Cerax by Suehiro Ceramic Stones

[Fergiz01]

Hi All,

I thought I'd share my experience with these ceramic water stones as I didn't see much about them on the forum before I bought them. I write this review as the Cerax stones have a lot of reviews from knife sharpeners, but not many from woodworkers. I was looking at the Shapton Pro's, the Ohishi's and the Sigma's but settled on these due to a combination of good reviews, availability and price. The Sigma Power Select II's would have to be purchased through Lee Valley, and postage from Canada was a deal breaker. Steel wise I use mostly PVM 11 (plane blades), but also have CRV and O1 chisels and the Narex Cr-Mn or whatever they use. System wise I hollow grind a bevel at 30 degrees pretty much to the edge and hone freehand from there.

Here is what I bought; a 1000, 3000 and 8000 grit. The 1000 and 8000 are white and are the 'old' Cerax. The 3000 is cream and is a New Cerax. All were pretty flat out of the box.

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The manufacturer recommends that all the stones should be soaked for at least a few minutes. I have found that bubbles stop coming out of the 1000 after approximately 15 minutes, while the 3000 and 8000 only need about 5 minutes. Water then tends to pool on the surface of the 3000 and 8000 grit stones and they just need the odd spray. The 1000 needs to be splashed pretty regularly and lives on the board above the basin. I'm reluctant to leave them in the water too long as this is not recommended by the manufacturer.

Firstly the 1000 stone. This is a really nice feeling stone. It cuts reasonably quickly, 5 strokes is really all it takes to produce a really good burr on a chisel or plane blade fresh off the grinder (pictured back).

The 3000 still cuts the steel at a fair clip, but also leaves a pretty nice finish. Five to ten strokes on this stone is enough to create a burr.

The 8000 feels pretty hard, but judging from the amount of black in the water it removes steel reasonably quickly too. Five to ten strokes on this stone leaves a mirror edge.

For touch ups I go straight to the 3000 stone, then 8000.

I also have a hardwood strop with green Veritas compound if I want to pare end grain or something, but I've just been finishing on the 8000 stone for most applications so far.

All in all I've been very happy with the stones and would recommend them to fellow woodworkers.

Please post any questions and I'll try my best to answer.

Thanks,
Zac.

[D.W.]

would you say that the first two slurry pretty quickly?

I sold natural stones for a little while, and have sharpened knives, but far fewer for other people than razors.

(and many tools for myself and in making tools for other people). What I noticed is that when I sold and graded used japanese stones, the knife folks tended to like a softer stone as finish and feel for a knife are better on a softer stone (often have just a line or point of contact with a stone since things are rounded). People sharpening tools and razors tended to want harder stones (but not harsh or scratchy).

There are probably two reasons that the cerax stones haven't been sold to woodworkers....or rather one - nobody distributes them as a specific brand. LN chose ohishi, they seem to always want something that is more exclusive to them, perhaps supply is easier. LN has sigma power and some other things, and harima distribution seemed to focus on king products for a long time (not sure how much sway they have now).

The only place I ever saw suehiro cerax was stu tierney when he was operating toolsfromjapan.

I like both types of stones, soft or hard - depends on what you're looking for.

[Fergiz01]

Hi D.W.

I would say that the 1000 stone raises a slurry much more readily than the 3000. The 1000 feels almost chalky? Maybe the wrong word but it's hard to describe. The 3000 feels quite hard, but definitely not scratchy or anything like that. One of the first things I did when I got them was to take one of our Global kitchen knives all the way from "quite blunt" to the mirror edge from the 8000 stone. I spent quite a long time on the 1000, and washed away a lot of slurry. It did need a flatten afterwards, but wasn't horribly dished.

Thanks,
Zac.