. It is merely sander finer. The Spyderco owner posted this on here some years back. You can still find his statement using the search feature. Yes, use water and that diamond stone you mention and level your UF ceramic stone. Once you have it done it will last for years as you noticed. DM
 
The lapping marks on the stone are normal though extremely annoying. I lapped my UF stone when I had it and it made an amazing improvement. By lapping the ceramic surface you are changing the texture of the surface allowing it to be coarser or finer depending on how it was lapped.

I left one side factory on mine and used it more like a dual sided stone. I remember the lapped side producing one of the finest finishes I have seen from a stone. Actually, here are some of those old photos.

Factory side,

Picture472.jpg


Lapped side,

Picture473.jpg


Finish from Lapped side on CPM-D2,

Picture470.jpg


Here is what it really looked like,

Picture469.jpg
 
I lapped my Fine ceramic stone to X fine and this imparts a finer finish to the blade. Several here have lapped or leveled their Spyderco ceramic stones and obtained improved sharpening results. DM
 
Cool. You learn stuff everyday.

Just don't accidentally bang your stones together. One while working with triangle rods in my kitchen, decided to move back to my bedroom to watch a show I had recorded. So was carrying everything out on a tray. Got sloppy, hit a post and spilled the SM and all loose rods. Diamond, Med, Fine, and UFine all bounced off each other on the floor. Ended up with pretty big chips in the F & UF, and I think there were some small nicks in the Mediums. I was bummed, and it was all my fault. Maybe it's time to upgrade to full size stones, eh?
 
Jason B. said:
The lapping marks on the stone are normal though extremely annoying. I lapped my UF stone when I had it and it made an amazing improvement. By lapping the ceramic surface you are changing the texture of the surface allowing it to be coarser or finer depending on how it was lapped.

I left one side factory on mine and used it more like a dual sided stone. I remember the lapped side producing one of the finest finishes I have seen from a stone. Actually, here are some of those old photos.
Click to expand...
What did you use to lap it? That looks very good!
 
sodak said:
What did you use to lap it? That looks very good!
Click to expand...

Thinking back that might have been the one I sent back to Spyderco for the swirls in the surface. They lapped that one but I purchased another one later on that I used my Fine DMT diafold on, totally ruined the diafold but same result on the ceramic. I have a single UF Sharpmaker rod that I lapped one side on my Fine DMT as my only remaining example, I've wanted to buy another but I always seem to have a new waterstone that gets in the way :)
 
As others have said, the UF stone is a "surface ground" Fine. Meaning that it's *exactly* the same as a Spyderco Fine, except that it's been ground to a finer surface finish with a diamond grinding assembly.

This would imply that, unless you use the exact same diamond size to lap your UF as Spyderco does, that you would produce something other than a UF finish. If their surface grinding technique/particle size is the key to the UF's performance, then you need to match it if you want the same finish.

I have no idea what size that is unfortunately. Have you tried your UF with a blade enough to find out how it is polishing? You talked about your paring knife, but didn't say what the results were on the edge.

My UF stone feels like glass to the touch, and pretty much like glass when sharpening a blade on it. It produces a fairly high mirror finish on the blades I've tried it on. I would guess that it is a true 3 micron (or so) finish just like the Grand Unified Grit Chart says. It polishes the same, or higher than my 5000 grit (JIS) Nubatama stone. But it's SO ultra hard, it's much easier to use than the waterstone. For me anyway, with my limited waterstone skills.

I guess I'm trying to say: Try it out and see how it performs. You may not need to modify it at all.

Brian.
 
Here's the topic I was looking for on this subject. This gent did his early last year and got good results. He gives good detail on how he did it and it's not a lengthy read. I did mine using a coarse and fine diamond stones. The stone got nice and level and that side is much finer than the original. Plus, it gives good edges. Good luck, DM
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...e-up-pic-s)?highlight=lapped+my+ceramic+stone
 
Last edited:
You're welcome. This has been done several times by gents in this forum. I hope he does it and gives us some feed back. DM
 
Jason B. said:
The lapping marks on the stone are normal though extremely annoying. I lapped my UF stone when I had it and it made an amazing improvement. By lapping the ceramic surface you are changing the texture of the surface allowing it to be coarser or finer depending on how it was lapped.

I left one side factory on mine and used it more like a dual sided stone. I remember the lapped side producing one of the finest finishes I have seen from a stone. Actually, here are some of those old photos.

Factory side,

Picture472.jpg


Lapped side,

Picture473.jpg


Finish from Lapped side on CPM-D2,

Picture470.jpg


Here is what it really looked like,

Picture469.jpg
Click to expand...

Wow... Simply Wow.
 
David Martin said:
Here's the topic I was looking for on this subject. This gent did his early last year and got good results. He gives good detail on how he did it and it's not a lengthy read. I did mine using a coarse and fine diamond stones. The stone got nice and level and that side is much finer than the original. Plus, it gives good edges. Good luck, DM
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...e-up-pic-s)?highlight=lapped+my+ceramic+stone
Click to expand...

Im no lapping expert so I may be wrong but I always thought the lapping surface has to be larger then the part you are lapping. In the link his diamond lapping plate is quite a bit smaller then the Spyderco stone he is lapping. Wouldn't this cause problems with flatness?
 
Thank you David for all the info and the links. I promise I will report back with how it turns out...I've just go so much to get done in the near future. About the edge on the paring knife....well it was polished! And sharper, no doubt. It's just that I can't bear to have those swirl patterns left on the stone. I suppose I could send it back, but I'm pretty confident that the Extra Fine DMT will take care of it. The DMT I have is already fairly worn...it's an older model I have had for years and years...the one with the dots. So I don't really care if I trash it lapping the UF. I do have a EF DiaSharp and the EF Atoma, both new, to use for 1200 grit sharpening sessions.

Fsatsil.....your concern mirrors mine...about lapping plates being smaller than the stone being lapped. I try to just do it as evenly as possible, with even pressure, trying to hit every area of the stone as evenly as I can. Figure 8 patterns, forwards and back, changing hand positions every once in a while.....I've managed to get waterstones pretty darn flat with smaller lapping stones. Just don't do one motion too heavily too long.

Jason...that pic is almost identical to mine. Of course, I don't have the large one, but the swirl pattern....that's it! I think I will do as you did....lap one side only.
 
I wonder if a sheet of glass and some diamond spray might work better then a DMT plate for lapping these stones?
 
sil, has a point. The Cereal guy lapped/ leveled his with large diamond plates. I lapped mine with smaller diamond plates. Though close. My ceramic stone is 8''X 2" and I lapped the one side using a coarse then fine diamond plate both 2"X6". Just go slow and check often. Also, what sil said; If I were going to do it tomorrow I'd use a thick plate glass and wet dry sand paper which will kinda stick to it. The sand paper should be the quality type with SiC grit in 300, 600 and maybe 800 range. You'll only need one sheet of each. Or should you have a Norton JUM3 stone and a finer one to finish it off, that will work. Watch careful so it doesn't glaze. DM
 
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