Ceramic Paddles

[David]

Hello all,
I have a question for those of you that have your ceramic paddles. Now I am aware that they are going to have a little bit of a break in period but mine really seem to be very coarse. My 1200 grit stones sound like 80 grit sand paper and have numerous easily visible pores in them my 1600 grit stones arent as bad but its almost like looking at the face of the moon.:( And I actually have some chips in the sides of my 1200 grit stones. Is this normal for the WEPS ceramics? They dont really seem to react or perform like any other ceramic stone I have ever used. Granted the only one I have ever used was the one in my GATCO sharpener I had previously.

[D K]

I have run into the same issue. I also have a lot of chipping occurring on the blade due to the sides of the stones. They helped me get more of a mirror polish but are being a bit rough on my knife. Anyone have any suggestions? Just more break in time?

[Josh]

Clay and Tom can weigh in on this more, but I would say to try and lap them with your 100 grit diamond stones…. watch the video Tom (aka jendeindustries) put out a few threads down… may help.

[Josh]

sorry, duplicate post.

[Ziggy]

OK, I’m not saying I’m right, but it works for me.

Had the same feeling with the ceramics. Felt like grit on them, edges toothy etc.
Washed them, wiped the knives down between steps .. still felt it.

Then, took the 1200s, faced them together and rubbed them against each other, especially near the edges .. nothing crazy, just a bit of rubbing, I guess like you would treat a flatstone. Flipped and did the same to the 1600 sides.

smooth as butter

If ever they start to feel a bit jumpy, a quick rub, a wash if needed.

My favorite stones by far

[tuffy braithwaite]

kewl

i am about to upgrade to the 800/1000 & ceramics………:)….maybe strops tooo

[Mark76]

It is hard to compare the ceramic stones I use now to the ones you received, because there is a large difference between stones before and after they are worn in.

I never noticed that my diamond stones became worn in. However, a few days ago I used a new diamond stone and, man, that was rough! I also remember from the first time I used the 800/1000 diamond stones that they seemed much rougher than the 400/600 stones. They definitely made a sound that felt they were much coarser.

So I think people gave you good advice in rubbing your stones together or even rubbing them to a diamond stone. I also know multiple people that start rubbing off the corners of a new stone to prevent accidental scratches or even chippings.

The only thing that matters is that the stones do sharpen properly. Success!

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[David]

Thanks for the replies guys, they just really threw me off since they are nothing like any other ceramic finishing stone I have ever used. And with the visible craters in the stone I really wanted to make sure that it wasnt just my stones and there were no problems.
I will keep working with them and hopefully they will break in and start improving my edges. I’m sure using my shaptons on the knife before didnt help my reaction to a new hardly used stone either. B)

[Mark76]

Hmmm… visible craters. Clay wrote in some other topic he’s out and it will be a while before he is back, but I’m sure he’d take a look at it if you posted a photograph.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Robert Nash]

Hey David,
the ceramics shouldn’t have any pitting in them, though I don’t think it will affect the performance as many stones have a patterning to the abrasive – think DMT or Atoma. Funny this comes up now as I just had one of my customers email about the same thing – though upon closer examination his pitting was just the different colored flakes in the ceramic.
Since you do have pitting though, are you getting any powder off of them – on your fingers? Do they seem brittle? If this is the case I’d contact Wicked Edge about a replacement set.
If it is just the pitting and the roughness (roughness is also odd – though variance in manufacturing can and does happen) I think Ziggy’s advice is best – rubbing them lightly together – and I’d avoid hitting them with a diamond plate. They are softer than many other ceramics on the market so I’m sure you’ll put deep scratches in them with the diamonds and I’m not sure how those will work out – particularly a 100 grit.
In any case, if their performance doesn’t improve, contact Wicked Edge and they will send out a new set 🙂
– Bob

[Ziggy]

Just one other thing I want to mention.
The ceramics have a learning curve … very hard to explain, but I do hold them .. how can I say .. thinking with the center of the paddle.
If I’m off with the diamonds just a bit or twist, I done hear or feel a difference.
But with the creamics I do concentrate and focus a bit more and think shooting straight centered if you understand what I mean.
If my hands gets lazy I can feel it and hear it, but the rubbing cuts the problem down for me to a minimum.

I’d be a bit afraid hitting them with a coarser grit as I’m anal on transfer and cross contamination.

Maybe mark’s point of the corners applies to the edges also, as when I rub, its not just flat and even up and down, I move some side to side to get the edges .. almost like deburring a blade if you get my drift. Just a few up and down with an ovelap on the edge.

When you rub them, you can hear the abrasive area go away and feel it, it transfers to your hand.

That said, they are my go to paddles at the high end. For convex, they are great once you get the first level to polish point. Smooth runnings at every degree afterwards with just the creamics.

[David]

Hi,
Yeah I am getting white powder off of them. Actually when I first unwrapped them I had to wash them off because they had a good bit of white powder on them. I have tried lightly rubbing them together a few different times and they dont seem to be getting any better. I think I will call WE today and let them know what I am experiencing. Here is also some pictures of the “pitting” I am seeing on my stones. At first I thought it was just different colored flakes but upon using them and closer inspection it started looking more and more like pits in the stones. Also im not sure how much or how fast they should be filling up with metal shavings but they were pretty black so I washed them lastnight with hot water and a little dish soap like I do with my diamonds and the 1200 grit stones started fizxzing out of the pores of the stone. Almost like I had exposed baking soda to vinegar.

Anyhow here are the pictures.

[Bill K]

I received my 1200/1600 ceramic paddles yesterday after being on back-order for a couple months and have the same experience … pitting and lots of white powder.

i took two strokes and got enough white powder to think I was going to slice off the stone completely after 50+ strokes

very unlike the old-school ceramic sticks I had for years from syderco which were very smooth with no pits.

was going to ask the group if this was normal and found this thread.

[Dennis Hibar]

Mine are the same …. but they appear to be no different than the rounded ceramic stones. Therefore, I assumed that is the way they are supposed to be. They seem to work fine … I just re-profiled my Spyderco LionSpy today and they worked fine. Produced a beautiful edge that push cuts phone book paper with just the weight of the blade (though I have to admit … the LionSpy has a pretty heavy blade!). It would, however, be nice to get some clarification posted here if the ceramics are supposed to be like this. As pointed out … they are definitely NOT hard and smooth like the ceramic rods Spyderco uses in its system.

[D K]

I just washed my stones and gave them a bit of rubbing and still to my dismay they are causing chipping in my blades, definitely not smooth as butter. I even have broken them in on older knives and still running into issues. As mentioned by the original poster I have lots of little pockets in the ceramic, including the sides, which seem to cause some issues. However I am no pro sharpener and lack the experience that many of you have. It seems that if I do not have the paddle perfectly flat up against the blade that it sounds like i’m taking 80 grit right to the edge of the blade and bam all my hard work is ruined by chipping caused by the stones. Is this my fault? Do I just need a more steady hand and practice? I appreciate all the advise so far!

THANKS!

[Author]

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