Waterstones - Anyone Tried the Suehiro Rika?

[David Weaver]

Suehiro rika 5000 stone - not popular yet with woodworkers, maybe never will be since it's a level of finish you really don't need if you hollow grind (or use microbevels). Anyone tried one?

But cheap and the knife fanatics love them.

I'm looking for aoto / coarse finish stone replacement for big fat japanese plane irons. I don't use this level of stone for anything else (and I don't bother with soaking for anything else)

If nobody has tried one, I'll revisit this later.

In my experience, a lot of the fast cutting stones are a little more coarse than they suggest or imply (especially if they are not also soft), and this is supposedly a very fast cutting mid-grade stone. it doesn't matter so much, though, if the following stone is also fast cutting.

[john brenton]

From what I've read from you, you'll try it even though it doesn't look any better than a Norton 4000.:p

[David Weaver]

Well, I don't have a norton 4000, and the suehiro is actually cheaper. Plus, I already ordered one.

I saw one of the knife fanatics say that it is close to the feel of a natural stone and very fast cutting but doesn't dish fast.

I also saw other knife fanatics say they are not wowed by the chosera 5k like they are the 10k. I wasn't a threat to buy the chosera 5k, anyway.

I do have a shapton 5k. I really don't need any more stones, but I can't help but try one for the price. I do like the soaker stone for the irons with big fat bevels and soft backing - they clear the huge mounds of swarf better than the really hard stones.

I only ever use stones in this grit range (or any stones that need soaking at all) with japanese tools or when flattening a new iron, and I could get along without them when flattening a new iron, I think. I have in the past gone straight from 1k to 15k and it didn't really take more time than going 1,5, 15. Nobody believes that until they try it, then it's not that hard to believe - especially if you use a fixture that allows you to apply a lot of pressure and you let the 1k stone dry off and swarf up a little to polish the iron before going to 15k.

[john brenton]

The Norton 4k is an awesome stone. Some people here consider it useless, but it's the perfect setup for the higher polishing and cuts fast as heck.

I used to go through more grits when I was freehand honing, but now that I use a jig I've eliminated the 1k and go from 220 to 4k, then 8k. I could probably get by without the 4k even, but I want to buffer all the wear to the stone. There is an enjoyment factor from moving all the way up the grits though, and I'll still do that with a new iron just to see how it hones up.

[Stuart Tierney]

It's


^%#%$#%&$&


awesome!


But dishes fast, fast, fast. That's why it's so nice. The dish is manageable though, if you have good stone-fu. Ok, the dish isn't bad, but it's miles away from the Shapton Pro 5K and on another planet compared to the Sigma 6K.

For me, it tells me exactly what would be absolutely perfect for a #4-6000 grit stone. Take the silky smoothness and clog resistance of the Rika, the dish resistance and water management of the Sigma #6000 and the flashy packaging and labeling of Shapton, I'd sell a bazillion of them.

Oh wait, I think I just described the Sigma Select II 6K...

(I must admit, the Chosera 5K is pretty good in this respect to. I'd explain, but I don't want to run this thread off the tracks right here and now.)

Dave, you'll love it. It's a really nice stone, but 5K it isn't. Not unless you work the mud down to that level. It's a 3-4K initially and loooooooves a drink.

Actually, based on that, you'll probably hate it.

I dunno. I just get them and use them to find out what they're like.

FWIW, there's a 6K Rika-esque stone, and it's garbage. Clogs incessantly, still needs a long drink, coarse for what it should be. Suehiro missed the mark by a long way on that one.

[David Weaver]

I used kings for a long time. I pretty much have a whole shift of soakers, now, some old, some new. (no kings).

freehanding will minimize the dishing a little. Not surprised to hear soft and coarse (for the rating) is where the speed comes from. 3-4k is a better grit for what I need, anyway. I don't need to get super close to the cho, it's fairly fast and I don't think it'll mind the jump.

I could only find one video of the rika, and it did look pretty muddy.

I can live with about anything, but admittedly i have a curiosity problem.

[Stuart Tierney]

You'll be fine, and it's cheap too.

I don't use mine often, but when I do, it's usually with something that flat isn't important with.

I'm hoping I can burn some of it up over the coming months, more than anything to just make it smaller. Getting tired of big stones with bases clogging up the works around here. If they were a little thinner, then adding more wouldn't be such a problem. ;)

Stu.

[David Weaver]

I haven't got a good answer for that (space). I have an old machinists bench that's got nothing but stones and a few turning tools in it. The stones do take up a lot of space if they're not small. Turning tools are a nuisance, too.

[Howard Pollack]

I have one, it cuts beautifully and as Stu says dishes quickly. I find it needs a lot of water, which I don't particularly like. But again, it cuts beautifully. -Howard

[David Weaver]

You guys are right. It came today, and I had a 48 mm bench chisel (a really hard one, too) that I never used or set up, a good opportunity to try a new stone.

I never thought I'd find a stone that made my hiderayama semi-finish stone look hard, but I think i stood there saying to it "stay together, stay together!!".

I wouldn't call it a 5000 stone (3000/4000?), but it cuts really really fast for whatever it is and sets up for the semi finish stone really well. Swarf a go go, though, holy cow. I'll be able to go right to a suita after it, the semi-finish stone is probably in the 6000 grit range, you can shave off of it, but it's not that much finer than the rika. It leaves the classic kasumi finish on the chisel, which is long gone when using the shaptons.