Replies

1. 
   DonC | Feb 02, 2005 12:28am | #1

   I bought 3 Spyderco ceramic stones and only kept one. The smallest is the finest and it's flat. The others,coarse,medium, aren't. That makes them worthless.

   Maybe Shapton's are flat. Check before buying.

1. 
   jazzdogg | Feb 03, 2005 06:27am | #6

   Don,It's easy to flatten a ceramic stone - which can be necessary when repeatedly shaping small irregularly-shaped items like carving chisels.You can flatten them using wet-or-dry abrasive affixed to glass or melamine, or flatten them with a diamond plate.-Jazzdogg-

   Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.

1. 
   DonC | Feb 03, 2005 08:14pm | #7

   Thanks, I had no idea you could flatten them. Wonder why the mfg doesn't sell them flat to begin with?

1. 
   Crunk | Feb 03, 2005 08:24pm | #8

   What sort of reference surface did you use to make the determination that your Spyderco stones were not flat?  How far out of flat were they?

1. 
   DonC | Feb 04, 2005 03:23am | #9

   One was twisted. 1/16" corner to corner. The other was bowed the 6" length by 3/32". Mgf would not return my money so I went to a Woodwork show and stood by the Spyderco sales booth and told all prospective buyers the truth. The sales guy soon wanted to get rid of me and refunded my money. Granite plate was reference.

2. 
   Midnight | Feb 02, 2005 12:36am | #2

   Firewood..

   From what I hear, their cost makes them prohibitive for all but "professional" users. That said, I've yet to hear a bad word about their performance; flattening the backs of A2 irons in less than 20 mins, as opposed to an hour with water stones...

   Whether they're worth it or not is a subjective decision that only you can make for yourself; what value do you put on your time??

   Mike Wallace

   Stay safe....Have fun

3. 
   AlanTurner | Feb 02, 2005 12:47am | #3

   That is a matter of opinion, of course, but to me they are worth it. They stay flat for longer than traditional waterstones, are quick, and do an excellent job. I also have the Spyderco's, all three, and they are what I use for sharpening carving tools since the couges and such would quickly ruin the Shapton's. But, as another said, they are not flat enough for chisels and planes.

   Alan

   http://www.alanturnerfurnituremaker.com

4. 
   SplifJoint | Feb 02, 2005 03:01am | #4

   Been using them for about 4+ years since Hida Tools in Berkeley first brought them in. These were the original "M" series. Then I switched to the "Professional" series after JapaneseTools.com started importing them. I found they cut faster and are more wear resistant than any of the other synthetic waterstones I've used. Over the course of about 9 years I've tried King, Norton, Bestor, Takenoko and various others from the Japanese tool vendors. I was able to wear all those down to less than 1/4" whereas I've hardly made a dent in the Shapton Professionals after a couple of years. They were worth the extra to me. Being less wear resistant means I don't have to flatten them as often. With any stone you can lengthen the time between flattening by working the entire face of the stone. "Flatten the stone with the tool" is what I was taught.

5. 
   BOBABEUI | Feb 02, 2005 04:52pm | #5

   Hello Firewood,

   I have a set of the Shapton Professional stones that I bought at a  WW show, the set has 1000/5000/8000 grit stones, the iron flattening plate and lapping compounds. The system was not inexpensive ($320), but the stones stay very flat, wear very long, cut very fast and most importantly..the cutting edge they leave  is very sharp.. 

   Use them to sharpen mostly western tools, as  I only have a couple Japanese chisels. I have been very happy how they sharpen Lie-Nielsen A2 plane blades, which had been a challenge (toughness of the steel) to sharpen in the past.   

   With these stones, you only mist them with water, no tubs of water are needed like the traditional water stones need.

   Best of Luck