- Joined
- Apr 15, 2014
- Messages
- 483
I wanted to share my thoughts on these stones, as it is difficult to find any information on them. All the posts seem to reference the Super Stones, of which these are very much not. Those stones were criticized for being soft; the Sharpening Series is anything but.
The stones in this series I have are the 220, 400, 1000, 3000, 8000, and the stratospheric 12,000.
The vehicle in which we are going to take this high speed ride is the 451 BLF from Freeman Outdoor, a savage beast of a knife.
First up is the 220. It is a very hard stone. I still prefer diamond plates for bevel setting, but the Naniwa SS 220 is absolutely hard enough to define a bevel without scratching the crap out of your blade.
And look at this: even at 220, zero porosity
This is the mud after fully and dramatically redefining the bevel. We took 'er back to about 25 degrees inclusive. Zero detectable dishing. Impressive!
Naturally I'd hop on up to a 1k after a 220, but hey, we got a 400, so let's hit the 400!
A gorgeous minty green stone!
Again, absolutely zero porosity:
Working with it, we built up some swarf. Like the 220, this stone is extremely hard.
The finish off the 400 looked more like a 1000 which I found interesting. The stone also did load a little. It will be useful to have a nagura stone on hand for surface cleaning. Personally, I use a diamond plate and basically flatten a little every time I clean it. Keep the surface fresh and flat!
Time for the 1k!
Another gorgeous stone. It doesn't come through in the shot, but it is a very nice light blue. It, too, is hard, completely non-porous, surface loads a little, and polishes higher than expected. In fact, this thing polishes like a 4000! Bear in mind, however, that I actively try to use light pressure.
This is off the one thousand stone:
Now, the lighting makes this look like a near clean mirror, which is overly dramatic. But the polish is without a doubt considerably higher than your average 1000 grit finish. Again, this'll be due to the hardness of the stone and the subsequent burnishing effect caused by using the same abrasive for a longer work period. As the abrasive dulls and breaks down, it will yield a higher polish.
Here is what the surface loading looks like. This is about what it looks like across the entire range of stones. It should really not be considered too bad of a thing that it loads. It is not necessarily good or bad, but merely a usable tool. Cleaning the surface is really no big deal, and the harder binding allows you to achieve very interesting results.
3000 up next...
Yep, you guessed it: hard, non-porous, extremely high polish
In fact, this badass polishes like a 6000. Very similar polish to the King 6000
In the above photo you can see both the absurd level of polish for the grit as well as the characteristic surface loading of these stones.
Time for a little 8000 action. By this point, I am anticipating some serious polish. Let's take a look at this beautiful pastel yellow stone. It doesn't come through in my terrible lighting, but it follows suit being an attractive stone, and certainly one I enjoy using.
And she puts up an extremely clean mirror. Really, visually, there is not much room for improvement at this point. I don't expect much visual difference after the 12,000, as I don't really see if much more is even possible. That's a wonderful problem to have!
The 12,000 is a nice clean white, and is very enjoyable to use. Absolutely silent. And I'll let you guess what three primary characteristics it has...
Time to make this edge glow in the dark!
And here we have achieved a polish so clean I could use the 451 BLF as a rearview mirror
These stones are all completely non-porous splash 'n' go badasses.
The 220 is hard enough to allow you to define a crisp bevel (insomuch as non-diamond hones will permit). It does not wear quickly in the slightest.
The 400 puts up a polish in the 1000 range. It is a great stone. A little slower than other low grits I have used, but not by much. It also has the added benefit of not necessarily requiring a 1k (for me, as I usually only go up to 1k for my EDC's).
The 1000 finishes like a 3000-4000. I also really enjoy using a blue stone lol.
The 3000 finishes like a 6000, and would likely be the stopping point for you kitchen knife guys who like the "polished bite" of 6000 grit stones.
The 8000 has a beautifully clean polish, and if I were to buy the stones again, I would not go any higher than this.
The 12,000 is just overkill in the most refined fashion.
All of the stones surface load, save for the 220 (which surface loads too, but will still break down fast enough [still extremely slowly] for you never to worry about cleaning the surface).
The series can be characterized as polishing above its respective grit ratings. In turn, this will also mean they are not the absolute fastest stones possible. That being said, I did not find them slow in the least.
These are nothing like what the Superstones use to be, according to what I've read. Everyone said soft soft soft, well these are some hard sumbitches.
