Each series of honing stones produced by Boride Engineered Abrasives has its own purpose. For ease of understanding their classification, the manufacturer groups the series produced in categories by application.
1. Category roughing - series:
Ruby - 60, 80, 100, 150, 220 grit
Roughout - 80, 100, 120, 180 grit
RO-GS - 100, 120 grit
RO-Med - 80, 100, 150, 220 grit
RO-Hard - 150, 220 grit
These are rough stones for rough work. The abrasive grain in them is aluminum oxide. The difference between the series of this category is the degree of bond hardness and the ligature of the abrasive. Accordingly, the difference in purpose is to work with hard or soft material, treatment of surfaces of different profiles, etc. Of particular interest for sharpening is the Ruby series , which is a stone made of zirconium electrocorundum - very aggressive in operation, most effective when removing a large amount of metal from a workpiece. Bars of this series have proved to be excellent in starting sharpening operations (forming feeds, regrinding - changing the sharpening angle, removing all kinds of damage on the RK in the form of chips, notches, etc.). Mainly used by Ruby stones 150 and 220 grit, the need for a coarser abrasive when sharpening is rarely necessary.
2. Category of stones for surface treatment after electrospark machining (EDM) - series:
AM-8 - 100, 120, 150, 180, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 grit
AS-9 - 100, 120, 150, 180, 220, 280, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 grit
Orange EDM - 120, 180, 220, 320, 400, 600 grit
G olden S tar - 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000 grit
Despite the fact that the EDM series are specially designed for machining tool steel after electrospark machining, they are widely used for sharpening knives and cutting tools in general. There are two reasons for this. As a rule, electrospark treatment leads to alloying of the surface layer of the metal of the product (cathode) with the electrode (anode) material during a spark discharge. Plus, in the surface layers, a chemical reaction of the part material with dissociated atomic nitrogen and air carbon occurs. As a result, quenching structures and complex chemical compounds (highly dispersed nitrides, carbonitrides and carbides) are formed and a diffusion wear-resistant hardened layer is formed, the hardness of which reaches 70 HRC on the Rockwell scale. This category of stones was developed to work with such material. A second reason for the appeal of these series is that they are specially designed for tool steels and work exceptionally well with carbon steels. The most popular and used in sharpening is the series G olden S tar is the latest series developed in this category. Basically, the complete set is used for the entire line of G olden S tar stones in terms of grit. In the production of this series, more stringent requirements are imposed on sieving abrasive grains with careful selection in terms of composition. Also, the intergranular space in the stones of the Golden Star series is impregnated with a special antifriction compound. The bars in the Orange EDM and AS-9 series also work well with carbon. Basically, 320 or 400 grit stones in the AS-9 series and the finest-grained stone at 600 grit in the Orange EDM series are used for sharpening.... Typically these stones are included in Boride's recommended sharpening kits. Their use significantly expands the range of functionality and versatility of such sets.
3. General purpose category - series:
AM-2 - 100, 150, 180, 220, 280, 320, 400, 600, 900, 1200 grit
DIE STONE - 150, 180, 220, 320, 400, 600 grit
AM-K - 100,150, 180, 220, 320, 400, 600 grit
AS-H - 100, 150, 180, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 grit
CS - 150, 180, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 grit
CS-M - 120, 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 grit
CS-HD - 120, 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 grit
This includes the most versatile stones. Perhaps the only series that deserves special attention for sharpening in this category is CS-HD... This is one of the few Boride series made on the basis of abrasive silicon carbide grains. Actually, that's why it is interesting. It is universal, with the help of this series it is possible to sharpen both blades made of carbon steel and high-alloy steel, stainless steel, etc. Bars of this series sharpen both soft chromium-containing steels and very hard ones with a high content of carbon, vanadium or tungsten (i.e. they work with a very wide range of metals in terms of hardness) with equal ease. Plus, this series will be interesting for those who would like to appreciate all the advantages of Boride abrasives, but at the same time are used to working with silicon carbide stones.
4. Category of special purpose - series:
RASP - 80,100, 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 900, 1200 grit
PC - 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 900, 1200 grit
T2 - 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 grit
T4 - 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 grit
TH - 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 grit
AO - 120, 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 grit
900-F - 900 grit
The most interesting series in this category is T2. Actually, the Boride Golden Star and Boride T2 series almost completely solve all the main tasks of sharpening knives and cutting tools. The first is for the segment of tool carbon steels, the second is for high-alloy steels, including stainless steel. The T2 series provides high efficiency when working with chromium-containing steels due to a special impregnation. This counteracts the clogging of the inter-abrasive space (salting) of the stone with metal shavings. Insofar as the steels for which this series is intended occupy a large part in the total number of knife products, the T2 series is the most popular and demanded among clinicians. Basically, a set of stones consisting entirely of the T2 series is used. When working, it is necessary to use an oil-based or water-based coolant. Another very popular abrasive stone from this category is the stone of the PC 1200 grit series. If the Ruby series is the best solution for roughing (roughing, shaping the blade feeds, etc.), then the PC 1200 is the best solution for finishing the cutting edge.
5. Other category - Boride includes the following series: Ceramics, CNB - 80 & 120 and Cristone . These are specialized and rather expensive abrasive products that are impractical to use for sharpening needs.
