Opinions are based upon how people sharpen, what they sharpen and what products they have used in the past. Best thing to do is pick up a stone and try it. Make the opinion yours.
Every attempt that I have made to search I get a flood of known fanboys and promoters.
it would seem as if the question is automatically set up to solicite a given response. Any positive opinion would automatically be deemed fanboyism and discredited. Hardly a way to reach a rational decision.
BTW, one only needs to lurk for awhile to learn that calling one set of enthusiasts fan boys is the pot calling the kettle black to the 10th degree.
It's a fact of life that retailers would push their own house labels, For some, thats good they invest the time & money
to test and in some cases tweak formulas for the stones.
I don't really understand what you're getting at / your logic.
On one hand you've got unknown quality product from a site with known paid or solicited reviews that appears disreputable to you and on the other hand you've got dozens of alternatives in the form of well known, excellent products from honorable retailers that support this community.
Are you asking just out of curiosity or would you seriously consider buying the stones from a source where you couldnt even trust the reviews just to save yourself a buck?
I don't really understand what you're getting at / your logic.
On one hand you've got unknown quality product from a site with known paid or solicited reviews that appears disreputable to you and on the other hand you've got dozens of alternatives in the form of well known, excellent products from honorable retailers that support this community.
Are you asking just out of curiosity or would you seriously consider buying the stones from a source where you couldnt even trust the reviews just to save yourself a buck?
I'm most curious about the 150 grit stone from the same line, how it compares against using an Atoma plate for rough work, and how the Latte 400 compares vs. the Gesshin 400 (is i the same stone?) Beston 500 and Chosera 400. Based on what I've seen, I would stick with my Atoma plate, and I would probably go with a Chosera or Gesshin 400 if/when I'm ready to move on from my Beston.
But the fact that they are untrustworthy people to begin with is exactly why you stay away from them 100% of the time, even if they do actually have a quality product. They can't be trusted and don't deserve the business.
So I'm assuming you also refuse to shop at Walmart or basically any other major corporation? I don't understand why a significant number of people on this forum seem to believe that capitalism shouldn't apply to the knife world. Competition is good, except when it effects you (or your friends in this case), right?
We've seen two ways of dealing with competition. You could constantly complain about how unfair and 'evil' the other guy is, then take your ball and go home, and build your own fantasy world where you can pretend he doesn't exist. Or you could build a brand that features unique products and distinguishes itself on quality... which approach has been more successful?
And speaking of trust, this blind hatred for Mark seems to have influenced some formerly trustworthy people's judgment. I own an Artifex in aeb-l (I'm poor and it was a gift), and yes it's thick as a brick behind the edge and inconsistently ground, but it does have very good steel. If some people can't admit that, then they're just as partisan and untrustworthy in my book.
I think that comparing Mark to Wally is a bit harsh, but you're the one who brought it up and you seem just as clueless about each of them and what possible objections anyone could have to them.
Another problem is that AEB-L was popularized by one of the best kitchen knife makers and heat-treat wizards in the world. It's a steel that really takes some knowledge and small, very well controlled batches to get all of the legendary performance out of it. So, people have heard that AEB-L is great (and it is when used in 4-figure custom by Devin Thomas) but the same qualities will not necessarily transfer well to a full production/factory batch-heat-treat environment.
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