New Double Sided CBN Benchstone

[Jablang]

Does anyone else have this and wants to chime in on it?

[driftingfir]

Ive had mine for a few months and don't have any complaints. The stones are very aggressive, even the 800 grit is pretty coarse. Id get a 1200 grit dmt and use it in conjunction, if you want to refine the edge further.

[Raylas]

Since it's using a carbon steel embryo, does that make this stone prone to rusting, or does it have some sort of plating to protect it?

Or is it more like 4140, and it'll only rust if you leave it wet?

[driftingfir]

I have used mine dry, however on my dmt stones, when used wet sometimes you'll see a little corrosion next time you use them if they weren't completely dry when they were put up. Since the spyderco is carbon steel than you may have the same issue.

[Deadboxhero]

Since it's using a carbon steel embryo, does that make this stone prone to rusting, or does it have some sort of plating to protect it?

Or is it more like 4140, and it'll only rust if you leave it wet?

If using with water, just wash and dry when done.

Bar keepers friend powder can fix any problems if they come up.

Can also use it dry.

[Woodpuppy]

I don’t have this benchstone, but even the doublestuff 2 packaging fails in the tender loving care of the USPS/UPS/FedEx. I have used the DS2 with water and haven’t run into corrosion issues with the core.

[Raylas]

Since it's using a carbon steel embryo, does that make this stone prone to rusting, or does it have some sort of plating to protect it?

Or is it more like 4140, and it'll only rust if you leave it wet?

If using with water, just wash and dry when done.

Bar keepers friend powder can fix any problems if they come up.

Can also use it dry.

M'kay. I'll just get one and use it dry and dry it off good when I've rinsed it off.

[Skywalker]

What kind of edges are people getting off of the 800 grit side (or even the 400, I guess?)

I still find myself finishing on the brown SM rods to really get a hair-popping edge. I'm sure it's mostly my lack of experience - I mostly used an edge pro before getting this stone to start practicing freehanding more - but I'm curious what the experts are capable of with it. :)

[sal]

Hi Skywalker,

Freehand sharpening is more difficult than it might appear. That's why fixtured sharpeners are popular.

To get really good requires many hours of focused muscle use to create muscle memory. There are many here that can offer many ideas and methods. A 10X - 12X magnifying loupe is a big help. You can see what you are doing. It's a worthwhile maze because on the exit, you will have mastered freehand sharpening.

Best to begin with a cheap kitchen knife. Not too big or small. Look at the edge with the Loupe every 5 or 10 strokes.

sal

[Bill1170]

Does anyone else have this and wants to chime in on it?

Mine is a great travel stone for sharpening friends’ knives. The 400 is very aggressive (of course, mine is newer.) it is enough to regain the apex on all but the most terribly abused knives. It cuts fast. I’ve only used it dry so far.

The suede pouch is great for holding the plate securely. You have to have it near the edge of the table/counter to give clearance for your hand.

The 800 refines the coarse edge to a very serviceable level that slices paper but isn’t a great push cutter. Refining the 800 edge with the brown Sharpmaker rods gets me to a push-cutting edge perfectly suited to all utility uses short of face shaving.

I freehand lower than 15 degrees per side so the Sharpmaker is only applying a microbevel.

[Skywalker]

Hi Skywalker,

Freehand sharpening is more difficult than it might appear. That's why fixtured sharpeners are popular.

To get really good requires many hours of focused muscle use to create muscle memory. There are many here that can offer many ideas and methods. A 10X - 12X magnifying loupe is a big help. You can see what you are doing. It's a worthwhile maze because on the exit, you will have mastered freehand sharpening.

Best to begin with a cheap kitchen knife. Not too big or small. Look at the edge with the Loupe every 5 or 10 strokes.

sal

Thanks, Sal! I purchased a loupe a while back when I first read you post this advice in a different thread, and definitely agree that a loupe + a sharpie have been the best tools to help me improve sharpening.

edit - I will admit, though, that rather than cheap kitchen knives I've been practicing mostly on not-so-cheap non-Spydercos that come wayyyy to thick to cut well - dealing with those really makes appreciate how well Spydercos cut right out of the box!

[Skywalker]

Does anyone else have this and wants to chime in on it?

Mine is a great travel stone for sharpening friends’ knives. The 400 is very aggressive (of course, mine is newer.) it is enough to regain the apex on all but the most terribly abused knives. It cuts fast. I’ve only used it dry so far.

The suede pouch is great for holding the plate securely. You have to have it near the edge of the table/counter to give clearance for your hand.

The 800 refines the coarse edge to a very serviceable level that slices paper but isn’t a great push cutter. Refining the 800 edge with the brown Sharpmaker rods gets me to a push-cutting edge perfectly suited to all utility uses short of face shaving.

I freehand lower than 15 degrees per side so the Sharpmaker is only applying a microbevel.

Serviceable clean paper slicer is about how I'd characterize my edges off the 800 grit side as well.

I'm just not sure how much better I should be able to do straight off the plate - for example, in the community sharpening journal thread there's several guys who get good results with relatively low-grit diamond finishes, but they're also often stropping with a 10 or 7 or 5 or 1 micron diamond paste to refine right at the end.

[Sharpmaker Mike]

Even though It’s been a while since this CBN bench stone came out, there are still not many reviews out there on it. I thought I would chime in with my experience and maybe some other users that have had this a while will post their thoughts as well.

For me, this stone is mainly used for kitchen knives and 2 other Spyderco knives that I use as cardboard box cutters. For those purposes, this stone works great!

I have used this stone both wet and dry, and my preference is wet with a quick spray of NON-AMONIA glass cleaner as it seems to eliminate (or at least greatly reduce) any rust issues. Glass cleaner also feels “slicker” in my experience, and hopefully will help the stone last longer.

After break in (which wasn’t too long) the edge it leaves is extremely nice for kitchen duty. I really like the finish it leaves on our 10” chef knife that gets used on watermelon, honeydew, and peppers. It works great on our small paring knives as well. While these are softer steel Mercer and Pampered Chef knives, this stone leaves an awesome edge when finished with light pressure and a bare leather strop.

The 2 knives I break down cardboard with have Maxamet and K390 for steels. What I’ve learned is that doing the final finishing on the 800 side using very light strokes really pays off in edge sharpness. These knives are ONLY used for box cutting, and it’s fun to see how the different finishes cut through that media.

The only other difference is that I finish these blades on a double-sided leather strop. First I use the side loaded with 1 micron diamond paste, then the bare leather side to finish.

Clean up is simple. I use the liquid paste form of barkeepers friend and a scrub brush about every 3rd time.

While I have other higher end vitrified diamond stones, using this stone for touch-ups or quick sharpenings has been great!