Thread: "Super" Stone Fail!

I know many of us use the Naniwa Super Stones, and to be quite honest, up until today I have been very pleased. Very pleased. They are great stones. But today my faith has been shaken.

I bought the combo 3K/8K (3/8) stone to save some space in my progression... but I am thinking that might have been a really bad call.

I don't "soak" my stones for very long. Generally speaking, I place my 3/8 in the sink while I work with my 1K. Then place my 10K in the sink when I begin using my 8K etc., etc. So the max it's in the sink is 5 to ten minutes (I only hone one razor at a time).

Today however, I saw a stream of bubbles coming out from the seams when I put it in the sink. I immediately took it out, but didn't think too much more about it until I began working with it. When I looked closer, I noted that the bonding agent was disintegrating and leaving a bit of an opening where the glue once was. No big deal really.

I did my work and when I was done cleaned it off with my lapping stone and placed it on my "drying" rack to let it dry with all the others.

It was when I was putting them away that I noted I had a problem. Not only was the glue disintegrating, the two bonded stones were pulling away from each other!! Massive fail!

Here have a look:


Bonds going.


Massive warping!


I have never heard of this happening before!? I am going to contact the company who sold it to me with a link to this thread to see if they have an in with Naniwa - hopefully they can return it for a refund because flattening this out, assuming it doesn't warp even more, is going to take quite a few hones out of its life.

What a disappointment...

I think if you soak superstones they warp. I usually just splash and go without trouble. Sorry about your stone.

Michael

I thought you weren't susposed to soak these? Just spray with water and go?
I am sure some hone guru will be along shortly to answer...

I think the issue is two-fold.

First, you may have been soaking it for too long. That one is kind of obvious in hindsight given what happened.

Second, the SuperStones can swell in weird ways even if they are only soaked for brief periods. I started a thread about this a few years ago. If you look at the photos, you will see that the swelling is not uniform along the entire length of the hone. When you have variable swelling in one hone glued to another hone that is also experiencing variable swelling there is going to be some tension between them. I suspect this is what happened.

I think the only prevention for this is to keep soaking times to a minimum. Of course that doesn't help in your case. If they were mine, and I could not get them replaced, I would try to finish the job and get them separated completely with more soaking and dental floss.

Yeah, I too just spray and go on my Nani 12k. Does that apply to the lower grits too.?

Hate to see that happen but I do believe Naniwa Super Stones should not be soaked like a Norton. All I do is spray some water on mine before use.

Bob

I use choseras and suehiros and NEVER soak them just spray and hone. The soaking as was said causes them to swell. If you lap them then soak then you have a warped stone.

Its funny - since this happened, I have read just about every bit of litterateur out there from 4 stores that sell them. They all say they don't need to be soaked, but none say not to soak em!

The box says nothing !

Originally Posted by Chevhead

I thought you weren't susposed to soak these? Just spray with water and go?
I am sure some hone guru will be along shortly to answer...

Your not.

Dave, I'm sorry dude.

I used to "soak" them for literally under 2 minutes, but then stopped after being advised.

So sorry, man. I have that same combo and it filled the regimen quite nicely.

It seems that the two stone are better off separated than together. At least they split along the seam between them instead of cracking one half or the other into pieces.