Chosera Vs Ceramic Stones?

[Ken Buzbee]

Now I will just say, not really.

Phil, that has to be one of the best summaries I’ve read. Well done, sir! (I removed the content as I hate long quote posts)

Ken

[Phil Pasteur]

Phil thank you so much for all of your hard work! There is so much here it is hard to take it all in and digest it all. I will however follow your lead and buy the choseras. I spoke with Bob at Oldawans again today and he is going to make up some customs stones for me. We decided on 1k/2k and a 3k/5k stones. I’m not a well to do sort of guy? But I am going to get the ball joint arms as well.
Hopefully this will hold me over for a little while? Thank you again!

I am sure you will be happy with the items that you ordered, and you will get great results. Please keep us posted on your progress.

Phil

[cbwx34]

Phil, that has to be one of the best summaries I’ve read. Well done, sir!
Ken

If I could only get him working more on the Wiki….. :whistle: :whistle: :whistle:

This is a good thread to read all on one page…. if you want to, click HERE.

[Mark76]

Just my 2 cents to add to this (interesting!) topic.

My favorite progression for a mirror finish is 1200 ceramics – 1600 ceramics – 5K Chosera – 10K Chosera.

I started doing this after Tom’s suggestion for a “horizontal move” on the grit progression chart – as you can see the 1600 ceramics have about the same grit size as the 5K Chosera’s. It works perfectly!

As far as I know, the 1200 – 1600 grit ceramics are currently not available, but the currently available ceramic stones have similar (not the same) grit ratings.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Daniel Saucier]

Does anyone know the “grit rating” on the micro fine ceramics?

Mark, looking at a set of choseras. Currently have the micro fine ceramics, and was thinking I would progress from them to a set of 2k/3k choseras. Now you throw the 5k/10k and say that works well. Looking at one set for now and want the most bang for my buck progression wise.

Sauce

[Ken Buzbee]

5k/10k Choseras are going to give you a much higher degree of reflectivity than you’ll get from the micro fines. I finish most of my working knives with the micro fines and they leave (visually) a light haze with distinct scratch marks under a loop. I don’t think they work quite as low as their 1.4μ/.6m rating, but they leave a nice clean edge for most things.

I think you’ll be happy going from the micro fines to 2k/3k Choseras, JMO. Then you can add the 5k/10k if you want it even more refined at some point.

Ken

[Mark76]

Phil made an accurate remark on ceramic stones and grit rating. That said, I find the 1200/1600 stones fit in quite well according to their grit rating.

As to the microfine ceramics, I think the general opinion is that the coarse ones may be a little more coarse than the 1200 and the fine ones a little finer than the 1600 stones. But I find it hard to tell.

I think you can safely go from the microfine ceramics to the 5K Chosera’s. But you can always first buy the 5K/10K Chosera’s and if you’re not satified, add more.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[cbwx34]

Hey, on a semi-related note, what kind of wear are you all seeing on the Chosera stones?

[Phil Pasteur]

The best bang for your buck progression would be the 2K/3K stones.
They will give you most of the mirror for 30% less in cost…and make it much easier to remove the lower grit…including the ceramics…of any grit, scratches.

Does anyone know the “grit rating” on the micro fine ceramics?

Mark, looking at a set of choseras. Currently have the micro fine ceramics, and was thinking I would progress from them to a set of 2k/3k choseras. Now you throw the 5k/10k and say that works well. Looking at one set for now and want the most bang for my buck progression wise.

Sauce

[Phil Pasteur]

Hey, on a semi-related note, what kind of wear are you all seeing on the Chosera stones?

How is an answer to this possible.. really. What do you mean?

Without going back and looking for reciepts and knife sharpening logs.. I can’t hardly give you an opinion, let alone a definitve answer.

I would guess that I have had my Chosera stones for over 1.5 years… BUT some came sooner than others..
I am jealous of those that order all of them at one time. I think it took me about 8 months. I started with the 400/600 and the 800/1K… was thrilled, but never happy knowing that there is MO -Bettah stuff out there (Mo-bettah is relative…think of an anal retentive guy that has to have 0.025 micron on nanocloth strops…Then figures out that it is pretty much useless for everday sharpening).
The last ones that I got were the most expensive ones.. the 5K/10K

🙁

I have been using up to the 1000 grit diamonds for as long as I have had them. This takes a bunch of the work form the 400/600 Choseras… as well as the 800/1000. I could give a knife count, but I would be lying…I just don’t know. It has been a bunch… but I have used the different stones a significantly different number of times over that undefined number of knives anyway.

