Okay!!!! How many of you have ceramic hones?

Yvsa

Yvsa

Joined
May 18, 1999
Messages
15,395
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The box from Shopsmith came today and I had a ball settng down and opening all the nice hones. These are the kind I have dreamed about all my life and more and never had!!!!:D

I was really impressed when upon opening the box I found 3 Spyderco bench hones!!!!
There was a Fine, an Ultra Fine, and a Double Stuff!!!!
I would have had a medium had they not been sold out.
I was Not expecting that kind of quality at those prices, even if it was/is a close out sale!!!!

I had a little 5 1/2" drop point hunter by Ray Kirk of Raker's knive's that I had been playing around with.
I thought I had it pretty dayumed sharp with the DMT Duofolds and my strop until I used the Fine ceramic on the
knife.
I am impressed and had to change my opinion as I thought that diamonds were the best anyone could get.

I was wrong, dead wrong!!!!:o

So if any of you have ceramics why didn't you tell me just how good the ceramics are? :D

However in my defense of ignorance (:)) the Spyderco Double Stuff is the only one that I "Think" will work on a complete khukuri blade since we have the recurve to deal with and the 2" wide hones would be difficult to use there.
And yet the ceramics would be killer on the sweet spot of the blade, I "Think."
When I have some extra time without being disturbed I'um gonna try it.:D

Oh yeah, the other hones are nice as well, all of them quality, although they're not ceramic.
The Tri-Hone is Very Nice and large enough to sharpen the biggest knife, notice I said "knife" and that means what we call the itty bitty ones, not necessarily a khukuri or a tarwar.:D
 
Bro, I've got my file, the 3 dollar K-Mart stone, and a $1.98 key chain type crock stix deal. And, a lot of dull blades.
 
Yvsa,

I did tell you they were good! First time we met I was carrying a bunch of Spydie knives and I told you I had the Spyderco Sharpmaker 204. It has four triangular rods in it, two medium and two fine. It works great on all my knives _except_ the HI's. I have used them freehand on a blade though, kind of like a chakma. You just can't use it the way it was intended since those long, heavy blades can't be manipulated in quite the same way as a 3 inch Native.

I would like to get some of the Spydie bench stones. Spyderco has a reputation of producing some very high quality stuff.

Gregg
 
I have 3 spyderco ceramic stones I use mostly. I also use a few DMT stones. To get a mirror polished edge on my blades I use a cardboard wheel with jewlers rouge in it mounted on a grinder @ 3,450 rpm. Double stuff is perfect for the field!:)
 
I love my Spyderco sharpeners!! I have had one of their triangle sharpmakers since I purchased one of their first police models. That pre dates the beveled edges on the handles of the police. Well over 10 years I think. I have found that I can even use it on my Khukuris if I clamp the sharpener to the work bench and use two hands to guide the knife down across the ceramic. Don't get me wrong, this is not easy, but the results are always possitive. The big plus is that you can carry a complete Spyderco Sharpmaker with you almost anywhere. It fits in a pocket of my daily carry pack. The down side to that is that everyone I know wants me to sharpen their blades for them. What the heck, at least it helps them understand my belief that all blades are safer SHARP!! Anyway, I digress. The white fine ceramic in the spyderco sharpener is Usually my last sharpening step on all my blades. The ones I want super sharp, either get a muslin and white rouge buffer treatment at work, or the stropping method I picked up from one of Yvsa's threads. That stropping can't be beat. I sharpened a Khukuri I have, and as a first attempt at the stropping method finished with that. The blade ended up soooo sharp, that while viewing the results of a vinager wash to make temper line appear I lightly bumped the edge against the bony edge of my wrist. It cut right in, even going deep enough to nick a vein. What a bloody mess. It did give me a fine respect for how slick an edge that stropping can achieve though. All of these tidbits I have picked up over the years, AND especially since I joined these forums have made a great improvement in the quality of my edges! I hope that I never stop learning from all of you guys. It is great to have such a resource at my fingertips. Well I have gone on way too long, so till next time. Have a great day! :D
 
Yvsa,

I have ceramic crock-stix and a spyderco sharpmaker. ( The first edition. ) The triangular ceramic rods on the sharpmaker can be laid flat on the base and used as a flat hone. There are two different grits.

I usually finish my khukuris on the crockstix. I also use it for touching up the blades prior to, and after, use. It's an easy and quick way to get a good edge.

Don't throw away your diamond sharpeners. You still need them for getting a dull knife in shape. The ceramic hones really shine for aligning and putting the final edge on an already properly shaped edge.
 
I like the Normark double sided keychain with coarse and fine, but even after opening up wider ( wrap sandpaper over the smaller khuks to do it ) it still isn't big enough for many khuks. The red Normark single keychain croc stick on the other hand can be opened up significantly wider and works on more khuks.

I am still looking at some Nicholson 6" OAL flat/half round smooth files. One for roughing, the other to polish shiny, and a third polished in between. A block of buff horn from any of the knifemaking supply houses ought to make 3 or 4 or more chakma/karda handles.
 
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Gregg I remember that now that you mention it. I told everyone my memory isn't what it used to be.:D

I'm not a real big fan of the crocksticks because of the set angle and the difficulty of trying to maintain a different angle on them if you don't want what they have set up.
I also thought, perhaps wrongly, that the Sharpmaker sticks would be to thin and brittle to use on a khukuri.
And I should've been thinking "outside the box."

