Venev Orion series vs Centaur series

[Bluemantra]

I’m looking at getting the Hapstone M3 with Venev stones. I’m looking at getting the venev centaur stones because they are double sided and more economical for the same number of grits i plan on getting. My questions is will the dual sided stones work well in the hapstone given they’re not like the Venev Orion stones made specifically for the edge pro stone holder.

 

[sickpuppy1]

I use the Hapstone M2, which I guess just the older model of M3. But it is set up to hold Edgepro stones and float end stones. That said, the Edgepro notch on the end is a no questions asked fit as they fit so well. The centaur stones can move I guess. I have one double sided 600/800 stone like the centaurs and its seems to hold in place well. I bought my Diamond Matrix Stones one at a time after getting the basic SIC stone with the unit. I go to the DMS every time now. So much faster and last damn near forever and cut soooo well.
So yeah, that flat end stones will work and hold. just make sure they are set in there well.

 

[Bluemantra]

I use the Hapstone M2, which I guess just the older model of M3. But it is set up to hold Edgepro stones and float end stones. That said, the Edgepro notch on the end is a no questions asked fit as they fit so well. The centaur stones can move I guess. I have one double sided 600/800 stone like the centaurs and its seems to hold in place well. I bought my Diamond Matrix Stones one at a time after getting the basic SIC stone with the unit. I go to the DMS every time now. So much faster and last damn near forever and cut soooo well.
So yeah, that flat end stones will work and hold. just make sure they are set in there well.

Thanks for the info. I went ahead and ordered the Venev Centaur stones mostly due to the cost savings. I went with the 240/400 and 800/1200 both 100%. I know I’m going to need a coarser stone, but the 80/150 was sold out. I may try out a diamond matrix stone in extra coarse as well.

 

[s4mpson]

Thanks for the info. I went ahead and ordered the Venev Centaur stones mostly due to the cost savings. I went with the 240/400 and 800/1200 both 100%. I know I’m going to need a coarser stone, but the 80/150 was sold out. I may try out a diamond matrix stone in extra coarse as well.

What I've done previously is to get the 6x1" Centaur and cut small notches on both sides (4 total per stone) to accommodate the 45deg notch on the edge pro. Accurately notching it and getting some different spring/spacers pieces work perfectly. I have lightly modified the non-stationary stone holder on my EP, though does not interfere whatsoever with using actual mounted EP style stones. I've done this to many different stones (and many strops of various material) from DMT diasharp plates, to DMT 4" interrupted 'stones' (I guess for an 'aligner system'), atoma plates, Venev 4" spyderco ceramic benchstones, and even the ole el cheapo harbor freight diamond hone plate things. All of them work well and are as accurate as your measuring tools.

Primary reason on the Venev stones was, of course, cost and also I wanted a 2000OCB to use on an EP as well as freehand. Hard to beat like $40ish for 2 grits and able use in guided or by hand. There is 3x the amount of abrasive on the Orion stones (3mm vs 1mm), but there is plenty of use in the 1mm Centaur stuff. A note on the coarser stones, I find that I tend to use a 'traditional' diamond plate for the lowest of the low grits. When I'm chewing off material with a sub-200 grit stone I want to use as few strokes as possible and not require any stone maintenance. I feel the low grit is better served on the ole electoplated 'stones', like a dmt XXC, atoma 140, gritomatic 'basic' diamond set (bonus with these is that they are only .75" wide, as opposed to the standard 1", which can be useful) or CKTG 80/140. But ultimately it comes down to personal preference and what works best for you of course.

The whole DIY guided sharpener hacking is how I got into using an EP. I was given an EP apex with one stone for free, being stubborn/lazy I just let it sit in the box for like 2 years, and I've only ever sharpened freehand for 20+ years, so I wasn't in a rush (and that's easy when you've spent exactly $0, well, I paid shipping). Planned on messing around with it at some point and primarily using it to set clean, accurate bevel angles and do mostly hand from there. Well, one thing led to another and before ya know it I'm playing a game of lets see how far we can push the DIY edgepro game (the answer is 'pretty damn far', though I caved for decent stones along the way and likely will add that multipoint guide doohicky as that cost/benefit ratio is way in favor of buying it).

