Ceramic sharpening stones

[transatlantic]

I've been looking into chip carving lately and noticed that they always seem to recommend ceramic stones for sharping your knives. Now, although I already have waterstones that I'll be using, I also wanted to give these stones a try as apparently you can use them without any lubricant and they are much harder than waterstones so you don't have to worry so much about keeping them flat.

However, I can't seem to find them here in the UK (other than super cheap ones on Amazon/ebay from china, that have bad reviews)

The ones I'm talking about can be seen here https://youtu.be/gkXNFUxEolw?t=338 (Chip Carving with Wayne Barton)

 

[ED65]

Do you want them for sharpening or honing? A lot of the carvers I know seem to strop to maintain their edges, many keep a strop right there beside them as they work so they can hone as often as once every 20 minutes or so. Don't need anything else to keep an edge hair-popping sharp and the whole setup, strop + compound, will cost you less than the postage on a ceramic stone :-"

 

[KevM]

I've got a few Spyderco ceramic stones, all mine were acquired in the US, but I'm sure I've seen them on Ebay and a few knife related sites.

The Spyderco double-stuff is a great pocket sized stone, although the fine stone won't give you a polished edge - you need the ultra-fine for that (or a strop & compound).

Edited to add a couple of UK links:
http://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/ct/s ... peners.htm
http://www.thebushcraftstore.co.uk/spyd ... 2732-p.asp
http://www.mindyourfingers.co.uk/Spyder ... eners.html

I've not used any of these suppliers, so can't vouch for them.

K.

 

[PAC1]

I have a set of spyderco stones. I got them at Axi. They are good for sharpening and honing carving tools. I recently bought a Arkansas translucent which is also good for honing carving tools. The Pfiel one is probably better than the Dans.

 

[transatlantic]

Do you want them for sharpening or honing? A lot of the carvers I know seem to strop to maintain their edges, many keep a strop right there beside them as they work so they can hone as often as once every 20 minutes or so. Don't need anything else to keep an edge hair-popping sharp and the whole setup, strop + compound, will cost you less than the postage on a ceramic stone :-"

Thanks. As it happens the instructions for the carving knives I just bought say the same thing. To just use a strop/compound, but they also go as far as saying not to use a stone as it will damage the edge. Which is interesting as all the carving tutorials i've been looking at say to use a stone (as well as a strop).

I've got a few Spyderco ceramic stones, all mine were acquired in the US, but I'm sure I've seen them on Ebay and a few knife related sites.

The Spyderco double-stuff is a great pocket sized stone, although the fine stone won't give you a polished edge - you need the ultra-fine for that (or a strop & compound).

Edited to add a couple of UK links:
http://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/ct/s ... peners.htm
http://www.thebushcraftstore.co.uk/spyd ... 2732-p.asp
http://www.mindyourfingers.co.uk/Spyder ... eners.html

I've not used any of these suppliers, so can't vouch for them.

K.

I'll look into this.