EP Stones- the 500 Beston VS...

[Rob Babcock]

Well, I finally had a chance to try out the long awaited and storied Beston 500 stone, cut for the EP! As many of you probably know this stone has quite a following and is one of the more popular Aratos among the forum crowd. After several discussions Ken agreed to cut one up and make it available to the EP circle. About a week ago I got mine and finally got a chance to see what all the fuss is about.

First off, everything I've read indicates this stone requires a rather long soak. Just to be sure I ran a nice bath for it about an hour before I had to go to work so that it would be ready to go when I got home. This turned out to be about six hours as I was just working a "volume" shift that night. Some people like to leave the stone in water all the time, but I didn't know if that might affect the 3M adhesive Ken uses to affix the stones to the blanks. For safety sake I've been soaking it but letting it dry prior to storage. If anyone can give me definitive information about the waterproofness of the 3M adhesive maybe I'll modify this practice. Also, since this stone was cut I figured if it had a "crust" it probably didn't by the time I got it. The stone was well cut and pretty square and true but I did lap it til it was completely trued up, just to be sure.

To try it out I had four knives; three Shun Classics and a Wusthof paring knife. Two 8" Chef's knives belonged to coworkers while the other two were blades I agreed to sharpen for a fellow I met at a cooking forum. The first chef's knife belongs to a guy that must use the Shun as an ice scraper or garden tool- needless to say it needed some work. It seemed like a good test for the Beston.

First off, the Beston 500 has a pretty good feel for an Arato. Some of you will recall that I really don't like coarse stones, considering them a necessary evil at best. 500 grit isn't really super coarse which probably explains the relatively good feel of the stone. That also explains why it finishes relatively well, too. One unusual effect I noticed was that the stone is fairly noisy- it's just louder when it rubs the steel than any other Arato I've used. Apropos of nothing I suppose, just interesting.

I was a bit disappointed, though, with the speed- compared to the Chocera 400, Shapton Pro 320 and Ohmura 150 it's a pretty slow cutting stone. It worked okay on the three knives that were in decent shape. But after a long spell of gringing on the other one I eventually gave up on the Beston and switched to my DMT XC. No comparison, there- the DMT blows it out of the water. On the plus side the Beston 500 didn't dish enough to detect thru three and a half knives, but that probably shouldn't have surprised me since it cuts pretty slowly. I will say, though, that it was plenty fast on the Wustie. VG-10 is a sterner test, and I'll report back once I've done some carbon knives and some blades made of softer steels.

Overall I think I'll keep the Beston in the rotation. It's not fast but it finished well enough that I could jump straight from it to the 2k Aotoshi with good results. I'm not sure what pricing will be if Ken offers it as a standard product but it's considerably cheaper than the Naniwa & Shapton stones. Given the low cost and acceptable results I plan to use it for doing Germans and my coworkers Shuns. I'd absolutely consider it a step up from the OEM 120/220 stones from EP. It didn't turn out to be a game changer for me but for a cheapo stone it's pretty good. The main virtue, aside form the price, is that it seems to hold up better than most other coarse stone, so it won't need a lot of flattening. Thanks, Ken! It was fun to finally get to put the vaunted 500 Beston to the test!

[kcma]

It's a stone that rewards you for sharpening hard and fast. It's not as fast as omura, but it stays much flatter. And it's definitely significant faster than chocera and shapton pro320. By fairly large margin. Try again bearing down and sharpen at at least 100 strokes a min and see what it'll do.

EP might be a problem because you really can't bear down on it that hard. When free hand, it responds incredibly well.

[Rob Babcock]

That's not really true, KC- you can bear down pretty d@mned hard. I just don't. But I realize you do! With the EP Apex you're limited in the amount of pressure you can bring to bear but with the Pro you can really lay on the stone. While I normally prefer to let the stone do the work sometimes I do put some muscle into it. When you compare them P.S.I. (pounds per square inch) at normal levels of pressure (ie you don't put your entire body weight into it) the Beston is a pretty slow stone. It must need a lot of force to "come alive". That makes sense, though, given how hard & durable it seems.

It definitely stays flatter than the Ohmura, and it has a better feel. But it doesn't finish as nice as the Shaps or Choceras, at least not for the type of work I do. But it's cheap, that's a real plus. Overall, though, the DMT XC stomps a mudhole in its a$$ and walks it dry.

[Seb]

I may have to try out the Sigma Power 'Select 1' series #220-grit (from Rakuten) and take one for the team. I've been using the #1000 from that series on my new Aritsugu A and it did the job (following on the Chocera #400) nice and quick!

[Schtoo]

I may have to try out the Sigma Power 'Select 1' series #220-grit (from Rakuten) and take one for the team. I've been using the #1000 from that series on my new Aritsugu A and it did the job (following on the Chocera #400) nice and quick!

Select 1?

Comes in a box with a base?

Email me... I'll make the hit much more gentle.

I have to put in an order to Sigma Wednesday, so slipping in one of them won't even be a hiccup.

[D_R_Sharpening]

It's a stone that rewards you for sharpening hard and fast. It's not as fast as omura, but it stays much flatter. And it's definitely significant faster than chocera and shapton pro320. By fairly large margin. Try again bearing down and sharpen at at least 100 strokes a min and see what it'll do.

EP might be a problem because you really can't bear down on it that hard. When free hand, it responds incredibly well.

I agree, you need lots of pressure to make the Beston 500x cut. This is way more pressure than you can apply with the EP.

[Rob Babcock]

I think maybe you're not remembering your time with the EP accurately. Speaking just for myself I can put about as much pressure on a knife with the EP Pro as I can freehanding. The Apex isn't sturdy enough for that but once you've locked the Pro down it's not gonna move. But I've never sharpened with a ton of force anyway. When I sharpen freehand on stones and DMT plates I'll use some steady pressure but not a ton. I guess how much force you're used to using will partially dictate your preferences in stones. I'm starting to get why KC has such bad luck with the DMTs now...and why he goes thru 2 knives a year! If I leaned on the DMTs that way I probably wouldn't like them either.

By the sounds of it maybe the Beston 500 would worth getting for freehand sharpening and thinning. Although I really am getting to where I do more and more of the heavy duty stuff on a belt. I'll probably do even more once I get a better grinder.

[boar_d_laze]

Beston 500 is mos' def worth having.

BDL

[Rob Babcock]

BTW, to anyone that uses the Beston- how long do you soak it? Am I doing it justice with a six hour soak or does it need longer? I will follow the advice I've received and use a heavier hand with the stone but overall that's just not my style. Whether I'm sharpening freehand or on the EP I've never been one to lean on a stone much. I'm just used to using a lighter touch. With the Beston I may have to make an exception. Of course, as Dave mentioned at KF maybe EP use is not the Beston's forte. That said I don't think it's bad at all, I just don't like it as well as my other stones.

[phan1]

It's an OK stone for me. I have to flatten the stone often though. The swarf I develop clogs up the pores on the stone easily. I'm not picky about stones under 1000 though.