Spyderco Medium (double stuff) Pits

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Apr 11, 2019
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hello everyone! I recently acquired the spyderco double stuff (same material as sharpmaker but in a small flat stone), and i noticed immediately that the brown side was kind of pulverizing in my hand, not yet used, it has small pits.

is this normal? Could you people with sharpmaker or spyderco medium ceramics check it out for me? Under bright light angle your stone and you should be able to see it.
I thought ceramics do not disintegrate.
I do not live in the USA, and honestly I do not have the means to return it, as it already cost me quite a bit to get it shipped here...

I contacted spyderco support just now and some fellow members of the forums advised me to post it in the spyderco subforum so here i am.
thanks everyone!
 
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Thanks for sharing. My 204M doesn't have any pits. So no, it's not normal. But maybe they classify the quality as 'QC PASSED' because it is within manufacturing tolerances? I am curious about Sal Glesser Sal Glesser 's opinion.
 
Hi Maxpain,

Welcome to our forum.

The medium grit stone is a friable stone, meaning that it eventually wears. Unlike the fine grit which does not. On the 204 medium grit, I instruct users to actually cut the surface edge to edge to begin that wear process as the stone actually cuts faster once the hard surface is cracked.

I wouldn't worry about the pits and just use the stone. eventually, you will crack the surface and the stone will actually cut faster after you do.

sal
 
Hi Maxpain,

Welcome to our forum.

The medium grit stone is a friable stone, meaning that it eventually wears. Unlike the fine grit which does not. On the 204 medium grit, I instruct users to actually cut the surface edge to edge to begin that wear process as the stone actually cuts faster once the hard surface is cracked.

I wouldn't worry about the pits and just use the stone. eventually, you will crack the surface and the stone will actually cut faster after you do.

sal
Sal Glesser Sal Glesser thank you sir for replying personally to my message, I appreciate how much you care about your customers.
Frankly I wanted this to be a long term investment. I've seen sharpmaker rods in person and the surface was so smooth and uniform, no pits whatsoever, that's why i am concerned.
Today I used the stone and there's that one area in the middle alone that's pulverizing when used, while the surrounding remains smooth, i fear this will not give me a good edge, and perhaps wear unevenly.

Thank you again, I appreciate your time!
 
and perhaps wear unevenly.
each and every stone which wears wears unevenly thru usage. the long edges of my 204M have worn unevenly, within a short time. "friable" is a good word to describe the physical property of this stone. cutting into it produces "black" powder in no time, as you've experienced already; the rate of powder production increases if your blade shape is concave (e.g. karambit) because the cutting power (cutting effectiveness) of concave blades is so much higher.
and yes you should be concerned about an unevenly worn stone but there is only so much one could do about it. dressing or lapping stones aren't cheap.

btw once the smooth surface is "cracked", the equivalent grit rating drops and the Medium becomes a rough fast-cutting stone. for consistent sharpening results the surface (finish) should be uniform. either uniformly smooth ("uncracked") or uniformly rough ("cracked"). I also invite you to post in the 204-freehanding thread.
 
Hello again, thank you for your reply. I am totally aware that medium and coarse stones wear unevenly, but thats after years of use.
In my case, the particles in middle portion of the stone are coming off leaving these small pits, I just got the stone yesterday, and used once. The other parts are totaly smooth and unaffected.
I hope they can replace it for me. I was really looking forward to this stone.
 
Hello again Sal Glesser Sal Glesser , i was wondering if you received my email, I am really sorry if this is the improper way of getting in touch with you, but I'm new here and I'm not sure you got my email, and what will happen next.

Thank you so much for the incredible opportunity! :)
 
Hello again Sal Glesser Sal Glesser , i was wondering if you received my email, I am really sorry if this is the improper way of getting in touch with you, but I'm new here and I'm not sure you got my email, and what will happen next.

Thank you so much for the incredible opportunity! :)
You're probably about to get a new double stuff
 
I've owned and used two complete sets of Spyderco's 302 Benchstones. I have used both medium stones over the years and one of them is finally showing a small amount of wear>> but I've had both sets of those 302 Benchstones ( medium, fine & ultra-fine) since about 2002-2003. I've not seen any wear on either the Fine or Ultra-Fine 302 Benchstones and I've used both of those sets on dozens of sharpening jobs.
I'm doubtful that those minor pitts will have any significant effects on any sharpening job you use that stone for.
On both of my 204 Sharpmaker systems I've replaced the medium/gray stones on both units probably a couple of times each over the years. And I've had both my 204 Sharpmaker units since 1999 and 2003. When I see any significant wear or any indication that they aren't perfectly flat anymore I just use them for "de-burring" tools and get a new set of medium stones>> heck a set of medium stones cost less that $20 the last time I had to replace them. Which has been about 3 to 4 years ago. But do keep in mind that I use all of my Spyderco sharpening tools a lot. Probably at least 3 times as much as the average user of those stones.
 
Hi Maxpain,

I've been laid up with a knee replacement so I'm just beginning to catch up. I'll check.

sal
 
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