- Joined
- Apr 15, 2014
- Messages
- 483
I bought these stones a long time ago and finally have a review for you.
When I first got these stones, I have to admit I was a little disappointed.
I sharpened several knives and felt that the pressure required to successfully grind metal was too high. I wound up with sore wrists; I come from typical Japanese waterstones, some of which require a featherlight pass, lest you gouge the stone.
Despite being disappointed I was reluctant to review the stones, because I didn’t feel they were bad stones and did not want to give a negative review. I felt like they had so much potential, and I just needed to find a way to squeeze it out of them.
And then it hit me.
I grabbed the Manticore and rounded off the corners of the Mutt, Arctic Fox, and the Ptarmigan.
As a Japanese waterstone user, I felt I was never able to purchase recurve blades, despite how awesome some of them look (like the Kizer Uprising below) simply because I’d be unable to sharpen them.
But these Baryonyx stones are hard enough that I can use my newly rounded corners to effectively and rapidly grind metal without any concern for gouging the stone.
Starting with the Mutt, it was time to reset the bevel:
(I couldn't get any decent shots of my edge bevels because the lighting in my sharpening location is terrible for photos)
Many people complained that the Mutt’s binding was too hard. The woeful issue is that, due to the Mutt’s randomized composition, the strength of the binder is non-negotiable. It must be that strong. However, with a rounded corner, the point of contact is very small, effectively turning the pressure way up. This allows you to use a comfortable amount of pressure while also grinding effectively. The stone was then able to refresh itself and cut at it's maximum rate the entire time, making this $7.50 stone one of the fastest reprofilers I have.
After that, it was time to clean up the bevel on the Arctic Fox. Pressure required here was minimal. After a few passes, we had a good looking edge. I switched sides several times and swiped extremely lightly to debur. Utilizing the minimized contact point, I freakin' love this stone. It's, like, the perfect maintenance stone: freshen up the bevel with this bad boy, then slap a microbevel on the apex with ceramic hone.
You can see the swarf generated along the contact line. With the miniscule contact surface, the stone never had issues loading, and it refreshed itself effectively, again allowing for maximum cutting rate. This stone is softer than the Mutt, but there were no worries about gouging the stone.
Finally, it was time to engage the Ptarmigan. Again, pressure required was light, yet I still had no concerns about gouging the stone. This put a nice matte finish on the edge.
This is another great stone that behaved similarly to the Fox: enjoyable feedback, softer than the Mutt, but still very hard--no concerns for gouging, fast cutting, no loading. Overall, the performance of this stone was excellent.
The end result after this stone was a nice high matte finish that looks along the lines of a smooth 1k to 1500 grit edge.
Time to finish up on the dowel strop! Hockey tape and green compound cleaned up our apex and as you can see I was able to slice phonebook paper with no issue.
I feel like I finally found the right place for the Baryonyx stones in my collection. As a freehand sharpener, I now have a solution for recurve blades that I find very satisfying. In their new role, I feel I can reap the full potential of these excellent stones.
Bonus recurve solution: the Bull Thistle and that ceramic rod you see there have also provided excellent results, and are incredibly cheap. The Bull Thistle, again due to the high relative pressure from using a curved surface, is wicked fast and will slap a full reprofile on virtually any steel you want. Have I tried Maxamet? No, but with these stones, I wouldn't be afraid to.