 

[Bluemantra]

What I've done previously is to get the 6x1" Centaur and cut small notches on both sides (4 total per stone) to accommodate the 45deg notch on the edge pro. Accurately notching it and getting some different spring/spacers pieces work perfectly. I have lightly modified the non-stationary stone holder on my EP, though does not interfere whatsoever with using actual mounted EP style stones. I've done this to many different stones (and many strops of various material) from DMT diasharp plates, to DMT 4" interrupted 'stones' (I guess for an 'aligner system'), atoma plates, Venev 4" spyderco ceramic benchstones, and even the ole el cheapo harbor freight diamond hone plate things. All of them work well and are as accurate as your measuring tools.

Primary reason on the Venev stones was, of course, cost and also I wanted a 2000OCB to use on an EP as well as freehand. Hard to beat like $40ish for 2 grits and able use in guided or by hand. There is 3x the amount of abrasive on the Orion stones (3mm vs 1mm), but there is plenty of use in the 1mm Centaur stuff. A note on the coarser stones, I find that I tend to use a 'traditional' diamond plate for the lowest of the low grits. When I'm chewing off material with a sub-200 grit stone I want to use as few strokes as possible and not require any stone maintenance. I feel the low grit is better served on the ole electoplated 'stones', like a dmt XXC, atoma 140, gritomatic 'basic' diamond set (bonus with these is that they are only .75" wide, as opposed to the standard 1", which can be useful) or CKTG 80/140. But ultimately it comes down to personal preference and what works best for you of course.

The whole DIY guided sharpener hacking is how I got into using an EP. I was given an EP apex with one stone for free, being stubborn/lazy I just let it sit in the box for like 2 years, and I've only ever sharpened freehand for 20+ years, so I wasn't in a rush (and that's easy when you've spent exactly $0, well, I paid shipping). Planned on messing around with it at some point and primarily using it to set clean, accurate bevel angles and do mostly hand from there. Well, one thing led to another and before ya know it I'm playing a game of lets see how far we can push the DIY edgepro game (the answer is 'pretty damn far', though I caved for decent stones along the way and likely will add that multipoint guide doohicky as that cost/benefit ratio is way in favor of buying it).

I’ve thought about cutting notches in as well. Can you post some pictures of how you did it?

 

[s4mpson]

I’ve thought about cutting notches in as well. Can you post some pictures of how you did it?

Not-so-ironically enough I actually just got a Centaur stone in the mail today. I'll snap a few shots of the stone/EP etc and post em up.

 

[s4mpson]

Alright, I took some pics... too many. So, I'm going to just post up a link to an imgur album (Here: https://imgur.com/a/RwFffsR), what's going on should generally be apparent.

Here is the stone

You can see the cuts on the end above pic and next pic(s).

When I mount it in the EP there are a couple options. Previously I had used some curing plastic putty stuff to make a little clip/spacer that fit into the grooves in the stone and the EP mount. I broke it recently and haven't made a new one yet, instead I carved one out of balsa wood (it kinda just happened) or, the easier option, is to use a little piece of poster putty. I have a couple different springs/spacers/washers I use/can change out to give varying amounts of tension, along with the spacer/putty it's rock solid. I have modded the EP mount a bit to retain some other stones, though the centaur stones are a bit too tall and the other method(s) is more than enough.

The stone sits flat and no putty is between the stone and the bottom of the mount, just a weird angle in the pic.

Mounted EP stones still mount flawlessly.

Then some other plates/stones/strops/whatever I can mount/made.

Overall everything works perfectly. Different sized stones/plates require changing a spring/spacer, but that takes all of 15 seconds. I use a combination of stones mounted for EP and other various 'stones', similar to a universal stone holder type thing in a tsprof or other style guided sharpener. I've also made a removable magnet(s) (the piece of wood under the table) and a small knife attachment with a piece of plastic/G10 and some longer hardware (don't have a pic, but can get a couple if so desired). I enjoy the simplicity and flexibility of the EP style over a clamped system and DIY hacks make it even better.

I use some small diamond files/stones to cut the grooves in the venev stone. I set the stone in the mount and mark the exact location of the retention clips and then grind away with whatever appropriate tool. I would suggest using all hand tools, power tools can get out of control, unless you have some type of mill or mill mounting on a drill press, but if you have a mill you likely don't need me to show you how I'm hacking an EP.

 

[Bluemantra]

Very cool! I’ve got some small hand files as well and that was my initial thought on how to cut the notches in the venev stones. Thank you for the detailed pictures. I know they helped me and I’m sure they will help other members who come across this post. This is going to be my next project. I use honing oil and it can definitely get slick during sharpening.