opinions on Croc stick sharpeners

They work well. I've been using a set in my kitchen for years. Clean the rods up with Comet when they get dirty, or they won't work as well.
 
Ceramic sharpeners definitely have their place. The truly exceptional one is the Spyderco Sharpmaker 204. Takes the crock stick idea up a couple of levels. It even does a good job on serrations. Right now I'm currently in love with my Spyderco bench "stones". I like freehand sharpening on a lot of different edges, but had gotten lazy about the oil, and such. Therefore I wasn't sharpening some of my knives as much. With the ceramic I just scrub it down with an abrasive cleaner (like Comet, Soft Scrub, Bon Ami, etc.) and a green scotch brite pad.

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Paul Davidson

Them:"What's that clipped to your pocket, a beeper?"
Me:"Uuh....yeah, something like that."
 
Paul,

I was looking into the ceramic bench stones vs the DMT. Have you tried both and if so why do you prefer ceramic.
I was also wondering if you have had to rebevel your ceramic stones at all.
TIA,

Roy
 
I was surprised when I first tried ceramic rods that the edge created was very effective. I had dismissed them as a gimick for people with no honing skills when they first came out. Now they are my preferred final edge hone. I have some medium and some extra fine. If I'm going to cut meat I sometimes end with the medium rods. In general I prefer the extra fine rods for my final pass over using an abrasive impregnated strop. The ceramic seems to leave more bite.
 
Roy,
I just got the Spyderco bench stones so I haven't had to do anything to them yet. Considering how long I used my Sharpmaker 203 with no noticable change in the triangular rods, I think the ceramic bench stones should stay flat longer than a soft Arkansas (novaculite?) stone.

At the moment I don't have any of the large DMT benchstones. I have several of their folding, and smaller sharpeners and like them very well. I would like to get some coarser DMT stones to use for major edge rebeveling etc. They are so expensive I keep putting them off. The only reason I got the ceramic ones right now is because I got a good deal. It's amazing how a good deal can make me spend money that I swore I was going to put aside.
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IMO though, both the ceramic and diamond sharpeners have their place, and it is mainly just a matter of personal taste more than anything. I hope this sort of answers your question.

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Paul Davidson

Them:"What's that clipped to your pocket, a beeper?"
Me:"Uuh....yeah, something like that."
 
1. I have been using a Lansky Two Stage Crock Stick with great success. A good blade pops hairs like there's no tomorrow after a session on the sticks. I like to sharpen for other people also but too often I'm presented with blades that are in such terrible shape that I can't get anywhere with them with medium sticks. Are there coarse sticks available, and if so, where? I never could free hand sharpen, do more harm than good.

2. Is it possible to wear down the "fuzz" on these sticks? I swear my mediums have lost their bite. I did just scrub them down with cleanser and a scotchbrite, didn't seem to make too much difference.
 
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