Recommendation? Struggling to choose my Chosera or Shapton Edge Pro stones

rpfarris said:
If that was $5 like the KME case, or if it held 15 or 16 stones, again like the $5 KME case, I'd be all over it, but at $19 for 6 stones, it's way too high.

Well, maybe if I only had 6 stones.
Click to expand...

It's wood and not plastic that was made in China so it's going to cost more for quality.
 
Mr.Wizard said:
You're really going to spend $364 on a set of stones, then balk at $19 for a nice case to store and protect them?
Click to expand...

You have a point there, but then again, why don't they throw in the wooden case if they're going to charge $364 on a set of 6 stones? Probably because it's still a significant amount of the price. But, to be honest, if I were ordering a $364 set of stones I would probably also order the box. I'm just that way.

wade7575 said:
It's wood and not plastic that was made in China so it's going to cost more for quality.
Click to expand...

What to you think the odds are that instead of being "plastic that was made in China" that it's "wood that was made in China?" What does the "made in China" have to do with anything? And besides, I'm pretty sure that the KME plastic box is made right here in the USA. Tell me again where that wooden box is made?
 
With all my stones and strops, I’ll be going “all in” and blow 31 dollars to protect my investments. ( unless I get real ambitious in the mean time and dig out some wood in the garage)
 
rpfarris said:
You have a point there, but then again, why don't they throw in the wooden case if they're going to charge $364 on a set of 6 stones? Probably because it's still a significant amount of the price. But, to be honest, if I were ordering a $364 set of stones I would probably also order the box. I'm just that way.



What to you think the odds are that instead of being "plastic that was made in China" that it's "wood that was made in China?" What does the "made in China" have to do with anything? And besides, I'm pretty sure that the KME plastic box is made right here in the USA. Tell me again where that wooden box is made?
Click to expand...

I think you were missing my point and that is 99% of the time you have to pay extra for quality,also now that you mention KME and their stone holder box's some much for made in America when you get 2 of them and they show up with big cracks in the bottom.
 
My guess is the boxes showing up damaged is from shipping, nothing to do with where they are made. Those plywood boxes have a lot of wasted space, inside and out, and they would be a bit harder to clean compared to a good plastic box.
 
You all have me beat, these are the lucky ones, the ones I use, the rest are in stacks on a bench.

stone-storage.jpg
 
D Diemaker You don't have problems with cross-contamination? I am careful to keep mine apart. I roll up a set for storage, and keep strops and films in sandwich bags.

TZmp8Li.jpg


cVtvNkU.jpg
 
I haven't noticed any cross-contamination on the Matrix stones, same with the water stones but I don't use them very much, and the strops I am very careful with. The strops on the right of the box haven't been used yet. By far the biggest contamination I have witnessed is microchips from the apex when using edge leading passes on the finer grits.
 
Okay...so I have now used the stones on about 15-ish knives and have made the following not-so-groundbreaking findings:
  1. HOLY CRAP THE 80 GRIT CAN CUT!!!!!!
  2. I am getting results that I am satisfied with and much more so from my previous setup - I am getting knives sharper than I have before, and the knives themselves cut more aggressively when I test them cutting through paracord
  3. I still have a ton to learn about diamonds and sharpening in general.
  4. Chris Reeve Knives must now treat S35VN to a higher hardness than they did before, and I would have probably taken up smoking if I had to reprofile with the EP 220 or the DM 250 - I intentionally chipped a 8Cr13MoV blade in multiple locations that is presumably around 59 HRC and obviously not extremely wear resistant. I then played around with how long it took the EP 220, the DM 250, and the DM 80 to start cleaning up the damage to get a better idea of how fast each removes metal. The DM 80 is unquestionably a must-have in my mind now.
  5. I am missing a lot of hair on my arm.


Diemaker said:
Done right that is a big project. It really needs to be plastic so it really needs to be molded, both for design and to keep the cost per unit down. How many stones should it hold? I think there should only be one size and if you need to hold more just get more cases. I REALLY need some for myself, I have piles of stones stacked around and REALLY need them to be better organized.
Click to expand...

It would definitely be a big project and I agree that plastic would be the way to go for mass producing a single design that provides some reasonable level of shock protection. I can imagine a variety of basic forms...I think part of the challenge will be a convenient/compact form factor versus one that is reasonably accessible. Something that is 3-4 stones wide and modular/stackable might be potentially a decent compromise between one that spreads a ton of stones out but takes up lots of space or bunches them all together but makes them hard to grab?

When most people use the EP, how many stones do they commonly wind up using in most cases? For me, it's going to primarily be the finer stones, likely four or fewer, although I am not sure if that is common.
Screen Shot 2020-06-19 at 12.28.24 AM.jpg Screen Shot 2020-06-19 at 12.27.53 AM.jpg Screen Shot 2020-06-19 at 12.27.31 AM.jpg Screen Shot 2020-06-19 at 12.26.51 AM.jpg
 
P pnsxyr Why not the layout of the wood box on the previous page but in plastic? That is both reasonably compact and accessible. If you want it even more compact (no room to pinch and lift out) how about some kind of lever system to pop up each stone, like the ejector tabs on DIMM slots?
 
I have a few of the wooden ones. I like them a lot. I need one more 9 slot and I am good, I also have to agree with the earlier post, if you spend 300+ on stones why not buy, the better case to protect them. These are weel design and made
 
For storage, a chunk of Kaizen foam (the kind used for toolboxes) with some slots cut it it works great for holding stones. Cut the foam to fit a plastic bin with a lid and done. About $10-15 for materials and 10 minutes of time.

Regarding stones, I have too many EP stones. They're all good for some things. The EP diamond matrix stones were a game changer for me on high carbide steels. I use them for 90% of my EP sharpening. Great edges quickly on any steel.
 
Last edited:
Well it turns out Gritomatic got the 12 stone boxes in stock so I ordered one a bit ago. Will post pics when it gets here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top