Recommend a $50 stone to bridge Bester 1200 and Arashiyama 6000

Currently I have a Bester 1200 and Arashiyama 6000, which I follow with a leather strop loaded with 1 micron boron carbide paste. The jump between stones isn't terrible, but sometimes I wish for a "bridge" stone or just something a little finer than the Bester as a stopping point. I hear great things about the Gesshin 2000, but that's almost double what I'd like to spend.

Perhaps the Suehiro Rika 5000? I read that people think it cuts like a 3000.

I was going to get the Naniwa Aotoshi "green brick", but then I found this thread: http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/7177-Strange-behavior-of-the-Naniwa-Aotoshi
and that made me reconsider.

I used to have bester 1.2k, naniwa super stone 3k, and arashiyama 6k. Naniwa is quite fine acting in the middle there.

Naniwa SS 3k has some interesting qualities it seems. http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/7479-2k-4K-and-coarse-stone-recommendation
See posts #6 and #7. Doesn't sound appealing to me.

JKS 3k is worth a look: http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/9585-JKS-Splash-n-Go-3k-A-Winner.

Yes, that JKS 3k might do nicely. Anybody have experience with the Imanishi 4k? Or thoughts on the Rika 5k as a bridge?

Honestly I'm tempted to get the Gesshin 2k despite the price, everybody seems to love them.

I just go right from Bester 1200 to the Rika 5k.

Same as theory. Works perfectly ive tried different combos and I just go back to this every time

I'm also in the two stone camp. Ninety percent of the time, I use a 500-1k to establish my edge and then a 4-6k to finish. I find this gives he best balance of cutting performance and edge retention.

Sounds like the Rika 5k is the way to go.
I like the simplicity of the 2-stone setup I have now, but options, you know?

Tycho,

What sort of steels do you normally sharpen?

I was thinking about picking up the same combo you have (Bester 1200/Arashiyama) this coming month.

Do you think the arashiyama is too large of jump from 1.2k --> 6k when sharpening carbon steel blades?

Thank about it like this. 200-500 grit stone = reset a bevel or establishing a new edge. 1000-2000 grit stone = sharpening and refineing the edge the main part of the sharpening. And 3000-8000 for polishing,honing and really trueing the edge. Techniqually it is best to have a 3 stone setup but you can get away with 2 stone as long as you dont let your edges get to blunt. I like to completely refresh my edges on my knives around every 5 times I sharpen. I just feel after awhile they need a good amount of fresh steel.

Jai,

I forgot to mention that I'm also picking up an Atoma 400. This will serve as both my lapping plate and course grit stone.

jai said:

Thank about it like this. 200-500 grit stone = reset a bevel or establishing a new edge. 1000-2000 grit stone = sharpening and refineing the edge the main part of the sharpening. And 3000-8000 for polishing,honing and really trueing the edge. Techniqually it is best to have a 3 stone setup but you can get away with 2 stone as long as you dont let your edges get to blunt. I like to completely refresh my edges on my knives around every 5 times I sharpen. I just feel after awhile they need a good amount of fresh steel.

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Do you think the arashiyama is too large of jump from 1.2k --> 6k when sharpening carbon steel blades?

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I use almost exclusively carbon steel. I've got a 52100 chukabocho and an Aogami #2 gyuto. My personal, non-kitchen knives are either 1084 or 5160. If I were to pick up a stainless knife in the future, it would probably be in AEB-L since I've disliked every other stainless I've tried.

I don't think the 1.2k-6k is too big of a jump, because the Arashiyama does cut relatively quickly. However I wonder if I could get better results with a bridge stone, and spend less time on the Arashiyama. It works, but perhaps it could be better? People seem to love the Bester 1200/Suehero Rika 5000 combo, and Dave Martell thinks they pair well together.

TL,DR: I don't think it's too big a jump, but there could be room for improvement.

I'll second (or 3rd or 4th....wherever we are) the 1200 to 5000 Bester/Rika jump. I think that's very solid for practical use. I'll play with an 8 and 10k if I'm fooling with a polished edge, but my Naniwa 3000 that doesn't see much action.

yeah i like using 2 stone jumps for most of my sharpening too. if nothing else, maybe find a second finishing stone or a second medium grit stone where you can start experimenting with different stone progressions.