Refinishing a white ceramic stone

Macchina

Macchina

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Apr 7, 2006
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I have a white (fine) Spyderco ceramic stone. I sharpen all of my knives for the last few years (usually once every day or every other day). It is becoming smooth, and doesn't seem to cut like it used to. Is there any inexpensive way to refinish a ceramic benchstone so that it cuts like new? I don't know anything but diamonds that is harder than ceramic...
 
Mine have done that.

Noticed it seemed to get worse after I sharpened numerous "wonder" steel knives.

Cleaning helped little. I finally took some diamond polishing paper (picked some up at a lapidary supply), placed the paper on a flat surface and resurfaced the ceramics (I've done this with white and brown ceramics).

Note that the diamond paper can be had in different grits.
 
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orthogonal1 said:
Mine have done that.

Noticed it seemed to get worse after I sharpened numerous "wonder" seel knives.

Cleaning helped little. I finally took some diamond polishing paper (picked some up at a lapidary supply), placed the paper on a flat surface and resurfaced the ceramics (I've done this with white and brown ceramics).

Note that the diamond paper can be had in different grits.
Click to expand...

What grits did you use and how were the results?
 
I went 220 for brown and 400 for white. I went by feel as to choosing, since they are obviously not labelled in grit.


Gave the ceramics more bite, so I'm satisfied. The sheets were "irregulars", so the cost wasn't too bad; "irregular" being not a perfect circle or square.

You can also use the "fine" diamond sharpener plates with some result - I have done this with the brown stones, but when I went to the white I needed to buy something finer - thus the stop at a lapidary supply (got some different mesh diamond pastes, too, for stropping).

Of course, I could have simply skipped the aggravation and went diamond to begin with (a practice I recommend to be those who haven't invested in many sharpening tools).
 
If you watch the video that comes with the sharpmaker sal actually says that before you use the stones the first time you can rub them together to get the surface roughened up a little bit. Maybe try rubbing the gray stones on the white stones. Dont know if this would dull the gray stones though....
 
I clean them with comet about once a month. They used to bite right after that, but don't anymore. I can see shiney areas forming on the surface now, looks like the S30V and D2 are getting to it.

I'll try and find some diamond paste, I wouldn't want to wreck one of my diamond stones.
 
orthogonal1 said:
I went 220 for brown and 400 for white. I went by feel as to choosing, since they are obviously not labelled in grit.


Gave the ceramics more bite, so I'm satisfied. The sheets were "irregulars", so the cost wasn't too bad; "irregular" being not a perfect circle or square.

You can also use the "fine" diamond sharpener plates with some result - I have done this with the brown stones, but when I went to the white I needed to buy something finer - thus the stop at a lapidary supply (got some different mesh diamond pastes, too, for stropping).

Of course, I could have simply skipped the aggravation and went diamond to begin with (a practice I recommend to be those who haven't invested in many sharpening tools).
Click to expand...


Thanks, Orthogonal. I've considered doing something like this to mine and was curious to how it had worked out for you. Perhaps I'll give it a try in the near future. I have several different grits of diamond plates and abrasives.
 
Only the brown/medium spyderco stone will ever need flattening. I used a X-coarse DMT hone with great results, this stone is also 10 years old. Cleaning of the spyderco stones seems to be best done with Barkeepers friend and should be done after every sharpening or when it stops biting.
 
They are auto clave safe, I wonder if putting them into a self cleaning oven would clean them out.
 
The problem is not that they are filled. I wash it with bartenders friend before it gets too dirty. It still comes all the way clean. The problem is that the ceramic is becoming too smooth over time. A few shiny spots are forming.
 
If that's the case, then DMT coarse should take care of the problem in minutes. I use it to flatten my waterstones, no problem.
 
Are you using water for sharpening ? It helps float out the chips so it doesn't clog up so often. When it does us scouring powder.
 
michaelmcgo,
Are you saying that your problem is with the stone glazing? My information says that using water is one way to retard glazing, scrubbing with a scouring pad and abrasive powered cleanser is another and lapping the ceramic stones with a diamond stone to keep the pores open would be a third.
 
To eliminate the glazing on my ceramic, I've used wet/dry Sic (silicon carbide/carborundum) 220/300 grit sandpaper and standard Sic combintion benchstones in fine or medium grit the same way you'd use the diamond hone with the same success (you can get inexpensive 8" combo f/c stones from most hardware and woodworking stores for around $15). Using too fine of a grit sandpaper or stropping paste can actually change the grit of your fine grit ceramic to extra-fine if your not careful; error on the side of too coarse rather than too fine. Scrub the ceramic well afterward to prevent carry over scratching from the Sic grit when you use the ceramic to hone.

Be safe.

NJ
 
If they fail to perform, even after a long while, wouldn't the warranty take care of it? I was under the impression from reading past threads on these that the ceramics should last "forever" with normal use. I guess defining normal would be the issue, if it were to come up.
 
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