Building sharpening setup

[vicv]

Gessin stones are only available from JKI because they're his stones and he had them made for him

[Chefdog]

No problem at all. I was actually surprised to find out that Gesshin stones seem only available from one seller - the JKI.

I have read a bit more around and it seems that JNS stones are not bad at all People seem to comment on them to be rather hard - what are the implications for the result of the sharpening?

Still - I am wondering whether I could 'cheat' and get something like King 1k/6k, Bester 1k/6k or Naniwa Homestone 1k/3k to get the price down a bit or whether I should go straight for JNS (or Gesshin or the like)

Actually - apart from the obvious - are there any relevant differences between the stones that need to be soaked for a longer time and the splash-and-go ones?

Generally, people seem to say that soaking stones are softer feeling and sometimes offer more feedback than non-soakers. In my comparatively limited experience with various stones this holds true, with some exception here and there. The JNS stones are fairly hard (compared to king-much harder, compared to Gesshin 1k & 5k splash-n-go, noticeably harder, and compared to Shapton Glass stones, a little softer) but still offer decent feedback. I prefer the harder feeling stones because I FEEL like I can be more precise than with a softer stone (that's my perception anyway). And you're less likely to cut into and gouge a harder stone should you'rw angle control not be solid (or have a slip up) and theyre most often less muddy than softer stones. The last stones I had were the gesshin splash stones, and I'd say there's no difference in quality between the two, but they do feel different in use. I do have one chosera, the 400, and it's surprisingly smooth and nice feeling for such a coarse stone while being on the harder side of things. I used King stones for years and they got the job done. The 800&1k are soft and relatively muddy and wear quickly requiring frequent flattening. I didn't love the 4k or the 6k, but they work.
It'll take some time to develope a preference, so if you're not sure you want to drop $150, get a king combo and start sharpening.
Good luck.

[Keith Sinclair]

Alot of good info. on this thread.I like the Atoma plates use them in knife thinning & repair,but there are cheaper plates out there that work fine fine leveling stones,even a cheap sub $ 50.00 works better than those flattening stones.

If you can get the Bester 1200 in EU,it's a versitle quality med. stone.As Jon said in his video start wt. a Med. stone & work on tech.You are on the right track,keep watching those Murry Carter vids. he is a character,intertaining,& his tech is sound.

[Matus]

Gessin stones are only available from JKI because they're his stones and he had them made for him

Whoops, thanks. I somehow missed that.

- Chefdog -

Thank you - that is the kind of information I am looking for.

On the 'cheaper side' - what would be a better choice - King 1000/6000 or Bester 1000/6000? Both the double-sided stones.

Also - is there a significant difference between Bester 1000 and 1200 grits? the 1200 gets mentioned all the time, the 1000 rather rarely.

[vicv]

Personally I don't like the 6k side of the king stone. I'm no Murray carter so if he likes it that's great. I still say check out stu's website and look at that combo stone. From Japan you'll pay the same shipping rates we would which isn't that bad

[Matus]

... I still say check out stu's website and look at that combo stone. From Japan you'll pay the same shipping rates we would which isn't that bad

I missed that part of your previous post. Indeed the combination of Cerax 1000 and Rika 5000 looks interesting too. The price including shipping and tax would however be around 80 € (the stone alone is 48 €)

I am not sure whether Murray 'likes' the King stones - those are stones he used for the video. He did not put too much weight into stone selection (I am yet to watch the part where he sharpens knife on a brick )

[vicv]

Thats fair. Shipping prices are not fun. He must like king stones. That's all he really uses from putting the final edge on the knives he makes to knives he's sent to sharpen. Even won the sharpening Olympics with them. But everyones different and I just feel there's better out there for not much more money. And I started with that king combo stone so I'm not biased against it.

[SpikeC]

Regarding cost, once you buy it and use it for a while you forget the price.

[Matus]

Just an update:

After I have bombarded Jon with some questions (I tend to do that, somehow ... ) Jon proposed to chat over Skype. Yesterday we talked (Jon did most of the talking though ) for more than half an hour and Jon led me through all the stones I was asking about and then explained the properties of all his Gesshin stones. It was really really great. So this is a big public THANK YOU to Jon.

But Jon not only explained a lot of stuff to me - he was also very helpful guiding me through the stone selection and actually advised me to get a cheaper stone not only to learn (single grit to start with) the technique, but also to find out what kind of stones I like (softer, harder, less or more mud, etc..)

So right now it seems that I am going to get something like Cerax Suehiro 1000/6000, King 1000/6000 or Bester 1000/6000 and start sharpening. And in couple of months I will make some BIG shopping at JKI .. well, unless I do not make it right away - there are 2 smaller knives I would like to get too.

If I go with Gesshin it will be 400 + 1000/6000. That is set.

[Matus]

So I finally made my choice and ordered a Suehiro Cerax 1000/6000 combination stone and a Naniwa 220 flattening stone. I hope this setup will allow me to learn sharpening with stones (and taking care of the stone).

Once I will get the grip of it I will go for a set of Gesshin stones and a few knives from Jon

I will let you know how it is working!