Thread: Suehiro Stones

The Suehiro 1k/3ks I've used have always been blue on one side (1k) and off-white on the other (3k). Adding confusion to this that the Cerax line on the German sites are sometimes shown as blue for 1k, identical in color to the traditional Suehiro synth, and sometimes brick red like a King. And for American and Asian markets, the 1k Cerax is sometimes shown as white. My experience with the Suehiros has only been with the traditional blue/off-white combos. To me, they do not seem softer than King stones and it is easier to remove standing swarf from their surfaces. One cannot add a lot of pressure to them when honing, but it's not like I've ever dug into one while honing.

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

The Suehiro 1k/3ks I've used have always been blue on one side (1k) and off-white on the other (3k). Adding confusion to this that the Cerax line on the German sites are sometimes shown as blue for 1k, identical in color to the traditional Suehiro synth, and sometimes brick red like a King. And for American and Asian markets, the 1k Cerax is sometimes shown as white. My experience with the Suehiros has only been with the traditional blue/off-white combos. To me, they do not seem softer than King stones and it is easier to remove standing swarf from their surfaces. One cannot add a lot of pressure to them when honing, but it's not like I've ever dug into one while honing.

I guess I need to add that, the red 1k stone, akamon I think is known, is the softest, what I was talking about, for me.
For the finer of the classic not cerax line, I feel like they too are softer than ceramic or magnesia (or other binders like it) stones.
I don't really mind, but honing a good knife on the 1k with a little pressure, and the slurry starts to flow everywhere. It's not unpleasant and I have seen it on natural stones like few Aoto. And the haze surface it leaves is awesome, if you've got pattern welded/Damascus/san mai/hamon etc. steel/in your steel, it looks awesome, few stones can give such contrast. Still, if I'm the only one who thinks that, I guess it would be a YMMV case.