Thread: Sypderco Ultrafine Hone question

I have a 3 x 8 sypderco ultrafine hone. it’s as smooth as glass. When I use it (dry as per the recommendations), no matter how many strokes I do, I don’t notice ANY residue or tiny steel shavings of my dovo special being left on the hone. is that normal? Does it mean that the bevel isn’t set correctly and that the edge isn’t resting on the hone at the right angle and therefore not creating any steel scrapings? Its strange b/c I definitely get residue from both sides of the Norton 4000/8000 stone.

any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

I used to have the same hone but the narrow version and I would get a grey/black swarf appearing very quickly on the hone. I would wash the swarf off with an abrasive cream cleaner and a brush.

I can only suspect that you are too light on the blade although this is usually a good thing.

It's possible that the surface is clogged with something. Try scrubbing it and go again.

Can not think of anything else.

really? wow. i'm not getting ANY swarf whatsoever. i guess i must be doing something wrong, although i can't imagine what. i even got the bigger one just to avoid having to do the X pattern to make sure i wasn't doing anything wrong.

Is your hone really smooth? Mine is literally as smooth as a pane of glass. I’ve been using it dry….how about you? should i wash it with something before i use it? maybe there's some coating on it that needs to be washed off???

As for cleaning it after i'm done with it, since there’s no swarf, I just wipe it on my hand and it looks like its never been used. On this site and other, people always say that the sypderco is a fast-cuttting stone, so I was expecting to see lots of swarf. Is the fact that I’m not getting any a cause for concern?

The UF does glaze up pretty quickly. I suggest you do as English described and clean the hone with an abrasive cleanser. See if that helps.

I use abrasive cleaner to clean the surface. It will load up fast. If the grain is too smoothed, I will lap the surface with an UF dia hone. That brings it back to life quick.(lightly on the lapping)

I hve also used water on these hones, I like the resulting effect. Keeps the edge flat and seems to not load up as fast.