Thread: Slurry Stone Questions

To answer the OP's questions, You really don't need a slurry stone with the Norton's, or any synthetic hone for that matter. Some, like the Chosera provide a small hone for cleaning. Mine is a paperweight basically. I do the same as Gssixgun in his honing video's. I use a well worn dmt325. It's well worn from lapping hundreds of stones. A few figure 8's on the hone I'm using and your good to to. Two things: It provides cutting slurry, and helps keep your hones flat.

As far a Natural's go. Anything goes, really. You can experiment all you want. You can on Synthetics too, I just don't. There are no rules. Most guys that are proficient at using Jnats, for exapmple, use a variety of slurry stones or Naguras, and Tomonagura. With Jnats, Tomonagura, "A small piece of the same stone" is supposed to be crucial in the finishing process. I don't know about that either. Sometimes, in lieu of a tomonagura, an Atoma1200 plate can be use, or a Dmt, again well worn. You don't want to scratch the surface of those highly polished finishers.

Once you've got a good handle on the basics: setting a bevel, sharpening and finishing, you can experiment with your slurries. Nothing's set in stone......
Like "Jaswarb" said, he uses his Escher slurry on a phig, that's fine. You can use a C12k or Phig slurry stone on an Escher, or a Thuringian, if you don't have an Escher slurry.

Happy Honing....

Maybe this is addressed in the slury thread linked earlier, but here it is... You can raise a slurry on any grit of any stone to increase its cutting speed. Unless you work your way down through dilutions of that slurry, though, you'll reduce the maximum keeness you can get from that hone. This is because your edge is not only being abraded along the bevel side, as it would on a dry hone, but it is also colliding edge-on with the particles suspended in the slurry. The dilutions gradually take you back to the abrasion-only action of the unslurried hone, and to that hone's max keenness.

With some Jnats, the slurry breaks down with use, so you hone on finer and finer grit as you go. I do not know if you dilute on those hones.

Thanks for all your replies, folks. I think I'm going to enjoy this hobby!

I hope this isn't a silly question. Is a prep stone the same as a slurry stone ?

Only willful ignorance is silly.

Yes, more or less, a prep stone is the same as a slurry stone. It gets complicated when you get into the Jnats, where you might use a prep stone that isn't the same as your hone, because you want a different mix of grits at work. Generally, slurry stones are of the same type as the hone you're raising slurry on. Some are definitely incompatible; for example, you wouldn't mix a coticule slurry on a slate hone because the cutting crystals have such different shapes.

You can use something completely neutral, like a DMT plate or wallet card, to raise a slurry on anything. You want a well-worn plate or the diamonds can scratch up your hone pretty bad. My travel hone is a slender combo coticule bout, and I carry a little DMT keychain hone to raise a slurry on it.

Original-stock Frictionite00s came with a little rubstone whose purpose was to deglaze the hone surface if you loaded it with swarf from honing dry. I don't think you'd call that a prepstone.

Hope this clarifies for you. Best wishes.