Hey cbw, do all the curved stones look like this?

Hey Chris,,

I don't know, I haven't seen them all.

Billabong wrote:
Visually, at least short of magnification, they look the same. So either they have rounded just enough to keep from catching or they have warned me enough that now my technique has gotten good enough that I don't catch them any more. I will try to get a decent macro shot of the edges of mine to see if you can see any difference.

cbwx34 wrote:


Do the ones you have seen look like this one above?

I have seen none, but am considering buying some.

I'm sure you don't need to have seen them "all" to answer this question?

Billabong wrote:


Man, no sense of humor at all.

But since you're considering buying some, shouldn't the question be,
How do they perform?
(Which I'll have to defer to someone who's used them, I haven't).

I'm not sure how they look is as important.
Even the ones in the video look like they've been used, and are fairly consistent at removing metal from what I see.
How they work is what I'd want to know...

Just my .02.

cbwx34 wrote:


You sharpen knives for a living, and looks aren't important?

Can you answer "my" question please.
Why the riddles?

This is a shot of the very end which should be pretty close to brand new.

This is a little further up where it is just starting to break in. Not much difference really...

Right in the middle where the break in is most prominent. To be honest, the amount of wear is so small, I really like the longevity this foretells for the stones!

This one shows the very edge in what almost looks like a cross section, but it does show the edge wear a little better. Keep in mind this shot is at a higher magnification, so take that into account. I'm not sure what the magnification would be since it's my camera and a macro setup, not a microscope or anything like that...

Are these the new batch, I have some on the way?

It's the 1600 side that has crapped out for me.

Billabong wrote:


No I don't sharpen knives for a living. But the look of the stone? I don't consider important as long as it does its job.
I'm sure you've seen some of the natural stones used... Some look pretty bad but produce great results.

It's not a riddle, I just think the focus should be on what matters. That's my answer.

Billabong wrote:
To the best of my knowledge, these are the new ones. Maybe Clay can confirm that.

And these are the 1600 side, if you didn't notice from the color...
Even looking at them under this magnification, it's hard to tell there's any wear. I am really wondering if it's made my technique better that I do not roll my stones in relation to the blade, which is where that square edge would catch, or if it's just enough of a relief after a little break in to help prevent catching. When the stones were brand new, and you would catch the edge, you get instant feedback (!) and a little puff of dust if my twist/turn was bad enough. I never did see any damage to the stones when this happened (or to the knife edge) but I can tell you the first few times it happened, it scared the crap out of me! Scary aside, it didn't seem to do anything to the stones, and once the loose layer was gone, so were the puffs of dust. I read somewhere this loose layer was due to the manufacturing process but I can't seem to be able to find it now...

HTH