Honing with spyderco stones

I’ve been messing around lately with spyderco stones and specifically the Fine and Ultra Fine. I was a coticule guy for quite some time but after I found out how much keener a blade could get using other methods (in most not all cases) I decided to drop the obsession with them and venture on to something else. Not to say I couldn’t get good edges off them. There were a few out of 50-60 that really were excellent finishers and most were vintage pre 2008 or so before the soft flaky stones were being sold.

I digress I wanted something reliable and that left a wicked edge. Options were endless. High grit waterstone, JNats, eschers charnleys, arks, the list goes on. I have had many different stones and sold just as many. I’ve only re bought a few and included in that list was the spyderco F and UF.

The pros are they are relatively maintenance free. No lapping, can be used dry, with water or oil. Users preference. Some people do opt to lap them but I never did and have had great results. To each their own on that.

Cons are the can leave somewhat of a chippy edge if used incorrectly.. to many strokes. Remedied by a run on the thumb nail and some more light laps usually.

Now to the main event sorry for the long introduction. I had a razor that was shaving poorly off a coticule. Dulled it on the edge of my spyderco Fine. Used it dry and did laps until it could easily shave my arm hair all the way along. I then jumped to the ultra fine and continued doing x strokes on a dry stone until it would tree top arm hairs along the edge. At this point I killed the edge to remove and microchips that may have occurred and did some ultra light finishing laps. From there I gave it 5 licks on some crox to tame any harshness and I’ve got to say it was damn near 10/10.

I’ve found it’s really hard to beat a well done spyderco UF edge. Just my opinion but for a razor with harder steel and some faith the edge is wonderful. Ymmv and all that. This post wasn’t to knock coticules or any stone for that matter just to let you know in 2020 with all the options out there that there is someone who still uses the spyderco Fine and Ultra Fine to hone.

Oh and I forgot to mention the clean up is amazing just slip them back into their cases and put them away :)

I have no experience with Spyderco stones, but have heard good things about them in terms of sharpening knives. They are ceramic, are they not?

Wonder how they compare to the Shapton glass.

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Originally Posted by DZEC

I have no experience with Spyderco stones, but have heard good things about them in terms of sharpening knives. They are ceramic, are they not?

Wonder how they compare to the Shapton glass.

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They are one solid piece of fired ceramic. Very very hard. Shapton glass cut faster and at a quantified grit rating ie. 1000,4000,8000,16000 etc. I’ve had both and enjoyed using both.

I’ve not used them, however I can appreciate that you’ve done much experimenting and found the edge that you like the most. I can’t make up my mind. I swap finishers around all the time. You make it sound simple and refined.

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Thanks for your post, it will help others in the future. :)
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A number of years ago when all this experimentation with hones began I tried the Spyderco stones. One important fact I learned is that they do not have an inherent grit. The grit is created by the use of a diamond wheel applied in a specific pattern at the factory. This info comes from a guy who worked at Spyderco and knew how they were made. The consequence is that you never lap a Spyderco because it changes the grit .... permanently.

Hope this helps :)

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Originally Posted by randydance062449

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Thanks for your post, it will help others in the future. :)
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A number of years ago when all this experimentation with hones began I tried the Spyderco stones. One important fact I learned is that they do not have an inherent grit. The grit is created by the use of a diamond wheel applied in a specific pattern at the factory. This info comes from a guy who worked at Spyderco and knew how they were made. The consequence is that you never lap a Spyderco because it changes the grit .... permanently.

Hope this helps :)

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Thanks Randy! Yes I also heard the fine stone is just fired and left as is and the ultra fine is dressed with a diamond cupped wheel which gives it sort of a surface texture you can see but cannot feel.

Due to this lack of inherent grit I have yet to see someone spell out a good way to get an edge with the two stones. Unlike the waterstone 4-8k method which is tried and true and has a large following, lesser known/used stones often don’t have as much information for their use. Especially regarding their use on straight razors as spyderco users are generally knife people who unsurprisingly are also spyderco fanboys and have their knives etc. I was hoping to help anyone who had these stones and wasn’t sure where to start after the bevel was set.

I’ve scoured multiple forums and while more information about the hones themselves or just finishing on the UF is abundant, other information was lacking. I hope this helps

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If you can, please comment on the methods used by others to clean those hones. If I recall correctly, ( and probably don't) a scouring powder such as AJAX can be used.
When I try them again I will probably used a very thin oil or kerosene.

There are many methods used to clean spyderco stones. Most commonly like you mentioned is an abrasive powder (many including myself prefer bar keepers friend) and a scouring pad. Works very well. Others use a pencil eraser or a mr clean magic eraser. Some people even use tape to remove sticky bits of metal from their stone.

Kind of funny.

Researching Spyderco stones for knife sharpening is what got me to the straight razor sites and got me into straights. I never did purchase the Spydercos though. Just dumb luck that there was a lot of talk about them on the razor sites at the time that I was looking.