- Joined
- Apr 3, 2012
- Messages
- 494
I ordered a few sets of the ruby stones from Congress Tools a week or two ago after hearing about them from another forum member. Decided i would write up a quick review. I took some pictures of the progression of a bevel going through the different grits and if people have any interest in seeing them i'll try and add them to this post later on.
I found very little info about the stones before ordering so i decided to get 2x the 60, 150 and 320 grits (for somewhere around $30 shipped. Not a bad deal for 6 stones). It's now clear that the 60 grit rods were unnecessary. They're usable but they seem to degrade quicker than the other grits, the corners are unusable and i haven't noticed any difference in cutting speed over the 150 grit stones. The 150 grit stones cut fairly aggressively but not so much that you'll grind a recurve off before you notice it happening. I've been able to set a 15 degree bevel on most knives in about 10 minutes with the 150 grit. The only knife i've had problems with is my crkt sting which i'm still working on after more than half an hour of steady grinding. The knife is incredibly thick behind the edge though so maybe that's not all that surprising. Both the 60 and 150 stones fit in the sharpmaker slightly tighter than the stock stones, not tight enough to be a problem though. The 150 grit leaves a fairly aggressive scratch pattern, when you move on to the 320 grit it's more of a haze (finer than the scratch pattern on most factory bevels). My 320 grit stones are too small for the sharpmaker base. As a result, they rest at a lower angle than the other stones. I measure them sharpening at a little over 17 degrees when they're in the 15 degree slots. I can still get good edges because I've been putting 20 degree microbevels on all my blades but it's annoying for a few different reasons. Cosmetically, because they rest at 17 degrees, I'm not able to polish the entire back bevel (150 grit to the medium ceramics is too much of a jump). They're also useless for setting a microbevel (which i only learned after about 3 knives). I'd say that the size of the stones is just the luck of the draw except that both my 320 grits seem to be the same size. Maybe they just cut the 320's smaller?
I know there were a bunch of other things i wanted to say about stones but it's getting late and I've been staring at a poorly written econ textbook for the last 5 hours straight and I'm drawing a blank. Maybe I'll add more to this review tomorrow. Anyways, get the ruby stones. They're well worth the money and really make the sharpmaker so much more versatile. If you have any questions let me know and a special thanks to the forum member that turned me on to these stones (drawing a blank on his name too)
I found very little info about the stones before ordering so i decided to get 2x the 60, 150 and 320 grits (for somewhere around $30 shipped. Not a bad deal for 6 stones). It's now clear that the 60 grit rods were unnecessary. They're usable but they seem to degrade quicker than the other grits, the corners are unusable and i haven't noticed any difference in cutting speed over the 150 grit stones. The 150 grit stones cut fairly aggressively but not so much that you'll grind a recurve off before you notice it happening. I've been able to set a 15 degree bevel on most knives in about 10 minutes with the 150 grit. The only knife i've had problems with is my crkt sting which i'm still working on after more than half an hour of steady grinding. The knife is incredibly thick behind the edge though so maybe that's not all that surprising. Both the 60 and 150 stones fit in the sharpmaker slightly tighter than the stock stones, not tight enough to be a problem though. The 150 grit leaves a fairly aggressive scratch pattern, when you move on to the 320 grit it's more of a haze (finer than the scratch pattern on most factory bevels). My 320 grit stones are too small for the sharpmaker base. As a result, they rest at a lower angle than the other stones. I measure them sharpening at a little over 17 degrees when they're in the 15 degree slots. I can still get good edges because I've been putting 20 degree microbevels on all my blades but it's annoying for a few different reasons. Cosmetically, because they rest at 17 degrees, I'm not able to polish the entire back bevel (150 grit to the medium ceramics is too much of a jump). They're also useless for setting a microbevel (which i only learned after about 3 knives). I'd say that the size of the stones is just the luck of the draw except that both my 320 grits seem to be the same size. Maybe they just cut the 320's smaller?
I know there were a bunch of other things i wanted to say about stones but it's getting late and I've been staring at a poorly written econ textbook for the last 5 hours straight and I'm drawing a blank. Maybe I'll add more to this review tomorrow. Anyways, get the ruby stones. They're well worth the money and really make the sharpmaker so much more versatile. If you have any questions let me know and a special thanks to the forum member that turned me on to these stones (drawing a blank on his name too)
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