silicon carbide stones

Jason B.

Jason B.

Joined
Jun 13, 2007
Messages
11,148
Not sure why but I have a craving for a cheap stone, I sold off all my other stones so the only thing I have left is my diamonds. I think is more of the fact I have never used a silicon carbide stone and want to see how effective they are and would like a large benchstone that's not so heavy for when I'm away from home.


I'm looking at the Norton Crystolon benchstones but see nothing of what grit each one are, if anyone has these please give me your views and a if possible a grit to go by for each.

http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Norton-Crystolon-Bench-Stone-8-x-3-P24C5.aspx
 
You might have to go to the Norton website to find the exact grit. I like the Razor Edge coarse only for the fact that you can use them dry. Most others come pre-oiled.
 
Just go to your local hardware store and check them out. A cheap Black 2 sided silc stone and a Spyderco Double stuff you'd be set.
 
I know Phil Wilson likes SiC stones, but I honestly think you'll be disappointed. Your diamond stones will do anything an SiC can, and more. Add to it they're messy: either you need to use oil/kerosene, or if you use water the abrasive swarf gets up on the blade and can scratch the finish if you're not careful while handling and in cleaning it off. I know some say they use them dry without problem, but I've seen too many of them load up. I admit I've been curious about the Razor's Edge stones, maybe they work better without oil/water ... but again, I don't think you'd gain anything over diamond.

The cheap ones are kind of a hit-and-miss proposition, though I do have this brick-sized cheapy I think I got from Tool King that's actually a little better than the Norton crystolon I have. But I never use them, much preferring a medium India, which is actually my favorite stone for carbon steel and low alloy stainless.
 
Just go to your local hardware store and check them out. A cheap Black 2 sided silc stone and a Spyderco Double stuff you'd be set.
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I wish it was that easy but I have yet to find a store that carries any :(


I know Phil Wilson likes SiC stones, but I honestly think you'll be disappointed. Your diamond stones will do anything an SiC can, and more. Add to it they're messy: either you need to use oil/kerosene, or if you use water the abrasive swarf gets up on the blade and can scratch the finish if you're not careful while handling and in cleaning it off. I know some say they use them dry without problem, but I've seen too many of them load up. I admit I've been curious about the Razor's Edge stones, maybe they work better without oil/water ... but again, I don't think you'd gain anything over diamond.
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Not looking for anything better, just something different. I'd probably only be looking to get the fine stone to start, not really worried about the mess either it wouldn't be any worse than waterstones. I figured they would be the next best stone though because of their hardness.
 
knifenut1013 said:
Not looking for anything better, just something different. I'd probably only be looking to get the fine stone to start, not really worried about the mess either it wouldn't be any worse than waterstones. I figured they would be the next best stone though because of their hardness.
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I understand the quest, my friend. :) India/AO is right on the borderline for hardness, especially for blades with much vanadium content. I really enjoy the "feel" of working a blade on the India stone, and the finer SiC stones I've used in the past were similar (wish I had some actually ... they were older stones others in my family had, no idea where they were from.)

FWIW I believe all the better Norton crystolons are pre-oiled ... I've heard you can still use water with them, but if you plan on toting it around at all you'll definitely want something to carry it in, even if just a heavy plastic zip-loc type bag.

Regardless, be interested to see what you turn up, and what you think. If nothing else, it's something different like you say, and it just seems a shame to let old traditional methods die.
 
and it just seems a shame to let old traditional methods die.
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I agree and is the reason I continue to pursue the art of freehand, don't get me wrong the diamond stones have great feed back and are probably the most effective stones I have ever used but thats just it, their not stones, you never realize how much you miss the feel of a stone until you sold them all ;)
 
Norton SiC
coarse - 127 micron
medium - 78 micron
fine - 45 micron

DMT
XX - 120 micron
X - 60 micron
C - 45 micron

and Home Depot carries Norton economy stones, double sided and like 6 or 8 bucks, IIRC.
 
hardheart said:
Norton SiC
coarse - 127 micron
medium - 78 micron
fine - 45 micron

DMT
XX - 120 micron
X - 60 micron
C - 45 micron

and Home Depot carries Norton economy stones, double sided and like 6 or 8 bucks, IIRC.
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Good to know I'm going their today :thumbup:

Do they get any finer or are they more of a grinding stone?
 
