SiC stone help, opinions and theories thread.

Strigamort said:
Ah, to take with you to sharpen others knives. That makes plenty of sense. :)

I sharpen knives for guys (from work) all the time, but I just bring them home for the evening. It stuns them when they get a razor sharp knife back. I'm sure you know exactly what I mean. Non knife people are pretty happy with a dismally dull edge.

So I put a very thin layer of vasoline on the stone, heat up the toaster oven just to warm, turned it off and put the stone in there. I dunno if that small an amount will do anything but we'll see.

In the meantime I have another question. I see people say that to clean an oil stone they put a little fresh oil on it and wipe it off. What are you using to wipe it with? I tried a microfiber towel (stupid), paper napkins, a washcloth... no matter what I try it leaves all manner of nasty lint and fuzzballs behind. They're a pain to clean off themselves! Jeez, I feel like I need help with every little thing...
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Sometimes I'll use a paper towel, or a piece of old T shirt to wipe it off. If there's a ton of lint I give it a wipe with the palm of my hand, otherwise the oil floats most of the fibers/lint right off the stone. IMHO this is another plus for oil, water based products leave the fibers on the surface for the most part and you can feel them being run over when grinding.
Also, when finishing a quick sharpening job I'll frequently put a small amount of oil on the stone and agitate it with my fingertip till all the mud is suspended in the oil. Place a sheet of copy paper flat on the stone and drag it back and forth a few times while gently pressing down with your palm on the surface. Flip that sheet over and wrap it around the stone for a strop, rubbing the mud you've picked up into an even smear. Much of the time I'll leave this sheet right where it is and store the stone like that. Keeps it clean and I have a fast touch-up strop handy if needed. In any event, a sheet of paper wrapped around the stone is an easy way to keep it clean and it soaks up loose oil and dirt as it sits.

My experience is that only a small amount of vaseline is needed - just smear some across the surface and squeegee it in with your fingers/palm and don't worry about wiping it off. The mineral oil will mingle with it pretty quick, you'll never know it was there.
 
Thanks for the tips on the paper strop, I'll try that as soon as I get that far with a knife.

I'm loving this stone for all that it is, but I know for sure that I won't be happy with an edge that I can achieve using only the fine side. Since the ACE stone is so much smoother I'll need to experiment with that as a next step. I'm use to going through an assortment of stones on guided systems, ending with stones over 1000 grit.

Btw, after looking at a bunch of cheap stones online I'm now going to assume that the ACE stone is SiC. I know you can't go on looks alone, but I guess you can't go on a product description for a totally different product either, and there are many many more SiC stones that look just like the ACE piece than there are alox. There just aren't many stones in alox that look black.
I've tried storing these stones wrapped in paper over night and they seem to leach out a lot(!) of oil. I don't know yet if oil retention in a is a matter of time (and use), but for now I'm thinking about finding a small plastic box to keep my saturated stones in.

The pet jelly was another fine idea! It's working perfectly so far and I wish I had done it to start with since I've already used so much oil. I bought another big jug of USP oil yesterday. Granted they are super cheap, but it seems like a waste.
 
Those stones must be more porous than Norton's premium stones as mine don't leach oil while sitting in their box. You can find Norton's well built plastic boxes with rubber feet to fit your stones at sharpeningsupplies.com . DM
 
David Martin said:
Those stones must be more porous than Norton's premium stones as mine don't leach oil while sitting in their box. You can find Norton's well built plastic boxes with rubber feet to fit your stones at sharpeningsupplies.com . DM
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If you already said, I forgot. Do you wrap them in a paper towel? I just realized that I wrote paper, I meant a paper towel. Actually, the ACE stone was put back in its blister pack and the paper backing soaked up a lot of the oil from that stone too.

I just bought a very coarse edge pro stone so I'll be using the bench stones for very heavy metal removal, then switching to the guided system for tidying up and finishing the bevel.
 
No, they sit in the hard plastic sharpening box and would show oil in the bottom should it leach out. I sharpen with oil and after using I clean it with paint thinner and wipe the excess off with a shop cloth. Then remove the lint with my hand and return the stones to the box for storing. Then at next use I've not noticed oil in the bottom of the box. DM
 
Email to Saint Gobain:

Hello, my questions are regarding Norton 6" sharpening stones, models # 87933 and 87935. My understanding is that the difference between the "economy" stone (87933) and the High Quality stone are that the HQ stone comes pre treated with lubrication. Are there other differences? Also, can you tell me what the treatment consists of? Specifically what is the substance that you pre soak the stone with? While looking at the economy stone at Home Depot I noticed that some were made in Brazil and some Mexico. The Mexican stones were actually cut much larger, but were much lighter in color. Is the lighter color a result of a lower concentration of SiC or is it just from binders, or maybe the firing process? I'm an enthusiast knife sharpener, and all of this is rather fascinating to me and my friends. Thank you for your time in addressing my questions. Anthony

Reply from Saint Gobain:

Honestly, I see no difference between these parts. The Economy stone is made is Brazil as you said (labor costs are lower in Brazil.) In theory, the quality should be the same whether they are made in Brazil or Mexico.

Both products should be oil-filled prior to shipping. Mineral Oil is the oil type.

Thanks, Eric

Eric W. Fields Saint-Gobain Abrasives Technical Support Representative 2770 W. Washington St. Stephenville, TX 76401 (800) 551-4413 ext. 6563 Fax (800) 551-4416 Eric.W.Fields@saint-gobain.com

They definitely aren't pre-filled (as you guys know) and I'm not sure that he really answered the questions. I dunno, maybe he's just busy. I'm just going to let it be since I'm happy with the stone I've got. I'm still curious, but probably a little more than they are.
 
I can't help but wonder if the Saint-Gobain representatives weren't involved with, or even knowledgable of some of Norton's product line, prior to taking ownership of Norton. This latest reply leaves the same impression that I'd had before, in asking my questions to the same people (including Eric Fields, whom replied to you). Sounds sort of like they're still trying to sort out all the stuff inherited from Norton, with or without current documentation of how/where/with what these stones were manufactured. On the one hand, I'm liking what is being produced under the Norton brand; seems to be good value for the $$. On the other hand, it's sort of disconcerting that it may be hard to find authoritative answers to questions raised about the product. Guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed, and continue hoping there won't be any degredation in quality going forward.

Thanks for the update, Strig. :thumbup:


David
 
Thanks, Strig and David for these e-mails and efforts. Still, please have some perseverance and keep e-mailing folks until we get someone knowledgeable on these products. It's a big company and as a result thus may be challenging to garner correct information. Yet, someone knows. Plus, don't go for the whole ball of wax in one e-mail with 5 questions. Make it easy on these gents with no more than one or two questions in each e-mail extending for several e-mails. In this manner it gives them time to dig and think about their answers. Even drop it in that we're discussing these products on a knife forum and some guys would like to know. Then they may realize the bigger picture. DM
 
We already know their not pre-oiled and strongly suspect they're mfg. of different materials. All my current Norton stones are not pre-oiled but I've purchased some in 2008 that were. DM
 
Email to SG (I hope you guys don't mind me speaking on our behalf)

--------------------------
Eric,

Thank you very much for your time. I'm going to include a link that better explains the questions and answers we seek. Please bear in mind that this is an informal discussion amongst like minded enthusiasts that very much enjoy your products and will continue to do so regardless of whether or not you have the time to answer our questions. I think I speak for all of us when I say that I hope you can. ;)

Anthony Alms

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1054374

P.S. If you follow the links in the thread I'm sending you'll find more on the exchange between members of the board and yourself.

Sent from my Kindle Fire
 
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