Scorpion Forge Natural Waterstone

Really sorry to hear about the stone issues. That is a real bummer that your stone guy isn't responding as well =/

 

emm, Cris… may I ask what's is wrong with those new stones being ~45mm height? I understand it's less than you wanted, but they are so hard, that gonna survive another century of daily sharpening sessions. Easily

 

I think the way Cris cuts the slab, the thickness of the slab is the width of the finished stone. It's like slicing a loaf of bread, and the height of the loaf determines the width of the slice. So the stones would only be 1.75" wide.

 

Finally spent some time with it on 4 knives.

I understand the theory of more pressure makes it cut more like a 1500 grit. But Cris's arms are about the circumference of my thighs. I just can't get there to really remove any metal. It does not even touch my CPM20CV blades. They just skate over the top.

However, with #2 white and CPM 154CM, excellent excellent finishers after 5000 grit Rika. It will be my final stone before delivering a blade to a customer from now on.

 

Hey there Marcelo! Sorry for the delayed reply!! Things have been kind of hectic here and I'm trying to get things sorted out with my stone guy on these two slabs that are the wrong thickness. I will definitely put you down for a stone from the next shipment of properly sized units (my supplier said he'd mail it out this week). If you could send me a PM with your name, phone, email, and address I'll write you down in my books so your place is held. I hope to be shipping the 8" x 2" x 1" units for $60 next Monday.

Speaking of the mixed up stones...how many of you guys would be interested in a stone that is nominally 3" x 8" x 1.75" thick? The pricing would be set at around $120 in order to get me close to breaking even on these two slabs, but it would be a REALLY large piece of rock. The biggest of my older (no longer available) stones were only 2.75" x 7.5" x 1" thick. I received a PM asking about it today, and thought I'd ask all of you guys who have already tried the smaller stone what you think. Since the stones will literally never wear out, it's more a matter of convenience and how you like to sharpen. Some people like a larger, more stable face, while others like the extra pressure that can be applied over a narrower surface area.

Soooo...any thoughts?

 

Exactly Rick! I currently get 12 stones out of a slab. The thickness of the slab becomes the width of the stones I cut out of it. 1.75" of slab thickness just isn't enough for me to be comfortable selling.

Good to know Stephen!! Hearing that, I may have to order a little paring knife from you in the 20CV to see exactly how big of a difference there is on a side by side basis for sure, lol.

I'm also glad you were able to find a place for it in your lineup despite it not working as you'd hoped on the super steel .

 

Hi Cris, i would be interested in your bigger sized, $120 slabs. I don't know how to send you a PM here at the Fora. Is it ok (according to the rules here) if i post my e-mail address so we can communicate? Thanks!

 

I will go ahead and send you a PM so you can respond .

 

Alright ladies and gentlemen. I decided to keep the too thin slabs, and turn them into eight extra large stones instead. The price on these will be $120. One is sold for sure, one is sold tentatively, and I'm keeping one I had to cut the the corner off of to eliminate an inclusion (its still huge lol). That leaves five (possibly six) more available. Let me know here or via PM and we'll go from there.

For now here's a few pictures, one for a size comparison with the stones that went out last week, and I'm uploading a video to YouTube as well that I'll post shortly as well.

 

I couldn't help myself tonight after 2 quite strong pints (lightly buzzed). I had to give this stone a whirl! I took it to my Shigefusa and it felt amazing.

I did a pretty quick pass and the blade was relatively dull to start with, but after a couple minutes it was cutting paper towels at what felt to me like a very nice ~3500-5000 finish. I just sharpened another knife to 6000 and it was only a bit behind that. I could have gone lighter on pressure likely to achieve a smoother finish, but this is likely better than a 6000 finish for general kitchen use.

This stone is an ABSOLUTE steal for $60. I can imagine this stone being very versatile and it doesn't dish at all, going to last a lifetime.

 

It would be strange for me to order one, though I'd consider it just to try. If one explodes or breaks into bite-sized pieces, let me know.

 

+1

 

Thanks guys! When I said it didn't dish to members of another forum I was basically called a liar, and likened to a snake oil salesman lol. I'm glad all of your experiences are aligning with mine .

 

Well that's what you get when you wander from home base! ."other forums"..ha!

 

This stone made no mud for me and still polished the edge. I just don't see this stone ever wearing out or dishing. If it were just 1 centimeter thick, it would still last more than a lifetime.

 

Right?! I should have known!!

Exactly! The material is very odd...and there's no way to explain the feel and the results until you use it. When you have the angle right, there's a syrupy (for want of a better word) drag to the blade, and then you start lightening the pressure and the magic happens. The edge just keeps getting more sharp the less pressure you use on the knife.

I've also considered cutting the 'small' ones down half as thick and epoxying them to a granite tile base to make them the same thickness. I can get roughly six 8" by 2.25" pieces out of a 12" granite tile that costs $4, so the only real costs would be in time. This would let me sell them to you guys in the $30-$40 range and still have the same overall thickness in the stone holder. It would also ensure that my stock lasted longer so I have them available all the time. I'm getting three of the proper thickness slabs sent in this week, which (if I did it that way) would equal 24 stones per slab. 72 stones is plenty of shelf stock for future customers and new guys in general lol.

Thing is, for guys who have never used them...it might seem like I'm skimping to make more money. They really don't realize that these flat out DON'T wear, and the total income ends up about the same factoring in time to epoxy and materials. The idea for me is to stretch out my stock (not make more money), because as you've seen the stock isn't exactly always readily available from my supplier...and despite all my efforts I've never been able to find them anywhere else. Plus, as any of you who've played the 'natural' game have seen and/or experienced...the 'good' vein will eventually run out...and the suppliers/quarries will still try to pass off similar poorer quality material as the same. As long as I'm still getting good stones, I'd like to divide them up among as many of us as I can...and the granite base thing seems like a great way to do that.

What do all of you think?

 

While i will defer to those who have used it.. i see no issue with that.

Jon sells his special diamond set that only has like 5mm of wearing surface which i have had no qualms in buying. To be correct it is one of my best knife related purchases.

 

Cris would you consider halving the big stones?

 

I would have no problem splitting the bigger stones...other than the fact that the blade height on my tile saw won't accept a 3" plus cut depth. I'm limited to 2 3/8" max. That was the main problem in the first place. When I originally got the slabs I was going to cut them into 8 large 3" x 8" pieces each...but my saw won't do it...so I turned them on edge and did the 2.25" x 8".

The good news is, I received the new slabs today. Two of them are 2.25" x 8 x 16, and so will make excellent smaller stones at 2.25" x 8" x 1" or so. The third of the new slabs is freaking huge. Almost 3" thick...which again, I can't cut. I'm completely unsure what I'm going to do with it lol...as I can't even cut it into four stones, much less twelve. My only real option is to buy a larger tile saw...but man, those things aren't cheap...and if I ever stop processing these stones (meaning they stop being available at this quality level or at all...which is my one big fear here), I'll be stuck with it without a use.