Thread: Ceramic Stone?

I go to a local knife shop from time to time to check on new arrivals. (str8’s) In speaking with the old man that runs the shop he insists that a ceramic sharpening stone is hands-down better than any water stone. Anyone have an opinion on this?

I guess I hold his opinion in high regard as he sharpens knives for nearly every major resort in Las Vegas and also sells quite a selection of str8 razor stuff. He fixed a small nick in my razor and it was impressive to me. Before I buy a ceramic stone I want to make sure I am making a wise purchase.

Thanks fella’s

The only ceramic hone I know of folks using with a str8 is the Spyderco Ultra Fine bench hone. It is around 2k grit IIRC. Pretty aggressive for a str8 hone. Other than that, I've no idea. Which stone was he referring to?

Jeff

Well, pritty much every barber hone is ceramic, so your friend was refering to them maybe...

I started out with a ceramic hone (8K) roughly 2"X5" . I regret buying it . . . I could not get a feel for the edge as I was honing. So I bought a Norton 4K/8K wet stone and I am very happy with it. I get great results with the Norton, and have since tried using the ceramic again but still no "feel" for the edge. It seems too hard, is the only way I can put it. But to each his own as they say, you may prefer a ceramic.

Emil

that seems to be the consensus... It goes to show that if you follow the advice of the guys on THIS site you can't go wrong...

Gabriel

There are some ceramic water stones available from the japan woodworker. I think the website is www.japanwoodworker.com These ceramic stones are made by shapton. I purchased one in 12K, I have seen in other threads that a few members has the shapton in 15k. There is even a 30k if you want to spend $475.00

Like I said, I have the 2.3/4" X 8.1/4" X 5/8" 12000 grit. I dont care for it, I prefer to stick with the 4/8K norton. I am doing just fine not honing any finer than the norton.

"Ceramic hone" is a pretty general term covering a lot of different hones. My guess is that your friend is referring to classic barber hones. The two best sources for these are a lady by the name of "Tilly". She has a bunch of these available.
Her email is redtrader99@fastmail.fm and she also sells on Ebay as redtrader99.
The other source for these is Ebay. You will nedd both a medium and a fine hone.

The modern Spyderco ultra-fine hone is about 6000-8000 grit in my experience. Some people really like them, I do not.

The best hone for me is the Norton 4000/8000 3 inch wide hone. It is the easiest to use,keep flat and clean and cuts the fastest. A number of otherss will agree. There are finer grits available but they are a luxury, not a necessity.

Dammit...I guess I'm going to have to buy the 4/8k Norton. It seems to be the consensus that it's the best stone out there for straights. I'm using the Spyderco UF ceramic now, and I like it, but I'm always looking for something better. The Spyderco's really more for knives. I did get a hone from Tilly, but really haven't figured out the "feel" of it yet. It's a Premier dry travel hone, NOS, supposedly fine enough for final honing before stropping. The Spyderco works, though, but it's veeeerrrrry slow-cutting. I would recommend it to someone just learning to hone a razor (like me), and it's half the price of the Norton. I'm also building a Handamerican leather honing set. I'm torn as to which method to use; Norton or leather honing.

I've had good results with the Spyderco UF ceramic. I don't use it as a finishing hone, though.