Hello all,
I have a question for those of you that have your ceramic paddles. Now I am aware that they are going to have a little bit of a break in period but mine really seem to be very coarse. My 1200 grit stones sound like 80 grit sand paper and have numerous easily visible pores in them my 1600 grit stones arent as bad but its almost like looking at the face of the moon. And I actually have some chips in the sides of my 1200 grit stones. Is this normal for the WEPS ceramics? They dont really seem to react or perform like any other ceramic stone I have ever used. Granted the only one I have ever used was the one in my GATCO sharpener I had previously.

I have run into the same issue. I also have a lot of chipping occurring on the blade due to the sides of the stones. They helped me get more of a mirror polish but are being a bit rough on my knife. Anyone have any suggestions? Just more break in time?

Clay and Tom can weigh in on this more, but I would say to try and lap them with your 100 grit diamond stones.... watch the video Tom (aka jendeindustries) put out a few threads down... may help.

sorry, duplicate post.

OK, I'm not saying I'm right, but it works for me.

Had the same feeling with the ceramics. Felt like grit on them, edges toothy etc.
Washed them, wiped the knives down between steps .. still felt it.

Then, took the 1200s, faced them together and rubbed them against each other, especially near the edges .. nothing crazy, just a bit of rubbing, I guess like you would treat a flatstone. Flipped and did the same to the 1600 sides.

smooth as butter

If ever they start to feel a bit jumpy, a quick rub, a wash if needed.

My favorite stones by far

kewl

i am about to upgrade to the 800/1000 & ceramics.............maybe strops tooo

It is hard to compare the ceramic stones I use now to the ones you received, because there is a large difference between stones before and after they are worn in.

I never noticed that my diamond stones became worn in. However, a few days ago I used a new diamond stone and, man, that was rough! I also remember from the first time I used the 800/1000 diamond stones that they seemed much rougher than the 400/600 stones. They definitely made a sound that felt they were much coarser.

So I think people gave you good advice in rubbing your stones together or even rubbing them to a diamond stone. I also know multiple people that start rubbing off the corners of a new stone to prevent accidental scratches or even chippings.

The only thing that matters is that the stones do sharpen properly. Success!

Thanks for the replies guys, they just really threw me off since they are nothing like any other ceramic finishing stone I have ever used. And with the visible craters in the stone I really wanted to make sure that it wasnt just my stones and there were no problems.
I will keep working with them and hopefully they will break in and start improving my edges. I'm sure using my shaptons on the knife before didnt help my reaction to a new hardly used stone either.

Hmmm... visible craters. Clay wrote in some other topic he's out and it will be a while before he is back, but I'm sure he'd take a look at it if you posted a photograph.

Hey David,
the ceramics shouldn't have any pitting in them, though I don't think it will affect the performance as many stones have a patterning to the abrasive - think DMT or Atoma. Funny this comes up now as I just had one of my customers email about the same thing - though upon closer examination his pitting was just the different colored flakes in the ceramic.
Since you do have pitting though, are you getting any powder off of them - on your fingers? Do they seem brittle? If this is the case I'd contact Wicked Edge about a replacement set.
If it is just the pitting and the roughness (roughness is also odd - though variance in manufacturing can and does happen) I think Ziggy's advice is best - rubbing them lightly together - and I'd avoid hitting them with a diamond plate. They are softer than many other ceramics on the market so I'm sure you'll put deep scratches in them with the diamonds and I'm not sure how those will work out - particularly a 100 grit.
In any case, if their performance doesn't improve, contact Wicked Edge and they will send out a new set
- Bob