Coarse Stone Recommendation for Thinning

[pd7077]

I’m working on thinning one of my knives, and I’m in need of a new coarse stone. I was previously using a SP320, and it worked well enough. While it did a pretty good job with metal removal, I have noticed that it clogs fairly quickly, and I have to hit it with my 140 diamond plate pretty often (due to dishing). I recently picked up a SG500 so I’m thinking about getting something coarser than #320 for the bulk of the thinning. I’m leaning towards a SG220, but I figured that it would be good to ask for other recommendations before taking the dive.

[ken123]

Im a 150 Bamboo fan. Scratches are much easier to remove than diamond plates.

-
Ken

[pd7077]

Thanks Ken. A few questions:

- Would a SG500 be a suitable followup stone?
- How is it in terms of clogging and dishing?
- Is it a soaker or S&G?
- Would a 140 diamond plate be good enough to flatten or would I need to go lower?

[Radar53]

+1 to Ken on this one. I have the Nub150 in both fullsize brick and EP size stones and I find it to be a really good workhorse. Aggressive cutter, slow to dish, pretty good feedback plus by varying the amount of water and the sharpening / thinning pressure I can quite different scratch patterns.

It's a thirsty stone, and I prefer the results after giving it a good soak.

I use my Atoma 140 for flattening.

Just my 2¢ worth

[pd7077]

Well, that response is good enough for me. Thanks Radar. How long to you soak prior to use?

I’ll be giving Ken a call tomorrow for sure.

[Radar53]

Shhhhhhhhhhh..........!!!!!!! Don't tell Ken, But I perma soak it (sorry Ken). Ken supplies these stones and DOES NOT recommend perma soaking them, so I would take his advice because he knows a heck of a lot more about this than I do.

Prior to this, I would soak it for 15 to 20 minutes or until the bubbles stop appearing. I like the feel of it and the scratch pattern when it's really well soaked. You can spritz additional water as the fancy takes you or not. I find that if I'm looking to get a finer finish that I let it dry off a little to form some "mud" and the mud can then produce a much finer outcome than the 150 grit would suggest.

As with all these things YMMV, but I think that it's worth playing around with the amount of water and the pressure.

Best of luck

[ken123]

Well, that response is good enough for me. Thanks Radar. How long to you soak prior to use?

I’ll be giving Ken a call tomorrow for sure.

Look at my signature for my phone number. Call anytime.

Ken

[Lepus]

I use my Cerax 320 for light thinning. I love that stone. I have found it faster than the Pro 320. It forms a medium thickness mud that gives great coverage on wide bevels.

[Igalor]

I use a pink brick, I think it's 220. Its fast, dishes slow, it doesn't feel terribly horrible, and it's fairly inexpensive

[Kit Craft]

I use my pink brick mostly too but for moderate to light thinning. Idk what ya'll think about when you say thinning but if you have ever zero ground mono steel with a wide bevel by hand you will probably buy a belt grinder after you finish or utilize a pro. Save the wrists, fingers, shoulder and stone.

Now, I just "opened" my new Zakuri and aside from tiny little spot that I didn't notice (soft stone covered it up) it seems pretty flat now after about 20 minutes on one side with a debado 320 and 20 minutes on the other with a latte 400 for comparison sake. So I imagine something in the 150 range would do such work quickly. On the other hand, I have a Tojiro itk that probably has 300 hours on stones and it still has a hellacious over grind...lol.

My point is, depending on the "thinning" you are going to do, different stones can do the trick. 99% of the time I can get away with an Imanishi 400. When I can not, it is the 220. Beyond that, I am sending it out.

[ken123]

Kit you sound like you need to have an Arato day Cut back on those 20 minute sessions


---
Ken

[Kit Craft]

Kit you sound like you need to have an Arato day Cut back on those 20 minute sessions


---
Ken

Hah, no, the whole point was to compare the two stones for a later review. I bought that knife specifically for these tests. But I will need to pick up a 150 at some point. I had one on the back of my combo but I gave that stone to my brother when he started sharpening. I think you and I have already had that conversation but I just haven't got around to getting another one yet.

Btw, it has been so freaking long since I used that stone that I don't remember how much faster it is! I have been needing to give you a call anyway. Maybe this weekend or next. Things are tight around here atm.

[pd7077]

Thanks for the additional recs. Looks like I have a bit of homework to do on this. My plan was to take this knife to zero and also raise the shinogi a bit. I was talking to Matt this afternoon, and he told me that I could play around with his LapSharp so I may go that route for now while looking for a new coarse stone.

[ken123]

Kit you sound like you need to have an Arato day Cut back on those 20 minute sessions


---
Ken

Hah, no, the whole point was to compare the two stones for a later review. I bought that knife specifically for these tests. But I will need to pick up a 150 at some point. I had one on the back of my combo but I gave that stone to my brother when he started sharpening. I think you and I have already had that conversation but I just haven't got around to getting another one yet.



---
Ken

Btw, it has been so freaking long since I used that stone that I don't remember how much faster it is! I have been needing to give you a call anyway. Maybe this weekend or next. Things are tight around here atm.

I'll keep the light on

---
Ken

[Base Reality]

I'm in the same situation as OP but Nubatama ain't that available over here in Europe so I'm considering a Shapton #120. How does the glass, pro and m5 #120 compare to each other? Or maybe I should go for the small sigma power #120?

[mlb1988]

Im a 150 Bamboo fan. Scratches are much easier to remove than diamond plates.

-
Ken

Where can I buy that? I tried looking thru the CKTG site, no avail.

[ken123]

Im a 150 Bamboo fan. Scratches are much easier to remove than diamond plates.

-
Ken

Where can I buy that? I tried looking thru the CKTG site, no avail.

Directly from.me. pm coming.

---
Ken

[pd7077]

I just received my Nubatama 150 from Ken (courtesy of Andreu...thanks broham!!!). I’m looking forward to giving it a go this weekend.

[ken123]

California usps is fast shipping times.

Enjoy!

The stone wets quickly but is quite porous. Let it generate a bit of surface mud and leave the mud on the stone to keep the stone wet longer. It also works very well getting scratches out from a 140 grit diamond plate.

---
Ken

[jacko9]

Ken your correct UPS is very quick in California - I get next day wine shipments from Northern Ca without fail. Your stones get to me just as quickly via USPS and that 150 Bamboo sure takes a lot of water but it does mud up fast.