It was only after finally getting ready to buy something to keep my regular and kitchen knives sharp that I started thinking ceramics.
And I didn't know that Spyderco made the longer and wider albeit fairly thin bench stones.
And like I said, "I didn't expect that kind of quality even if it was a close out sale."

But now that I've gotten them I am gonna pick up a Spyderco medium ceramic bench hone in the larger size.
Perhaps another Double Stuff or 2 as well to keep in my pack.

But even with the DMT's and the strops my khukuri's are all pretty dayumed sharp, just maybe not as sharp as they could be.:D

While typing this I had a thought that maybe the sides of the ceramic bench stones could be used on a khukuri.
(Started thinking "outside the box again."):)

And with that thought I had to stop and try it out.
Between the side for the recurve and the flat side for the swwet spot it works well. A noticeable improvement on my YCS with just a few strokes on each side. And the YCS was already Sharp to begin with. I thought.:)
But it may be due to the more agressive
and yet still super smooth edge the ceramics give.
Kinda strange I can't get the same effect with the diamond hones.:confused:

With the ceramics I may have to find another way to test sharpness since I don't think I wanna be touching the edges or shaving different parts of my anatomy too much.:)

Tsimi don't you go there!!!!!!!:p:)
 
I have the Spyderco ceramic sharpeners (medium and fine). They are great for using a khukuri free hand if it is not too dull. It is easy to get a hair shaving edge with these. If the khukuri is really dull I will use the diamond (Ez Lap) first followed by the ceramic stones. If the khukuri is fresh from Uncle Bill I sometimes call on the course Lansky ceramic stone.

While the Spyderco is my most used sharpening system I do not like it much. Mine has only one angle. It does not handle a khukuri or large knife well at all. The stones are often too slow and with the large knife it sometimes has to be done in sections. However, it is convient and not messy.

Will
 
I'm lucky to have a pair of real crock sticks. A friend who worked in a brewery gave them to me many years ago. He said they were used in the beer making process and were broken, maybe used for stirring the vats? They will put the final touch on a knife like nothing else.
 
Works real nice for daily use knives to give them that razor edge again quickly (couple of swipes and Im shaving again ;)). Though I normally prefer to use water stones on more serious ventures, and most of my non-user blades (aka antiques etc...) need much more care on working on and have very different grinds that a hone just wont allow for.
 
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Originally posted by Federico Though I normally prefer to use water stones on more serious ventures, and most of my non-user blades (aka antiques etc...) need much more care on working on and have very different grinds that a hone just wont allow for. [/B]
Click to expand...


Federico what do you use on your non-user blades (aka antique etc.) and how are they ground differently that a hone just won't allow for?

And what do you mean by "serious ventures?"

You really have me intrigued.:D

Thanks for callng my attention to Federico's name Bro!!!!
I didn't read it correctly and assumed.:( :D
 
Well considering I collect mainly barong and kris they do not have a secondary bevel like on most knives. Barongs usually come either two ways a flat grind starting at the spine with a slight convex edge at the end or rarely a concave edge starting from the spine. Kris also tend to have a flat to convex edge starting from the center going out. Now depending on the edge I mostly leave them alone after cleaning and etching. But in extreme cases I have ocassionally done a complete repolish. The problem is that since there is no secondary bevel I cant just use a hone set, and most stones contain free particles that will scratch. So depending on the state of the blade determines the route Ill take in restoration. Like I said generally light pitting or minor chips Ill leave alone, but I have done some re-shaping using coarse diamond stones. Before anything I do tend to remove rust using lemon juice. For polishing I generally just go through the grades of various sandpaper starting from 600-2500 with lotsa oil then finishing with a metal polish such as flitz or simi-chrome. Now it probably would be easier to use machinery, but the danger for me is the speed in which material is removed. So lotsa work and swearing by me as I chore around rubbing the steel by hand. But making sure there is no scratches or lotsa pitting is so key to etching the barong or kris correctly since they show up so distinctly afterwards. For rust removal on antiques I will not etch I use 0000 steel wool, WD-40 to loosen rust, dental picks for getting into them tight spots, and lotsa elbow grease. I use the water stones for chisels, my better quality knives, etc... Big pain to do but for me its worth it since I find that it does give a better edge than the ceramic hone I got and I have alot more control over what kinda edge I wish to place on a knife. Though I find sandpaper to be my big workhorse for convex edges dont need to soakem or prepare em and somewhat cleaner. Anyways I find hone sets somewhat limiting in their edge angles, and shapes. Cant really do a good old convex edge with them and thats so handy for knives thatll see alota serious work. But for cheapy knives that I use alot or my cheap kitchen knife its just easier to use the hone since its quick and the edge will need much more maintenence than some of my other knives. As a minor disclaimer there is much danger in resoring antique blades. I do so for my personal collection only because they are my personal collection. Any work done to an antique may de-value it depending on how well it is done.
 
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I understand now. That's a lot of work going to 2,500 grit.
May I ask where you get the paper that fine. It seems as if we're, most of us, always looking for new sources of extremely fine sandpaper.:D

And do you bring out the Pamor on your Keris and if so I would really like to know how you do it if you don't mind sharing.
I'm sorta afraid to mess with arsenic since I have so many things wrong with me medically as it is. I sure don't need anything else to go wrong.:D
Besides not knowing where to get arsenic without a lot of questions being asked.:o
You can answer in e-mail if you would prefer.
My addy is yvsa-g@webtv.net

And many Thanks!!!!
 
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