Spyderco Ultra Fine Benchstone Sharpening Stone - 3" x 8" Ceramic Stone, Professional Grade, with Suede Carrying Case - Model 306UF

I sharpen knives every day. It’s not my profession, I do it as a hobby for myself, family and friends. This has become one of my most used finishing stones. Depending on what type of knife I’m sharpening I’ll use it before moving to 3K+ stones. I’ve sharpened anything from $1 store knife to maxamet. Spyderco, Chris Reeve, ZT, microtech, Custom knife factory, Shun kitchen knives to name a few. It works great with any shape or steel.I prefer to spray a light coating of diamond emulsion and work it into the stone. I never have to flatten this stone and it doesn’t get loaded like diamond resin stones.

The stone works well for sharpening my woodworking tools. It cuts very quickly.My other hones are 2 X 6 inch diamond hones, and they are a bit small when I sharpen my largest plane iron, which is a hair over 2 inches wide. This stone is large enough to sharpen my largest plane iron with no problems.Some people on the badger and blade forum (where they use it to sharpen straight razors) have complained that the hone is not flat enough and that you can see the milling marks on the hone. I can, indeed, see the milling marks on the hone, but for my woodworking tools it seems to be flat enough to work well. If you are thinking of using it for straight razors, you might want to do a little research on that controversy.The stone fits very tightly in the leather pouch, which makes it difficult to store and remove. I am sure that the leather will stretch out with use and ultimately it will be fine.

This is a useful ultra fine stone, probably comparable to or finer than a Black Arkansas, but capable of cutting pretty much anything (and faster). The downsides are that it is quite a bit slower than a similar grit water stone (which may not be an issue if you frequently touch up your edges) and by all accounts few of them are flat, which is not really an issue for knives, but might be for woodworking tools, such as plane irons. I flattened mine using a piece of glass and SiC grit and then an old diamond hone.By all accounts, these stones pretty much don't wear. Some say they slow down with use and that refreshing the surface from time to time can restore some cutting ability; this hasn't been an issue for me in a couple of years of occasional use.I like the Norton Ascent ultrafine better; it's a little thicker and it comes dead flat from the factory. But the Norton is also twice as expensive, and doesn't come in a case.All of these ceramic hones are sintered ceramic and will load. I like to use them dry or with a little soapy water (say a drop of Palmolive or Dawn in a glass of water) and clean up with a green scrubby and some Barkeeper's Friend.(The curious thing is that St. Gobain, the parent company of Norton Abrasives, sold Norton's ceramics division to CoorsTek, which is widely believed to be the manufacturer of the Spyderco stones. I suspect they may also manufacture the Idahone rods and stones, which are substantially less expensive than either, but I haven't tried them).The leather sleeve is useless and frankly stupid - I don't know why they couldn't sell this in plastic case similar to the ones the 2" wide stones come in or just a plastic sleeve- the leather sheds all over the stone and means you have to clean the stone before and after you use it (I cut the leather up and used it as padding on clamps on bench holdfasts).I actually find the Spyderco medium (the gray/brown stone) to be more useful, but it does not come in a wide format...which you really don't need unless you are using a honing guide.If you don't mind dealing with waterstones, the Sigma Power Select 6000 (the pink speckled brick) and 13,000 are probably a better option. The 6000 is fabulous and all you need for woodworking tools.

(Official company reply) Thank you for taking the time to contact us. Our 3x8 Ultra fine sharpening stone is equivalent to about 2,000 grit. Since the stones are high Lumina bonded in ceramic, they cannot be grit rated like other stones. High Lumina is graded as a man-made sapphire. The stone is used dry, so no oil or water needed. To clean the stone, we recommend using Comet or Ajax and a green nylon scrub pad with water. Then let the stone dry and put away in the leather storage pouch.This product looks great and feels great. Awesomeness is a stone due to the high polish it gives the edge; mirror-finish.

I bought the Spyderco Ultra-Fine stone because I was not happy at all with the DMT Extra Extra Fine Continuous Diamond Stone.WOW! The Spyderco Ultra-Fine bench stone is absolutely superb in putting the that(or next to last) honing touch on a plane blade or chisel. Once you use the Spyderco, the edge on whatever bad boy you used it on will be so sharp, you can split atoms -- so sharp, in fact, that a mere picture of the blade will draw blood.If you are looking to get into sharpening without the hassle of waterstones, this is the one to get.This stone is worth every penny.

I use this ceramic stone for carving knives and a drawknife instead of honing to keep a sharp edge. It works very well. When the stone gets dirty it can be easily cleaned with an abrasive soap and water. Unlike honing with leather, paper or any other flexible material that establishes a micro bevel which eventually rounds over and requires the blade to be resharpened , this stone maintains the primary cutting bevel like new. Of course, there is some technique involved in holding the primary bevel flat against the stone. Since using this stone, I have not felt the need to resharpen any of my knives.

This is an excellent stone that fits perfectly between the finest diamond stones and the very very fine preparations that are used with strops. The large surface area makes them last longer between cleaning than crock sticks, although they seem to have similar fineness. For most, this is probably as fine as they will want to go, the "tooth" that is left at the end of slow and careful use of this stone is perfect for skinning. If you want to go finer, you will have to get a strop and polishing compound.

Very easy to use with concave oboe knives, and perfect for keeping up an a fine burr when your metal rods are no longer doing the trick.