1x6 Suehiro 320 Cerax - Premium Coarse stone

The 1x6 Suehiro 320 Cerax is a coarse stone used for profiling, repairs and initial maintenance on your edges. This stone has a very interesting feel and feedback that is hard and solid, and acts as an excellent cleanup stone from coarser grits and prepares your edge for further refinement. This stone also fits very well into a natural stone progression.

1" x 6" x 5mm in size and mounted to a steel blank, it is used with water only and work best when soaked in water for a minute or two before use. Store in a dry place in between use.

Abrasive Material: Aluminum Oxide

Ideal place in a sharpening progression:

• Starting grit for factory edge knife and profiling.
• Starting grit for repairs on a dull edge.
• After any diamond grit plate or stone to remove the deeper diamond scratches.
• After lower grit sharpening stones (80, 120, 180, 220 grit)
• After coarse belt grinder grits (60, 80, 100, 120, 220, A65, A30 Trizact grit)
• Before progressing to a finer and/or medium grit stone (400 - 2K grit)
• Before moving to further natural sharpening stones such as Amakusa, Binsui or Aoto.

The Suehiro 320 Cerax sharpening stone is a mid level coarse sharpening that works on almost all types of knives, scissors, tools and chisels, including those made with abrasion resistant steels. While the 1x6 size is meant for use with the Edge Pro, Hapstone and TSProf sharpeners, it is also a great size for a slip stone, field stone or a pocket stone for knife sharpening on the go, or to remove unwanted burrs. 

This stone can also be used in a mix and match progression of other synthetic and natural sharpening stones, as well with other brands such as Shapton, Sigma, Naniwa, Imanishi, Spyderco, King, etc. As a waterstone it is not to be used with oil, but can be used in conjunction with oil stones (such as Norton India and other carborundum and Arkansas stones) if the blade is wiped clean before and after switching stone types.   

On More Traditional Carbon Steel and Stainless Steel Edges the Suehiro 320 Cerax works on steels between RC 52 and RC 65 on the Rockwell C Hardness scale. The stone itself is very solid and makes easy work of profiling, sharpening, and repairing of the softer end of the spectrum of steels like X50CrMoV15, AUS6, 440B, and most steels used by many kitchen knife makers like Henckels, Wüsthof, Gunter Wilhelm, F Dick, Victorinox, etc and sets the edges up for further refinement.

On the higher end of the hardness spectrum of traditional steel edges made with steels like 1095, 52100, 440C, Aogami White, Shirogami Blue, O1, W1, etc., the Suehiro 320 Cerax really excels as the less aggressive scratches keep the harder, more brittle edges from chipping out while leaving a clean surface for further refinement. This stone really excels on these types of steels.

On Carbide Forming Steel and More Abrasion Resistant Steel Edges such as VG-10, D2, M2, S35V, S90V,etc., the Suehiro 320 Cerax stone acts as a cleaning stone for scratches formed by coarser stones.

Hacks and Tips:

• For a more aggressive stone, create a slurry by rubbing the stone’s surface with a smaller 320 grit stone, or a coarse or extra coarse diamond plate and some water. The slurry will be a pasty gray.
• Keep the surface of the stone wet with water when sharpening to avoid the black swarf from turning into a thick paste. A cleaner, more viscous surface will cut faster than a thicker pasted one.
• Lap this stone with a coarse or extra coarse diamond plate, silicon carbide (SiC) powder, or low grit wet dry sand paper to keep it consistently flat and clean.

Comparable Stones: Jende 320 Platinum, Naniwa 320 Pro, Shapton 320