Knifenut, I just bought a fine Crystalon from Tru Grit. It was not preoiled. Fine is only made in a 8 inch stone seems like. Price was around $15. I use Windex or equal ( the $ store knock off works ok) for the lube and it just rinses off under water. The stone will eventually clog and to really clean it use a solvent like paint thinner or Zylol. I use lapidary compound --get from a rock shop- and a flat steel plate to keep the stone true and flat. Just pour some compound on the steel swirl the stone around with some down force. The dross-a mixture of blade steel and SC--that comes off the stone can be rubbed into a leather strop to make a very clean cutting de burr surface. I carry a small wood backed strop in my hunting back pack for quick and easy field touch up. I like diamond as well. The green DMT seems to work overall best for me. I use the windex on the diamond as well. The SC gives the best aggressive edge that seems to last longer cutting stuff like elk hair and rope. It will not "whittle hair" but will do a fine job in the field. I just came back from an antelope hunt in Oct. and my son and I both had buck and doe tags. I used the same CPM S110v knife for all field dressing, skinning, quartering on all 4 animals. Knife had a good balance of agresssive cutting and edge retention sharpened on the fine SC. I get my stones from Trugrit.com. Talk to Scott and he will give you good service.. Phil
 
they get a lot finer in the old carborundum razor hones. I think those are estimated by straight shavers to be 8-10,000 grit.
 
Knife, You may not be happy w/ it as it does not cut as fast as your diamond . The Norton coarse crystolon is 100 grit and the fine crystolon is 240-280 grit (I've seen all those) . Available at http://www.knifecenter.com and http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com . The 2X8" is very economical at about 15$ .
Many writers/ knife makers like the above and Joe Talmadge, John Juranitch, ect. state that 3-400 grit is fine enough and gives better edge retention than the razor edge . Have fun conducting the test . DM
 
I bought a small (2x6) SiC at the local hardward store a few days ago. I used it as a template to make an adjustable angle cradle for it or any "stone" of similar size. I'd planned to swap it out for a DMT, but looks like I'll need to reconsider.
 
knifenut1013 said:
I wish it was that easy but I have yet to find a store that carries any :(




Not looking for anything better, just something different. I'd probably only be looking to get the fine stone to start, not really worried about the mess either it wouldn't be any worse than waterstones. I figured they would be the next best stone though because of their hardness.
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I have a hard time beleiving you cann't find one locally. Check a Sears, Lows, Home Depot, and Ace. Also any place that has farm supplies will have Silc stones, maybe not the Norton brand but they are there. Probably made by Noton too. :)
 
I picked up the Norton economy knife & tool sharpening stone from HD. I thought it was a aluminum oxide stone but guess I was wrong. Its a 6x2 stone coarse/fine, it works surprisingly fast but does not produce a edge like I have come to expect from coarse diamonds. The fine side is like a coarse DMT but does not leave as fine of a edge as the DMT will, I sharpened my ont. rat3 and the results were not bad. The coarse side grinds about as fast as a XC DMT and the fine side like a coarse but again not nearly as sharp, I finished with a hard felt pad to remove the burr and the edge was shaving sharp. Not the greatest level of shaving but still a good workable edge.

Not bad for $5 if you need a fast grinding stone and a good choice if you don't have the $50-80 for a DMT. I think I will still buy a larger one from one of the online stores just to see if a different brand has a different effect but this might end up turning into a search for a polishing stone. ;)
 
Yeah they are great coarse grinding hones for the money. I've used them for years and been real happy with them. The only hone that I've been just as happy with is the DMT xxc. I don't think I've ever finished with the silc hones, always finished with something else. Maybe I should give it a try. Btw don't let it dish out too much before flattening. They are a real pain to reflatten once a good dish is started.
 
knifenut1013 said:
I picked up the Norton economy knife & tool sharpening stone from HD. I thought it was a aluminum oxide stone but guess I was wrong.
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Maybe, maybe not. I bought two, one was two sided SiC, one was Alox/SiC. It was pretty obvious though, one was two shades of gray, the other was gray/brown.
 
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