Medium Bench Stone

[ZMW]

My first spyderco bench stone came in today. Medium stone. I ordered it from the evil Amazon! But, the stone has one very smooth side, but the other side has 1-2 small gouges. Running the knife blade over them gives you that cringy feeling like nails on a chalk board.

What is a good way to smooth out any divots our gouges in the Medium Bench stone? Thanks!

[JD Spydo]

There should not be those types of irregularities or defects in that stone and I would contact Spyderco ASAP about those problems. Please don't try to fix that yourself!!! This is one of many reasons I don't deal with Amazon. I can't tell you how many people have told me that the stuff they get from Amazon many times that has problems with it. Next time get your Spyderco products through one of the more reputable knife dealers or sporting good sources. I've never had any problems with New Graham or GP whenever I've gotten replacement stones for my Sharpmaker or any other Spyderco product.

I would sure take it up with Spyderco themselves instead of Amazon because I've had at least 5 people in the past year tell me of the complicated dealings they've had with Amazon. Back around 2005 I got a Spyderco 302 Benchstone in FINE grit that had ripples and waves on one side that I got from an online dealer. I sent it directly to Spyderco and got it replaced immediately. Just call Spyderco on their toll free number and you shouldn't have a problem.

[ZMW]

One side of the stone seems pretty flawless. Do you think I will need or want the other side down the road? If not, I will just keep it. But, if using that other side will come in handy then I will follow your recommendation

[blues]

I'd have amazon replace the stone. They've always been great in my long years of experience dealing with their customer service. Some issues are beyond their control, but replacement isn't one of them.

...But...

Either way, just get it replaced. It's nice to have both sides. Less down time to clean the surface if you're in the middle of a job. Just flip it over and get to work.

[ZMW]

Copy...

[ZMW]

Well, since I am fiddler - I took my triangle brown rod, the corner, and tried to even out the gouges. To be honest, it worked pretty well. That side is not 100% perfect, but I can glide a blade over smoothly now. I will fiddle a bit more and maybe I can save a trip to UPS and make it work

[JD Spydo]

One side of the stone seems pretty flawless. Do you think I will need or want the other side down the road? If not, I will just keep it. But, if using that other side will come in handy then I will follow your recommendation

Both sides should be flawless>> but due to the complicated production processes that they make those ceramic sharpening stones they do occasionally find defects. I've even had a couple of 204 Sharpmaker rods I had to send back about 10 years ago. I know it's aggravating and time consuming but you want those Spyderco 302 benchstones to be perfectly flat and true.

Like I said earlier I got a "FINE" grit Spyderco 302 Benchstone from a popular online knife dealer that had a ripple effect on one side and I just went directly to Spyderco and they made it right immediately. My FINE Stone had some type of ripples on one side>> but the replacement stone was perfect and I'm still using it today. Also in the past back around 2002 I did get a medium stone myself that had problems that I got from a local dealer who always had a booth at the Kansas City Gun Shows. He had me meet him at his home here locally and just gave me another one.

People in the business know that those Spyderco ceramic stones won't even work right unless they are perfect on both sides. And that's especially true with those Spyderco 302 Benchstones because being perfectly flat and perfectly smooth is essential for them to work right. It's unfortunate that a few of them don't come out right in the manufacturing process. But from what I've been told it's a pretty demanding process to get those stones to come out right.

[Bloke]

What is a good way to smooth out any divots our gouges in the Medium Bench stone? Thanks!

Hey ZMW, I’ve never tried to flatten any Spyderco stones but I flatten all my SiC stones and bonded diamond hones with loose grit SiC and water on a sheet of glass.

I think the white ceramics would be an up hill battle but the brown medium stone is somewhat friable to the best of my knowledge and if you’ve decided to flatten the stone yourself you could try loose grit SiC or alternatively you could do the same with SiC sandpaper and water on glass but it doesn’t get stones as flat as loose grit. :)

[ZMW]

I will inspect it more pure flatness. What I could fix was 1 gouge, maybe 1 cm long, and on the edges of the gouge that it was raised. Brown triangle rod made quick work of it. There is still a faint gouge mark, but the raised edges are now flat.

I will check the stone to make sure it is truly flat, well, any good ideas on how to do that exactly? Besides the eyeball test and running a few blades up and down?

[blues]

it is truly flat, well, any good ideas on how to do that exactly? Besides the eyeball test and running a few blades up and down?

You can take a steel ruler on edge, same for a square, or place it on a flat piece of glass and check to see if there are gaps or if light shines through underneath with a flashlight.

[ZMW]

it is truly flat, well, any good ideas on how to do that exactly? Besides the eyeball test and running a few blades up and down?

You can take a steel ruler on edge, same for a square, or place it on a flat piece of glass and check to see if there are gaps or if light shines through underneath with a flashlight.

good idea!

[Bloke]

I will check the stone to make sure it is truly flat, well, any good ideas on how to do that exactly? Besides the eyeball test and running a few blades up and down?

Often enough you’ll find stones are “twisted” so if you lay them face down on something flat like a granite bench top, sheet of glass or similar and tap on the corners of the stone they’ll rock. :)