Stone Recomendations

I have just recently gotten into cooking (last year) and am wanting to get better equipment. I have many pocket knives and have a really good sharpening setup for them but am really interested in free hand sharpening so I can do all my knives. I recently recieved a JA Henkels set as a wedding present and plan on buying an Akifusa 240 mm Gyotu for most of my cutting jobs. I read somewhere that the henkels need a much lower grit than Japanese knives. So i'm assuming I will need lower grits for the henkels and higher grits for the Akifusa? I've been looking at the Gesshin stones from JKI specifically the 220 and 400. But I don't know where to go from there. I don't mind having full soak stones (I'm actually leaning that way). What grit should I go up to, especially for the Akifusa?

Sorry for the long post, but I will appreciate any help.
Thanks

No personal experience with Akifusa however based on what I read and your requirements I would suggest 3 stones setup with grits around below:
~400
~1000
~4000
400 Would be good starting point to when the knife is really dull or some minor thinning has to be performed
1000 would be your start point for Akifusa and end stone for Henckels
4000 End stone for Akifusa and other higher quality knives

As for the brands, it's hard to say. Just to throw something: JNS 300 ; Bester 1200; Naniwa chosera/SS 5000

I've sharpened a couple Artisan Santoku knives, same steel, a few times. Finished on a 6k stone worked out right.

So a setup of Gesshin 400, 2000, 6000 should work?

And 400-2000 for JA's and 2000-6000 for the Japanese?

I would prefer a .4K, 2K, 4K progression of Gesshins, but they don't have to be a "set". JNS 300 is my favorite course stone and I like an 800 (JNS or King) before the 2K. You could be done after the 2K or go to the 4K and/or a finishing stone. Note that I claim no proficiency in sharpening except that knives are usually sharper when I finish that they were when I started.:cool2:

The above will work on the German knives as well. But. I have some Henckels 4 star and Wusties and prefer diamond plates for them. They are not hard knives but they are abrasion resistant and I hate watching stone grit run down the drain. You may already have a diamond plate or two with your pocket knife setup.

jrmysell said:

So a setup of Gesshin 400, 2000, 6000 should work?

And 400-2000 for JA's and 2000-6000 for the Japanese?

Click to expand...

Before I picked up a set of diamond stones from JKI, I used that set (400, 2000, 6000) for most all of my sharpening. It's a good set that should serve all of your needs.

Rick