I love these stones, and if you are considering these and you take the plunge, I don't doubt you will too.
The stones in this series I have are the 220, 400, 1000, 3000, 8000, and the stratospheric 12,000.
The vehicle in which we are going to take this high speed ride is the 451 BLF from Freeman Outdoor, a savage beast of a knife.
First up is the 220. It is a very hard stone. I still prefer diamond plates for bevel setting, but the Naniwa SS 220 is absolutely hard enough to define a bevel without scratching the crap out of your blade.
And look at this: even at 220, zero porosity
This is the mud after fully and dramatically redefining the bevel. We took 'er back to about 25 degrees inclusive. Zero detectable dishing. Impressive!
Naturally I'd hop on up to a 1k after a 220, but hey, we got a 400, so let's hit the 400!
A gorgeous minty green stone!
Again, absolutely zero porosity:
Working with it, we built up some swarf. Like the 220, this stone is extremely hard.
The finish off the 400 looked more like a 1000 which I found interesting. The stone also did load a little. It will be useful to have a nagura stone on hand for surface cleaning. Personally, I use a diamond plate and basically flatten a little every time I clean it. Keep the surface fresh and flat!
Time for the 1k!
Another gorgeous stone. It doesn't come through in the shot, but it is a very nice light blue. It, too, is hard, completely non-porous, surface loads a little, and polishes higher than expected. In fact, this thing polishes like a 4000! Bear in mind, however, that I actively try to use light pressure.
This is off the one thousand stone:
Now, the lighting makes this look like a near clean mirror, which is overly dramatic. But the polish is without a doubt considerably higher than your average 1000 grit finish. Again, this'll be due to the hardness of the stone and the subsequent burnishing effect caused by using the same abrasive for a longer work period. As the abrasive dulls and breaks down, it will yield a higher polish.
Here is what the surface loading looks like. This is about what it looks like across the entire range of stones. It should really not be considered too bad of a thing that it loads. It is not necessarily good or bad, but merely a usable tool. Cleaning the surface is really no big deal, and the harder binding allows you to achieve very interesting results.
3000 up next...
Yep, you guessed it: hard, non-porous, extremely high polish
In fact, this badass polishes like a 6000. Very similar polish to the King 6000
In the above photo you can see both the absurd level of polish for the grit as well as the characteristic surface loading of these stones.
Time for a little 8000 action. By this point, I am anticipating some serious polish. Let's take a look at this beautiful pastel yellow stone. It doesn't come through in my terrible lighting, but it follows suit being an attractive stone, and certainly one I enjoy using.
And she puts up an extremely clean mirror. Really, visually, there is not much room for improvement at this point. I don't expect much visual difference after the 12,000, as I don't really see if much more is even possible. That's a wonderful problem to have!
The 12,000 is a nice clean white, and is very enjoyable to use. Absolutely silent. And I'll let you guess what three primary characteristics it has...
Time to make this edge glow in the dark!
And here we have achieved a polish so clean I could use the 451 BLF as a rearview mirror
These stones are all completely non-porous splash 'n' go badasses.
The 220 is hard enough to allow you to define a crisp bevel (insomuch as non-diamond hones will permit). It does not wear quickly in the slightest.
The 400 puts up a polish in the 1000 range. It is a great stone. A little slower than other low grits I have used, but not by much. It also has the added benefit of not necessarily requiring a 1k (for me, as I usually only go up to 1k for my EDC's).
The 1000 finishes like a 3000-4000. I also really enjoy using a blue stone lol.
The 3000 finishes like a 6000, and would likely be the stopping point for you kitchen knife guys who like the "polished bite" of 6000 grit stones.
The 8000 has a beautifully clean polish, and if I were to buy the stones again, I would not go any higher than this.
The 12,000 is just overkill in the most refined fashion.
All of the stones surface load, save for the 220 (which surface loads too, but will still break down fast enough [still extremely slowly] for you never to worry about cleaning the surface).
The series can be characterized as polishing above its respective grit ratings. In turn, this will also mean they are not the absolute fastest stones possible. That being said, I did not find them slow in the least.
These are nothing like what the Superstones use to be, according to what I've read. Everyone said soft soft soft, well these are some hard sumbitches.
I love these stones, and if you are considering these and you take the plunge, I don't doubt you will too.
