If you can relate the breakage to the possibility of having dropped the rod & block onto the base, I’d suggest running a strip of foam tape along the front and back edges. It made for a huge improvement for a couple of us.
I agree with those above who think the streaks are normal for ceramic stones, especially for new ones. More importantly, they shouldn’t make any difference in your results. Spyderco uses their triangle edges as a coarser grit step. When you graduate to using a microscope, you can decide for yourself if the results are correct. Maybe even a $10 loupe will help you decide.
The chipping and delaminating from the base block are clearly faulty products and also like the others, I’m sure that Clay will make that right.
Meanwhile, stay in touch with the forum. These guys know their shit and you’ll learn more than you dreamed of.
I am certain these stones were never dropped or even set down hard. I have a few plano boxes i store my stones in and have been very conscious about how i treat them, especially the ceramics. The first thing i thought to my self when the stone popped off was “what the hell man, i didn’t even drop these” 🙂
I have ordered a few loupes from amazon. they should be here soon.
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