Synopsis: The 400/600, after flattening three times are about 85% of the original thickness. The 800/1000 maybe 85/80…I use the 1K lots more. the 2K/3K one flattening, close to 90% the 5K/10K …well damn, I kind of screwed up the 10K…and it hurt my feelings badly. I had some chipping, so I fixed them… too much diamond plate. I would say 85+% on th 5K… maybe 75% on the 10K..mostly from over agressive maintenance..
Now..what does that tell you…?? I didn’t take actual measurements..just eyeball.. no actual numbers..;)
I think that , given proper use, and maintenance, the choseras should be around for several hundreds of sharpenings.. several.

Some of this also doesn’t go with the conventional wisdom that the coarser grit will wear faster… this is given equivalent use…which I haven’t done with mine.

I am sure it was not what you were looking for… But then, I am not even sure of that. A vague question can get no more than a vague answer.. sorry
👿

Why do you ask? Do you have what you consider to be excessive wear. better than expected longevity???
How are yours doing?

[cbwx34]

Hey, on a semi-related note, what kind of wear are you all seeing on the Chosera stones?

How is an answer to this possible.. really. What do you mean? [/quote]

What do you mean, what do I mean? 😛

Pretty much what you described… how the stones are wearing… if some faster than others, see more wear from lapping than use, etc. Whatever anyone’s impressions are (or if they’re keeping notes)…. it doesn’t have to be specific. For example, if some are wearing faster than others, it could be an indication of which ones to get first, if you’re buying one or two at a time.

I don’t have the WE version. I do have the full size ones. I got them out today to do a little comparison testing, but didn’t get as far as I wanted. Full size ones hold up well… so curious what’s being seen on the WE. Don’t have an expectation one way or the other, just curiosity, and for future reference.

[Mark76]

I only have the 5K/10K Choseras, so it is hard to compare.

However, I have more Shapton stones. On those it seems that the higher the grit rating, the harder the stones are and the slower they wear.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Ken Buzbee]

Hey, on a semi-related note, what kind of wear are you all seeing on the Chosera stones?

Chosera & SS…. Some are harder than others, for sure. I’m guessing the softer ones are wearing faster. But all of these things are so darned thick, they will all outlast me… I guess that’s all I care about.

Ken

[Mark76]

All of the Shaptons are much harder than the Chosera’s. The 5K/10K Chosera’s produce a nice slurry, but the Shaptons hardly. Of the higher grit Shaptons, I’d say the only produce swarf.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Phil Pasteur]

Hey, on a semi-related note, what kind of wear are you all seeing on the Chosera stones?

How is an answer to this possible.. really. What do you mean? [/quote]

What do you mean, what do I mean? 😛

Pretty much what you described… how the stones are wearing… if some faster than others, see more wear from lapping than use, etc. Whatever anyone’s impressions are (or if they’re keeping notes)…. it doesn’t have to be specific. For example, if some are wearing faster than others, it could be an indication of which ones to get first, if you’re buying one or two at a time.[/quote]

I think I knew what you meant.. just being Me. However it is a bit of a difficult thing to pin down. Too many variables…:blink:
I think I will get at least 4 to 5 years out of the set. I did about 15 knives last week.. on the Weps. I have been as high as 40. If we call it an average of 30, that may not be far off. 360 knives nad minimum 80% of the stones left. That give you an idea about the longevity.

If you were to sharpen only with the Choseras, I would fully expect that the 400/600/800 to wear the fastest. The 10K seems to be a pretty soft stone. I have nicked mine and knocked a corner off of one of them, yet they seem to be holding up well other than that. The 1k and 2k get the most use for me, but still are doing fine, as the numbers I posted above indicate..

Again, I think the wear I am seeing is probably skewed a bit from what “normal” would be.. because of doing the heavy lifting with the diamonds… and a good bit of the early refinement with the ceramics.
Besides, I don’t always use all of the Choseras on every knife… it gets complicated to give a real good…or definitive answer. Suffice it to say, they should last a typical sharpener a very long time.

Oh, I do not lap the stones before each use… I do rub them togehter under running water prior to each use.
I lay a straight edge on them occasionally. If I notice significant deviation from flat, I break out the DMT plates. The wear caused by using the stones on the WEPS is a lot different that the typical wear pattern on a bench stone. Mote of a broad flat depression in the middle rather than the sort of dishing focused on the middle of the stone with a bench stone used by hand… at least my hands
🙂

Mark,
Where did the Shapton thing come from…:unsure:
??

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