I'm pretty sure all the data I need is out there somewhere on this board, but my google-fu skills are still suffering from the ongoing German carnival season.
Right now I'm at a point where I fleshed out my collection of knives. I know what kind I knives I like to use and how often the different blade styles get used in my home kitchen. There a few knives I'm going to sell without replacing them and then there are some that I want to replace with superior versions. Like swapping both my inexpensive Herder petty and nakiri for knifes with a better F&F, octagonal handles and at least similar if not superior cutting performance. But that's not something I have to rush...
What I neglected a bit during the knife shopping spree of the last few months is my sharpening setup. I'm still working with the same cheap stones I bought some times ago to fix my parents collection of completely dull Henckels knifes. But all of them are flawed enough in some aspects, that I don't want to use them on my more expensive Japanese knives. Some are too small to be of much real use, some are too narrow (2inches of less) to make me feel comfortable working on them and some take ages to soak and dry. Except for one, no stone cost me more than 20 bucks...
Sadly most of the common options mentioned here on the board are not feasible for me. Jons Gesshin line has a good rep, but shipping&German import fees (esp. with the current exchange rate) turns them into a prohibitive choice. Pretty much anything that can't be bought in Europe is a no-go for me. Same goes for stones that costs more than 70-80, since I don't have the funds to spend 300-400 on my setup.
Right now my knife collection looks like this (to give you some scope what kind of steels I use right now and intend to buy in the near future):
270mm W#2 Konosuke k-tip gyuto
210mm Swedish Stainless Ashi Hamono Wa-Petty (without the extra hardness option that would make it a gesshin ginga)
210mm Aogami Super Gyuto (but that may end up in BST, since I prefer working with the 210 Petty)
165mm Herder, Solingen Nakiri and 130mm Petty, made from C75 carbon steel...both will most likely be replaced with other knifes in the long run...the 130 petty with another Ashi petty (150, not sure if I go for w#2 or swedish steel with the extra hardness option), the nakiri with a bigger one (180mm) either made from V2 or W#2 steel.
a bunch of small Herder carbon peeling knifes in different shape flavors, all made from 59 HRC C75 carbon steel.
So basically bunch of paper steels (mainly Shirogami), some cheap Euro carbon steels and Swedish Stainless. No cheap moly steel, no intention to buy PM steel...
For the stones I'm looking for the following characteristics:
- either S&G or small soaking time, don't want stones that take ages of soaking until they can be used
- won't dissolve/die on me if I get a call and forget them in the sink for an hour or two
- won't dish fast, don't need to be flattened too often (so no King stones)
- at least 70mm (more if possible) of width
- good feedback from the stone
- street price here in Europe of 40-80 per stone, would like to stay below 60 for the low/mid grit ones. Don't mind going up to 80 for the final finishing stone.
From the information I gathered on my own, what I at least need is a 3 stone setup. One low grid (300-500), one medium grid stone (1000-1200) and a high grit finishing stone(4-6k). After the third stone I could go even further and either add fa very fine stone (8-10k synthetic, or a small natural stone that's not too expensive...) or strop on leather that has been treated with either a diamond spray or chromium-oxide pigments.
Brands I have looked at so far are chosera (look a bit finicky to me due to oversoaking issues and the high grid ones are pricy), Bester and Shapton pro. Bester looks like a nice "bang for your buck" line, esp. the finer grits. The 6k Bester is ~60 here in Germany, the 8k one only costs around 70...compared to 90 for a 8k Shapton pro or the 133 for a 5k chosera.
Anyone from Europe, who has some good recommendation for a 3 stones setup that's less than 150-175 Euros?
Right now I'm at a point where I fleshed out my collection of knives. I know what kind I knives I like to use and how often the different blade styles get used in my home kitchen. There a few knives I'm going to sell without replacing them and then there are some that I want to replace with superior versions. Like swapping both my inexpensive Herder petty and nakiri for knifes with a better F&F, octagonal handles and at least similar if not superior cutting performance. But that's not something I have to rush...
What I neglected a bit during the knife shopping spree of the last few months is my sharpening setup. I'm still working with the same cheap stones I bought some times ago to fix my parents collection of completely dull Henckels knifes. But all of them are flawed enough in some aspects, that I don't want to use them on my more expensive Japanese knives. Some are too small to be of much real use, some are too narrow (2inches of less) to make me feel comfortable working on them and some take ages to soak and dry. Except for one, no stone cost me more than 20 bucks...
Sadly most of the common options mentioned here on the board are not feasible for me. Jons Gesshin line has a good rep, but shipping&German import fees (esp. with the current exchange rate) turns them into a prohibitive choice. Pretty much anything that can't be bought in Europe is a no-go for me. Same goes for stones that costs more than 70-80, since I don't have the funds to spend 300-400 on my setup.
Right now my knife collection looks like this (to give you some scope what kind of steels I use right now and intend to buy in the near future):
270mm W#2 Konosuke k-tip gyuto
210mm Swedish Stainless Ashi Hamono Wa-Petty (without the extra hardness option that would make it a gesshin ginga)
210mm Aogami Super Gyuto (but that may end up in BST, since I prefer working with the 210 Petty)
165mm Herder, Solingen Nakiri and 130mm Petty, made from C75 carbon steel...both will most likely be replaced with other knifes in the long run...the 130 petty with another Ashi petty (150, not sure if I go for w#2 or swedish steel with the extra hardness option), the nakiri with a bigger one (180mm) either made from V2 or W#2 steel.
a bunch of small Herder carbon peeling knifes in different shape flavors, all made from 59 HRC C75 carbon steel.
So basically bunch of paper steels (mainly Shirogami), some cheap Euro carbon steels and Swedish Stainless. No cheap moly steel, no intention to buy PM steel...
For the stones I'm looking for the following characteristics:
- either S&G or small soaking time, don't want stones that take ages of soaking until they can be used
- won't dissolve/die on me if I get a call and forget them in the sink for an hour or two
- won't dish fast, don't need to be flattened too often (so no King stones)
- at least 70mm (more if possible) of width
- good feedback from the stone
- street price here in Europe of 40-80 per stone, would like to stay below 60 for the low/mid grit ones. Don't mind going up to 80 for the final finishing stone.
From the information I gathered on my own, what I at least need is a 3 stone setup. One low grid (300-500), one medium grid stone (1000-1200) and a high grit finishing stone(4-6k). After the third stone I could go even further and either add fa very fine stone (8-10k synthetic, or a small natural stone that's not too expensive...) or strop on leather that has been treated with either a diamond spray or chromium-oxide pigments.
Brands I have looked at so far are chosera (look a bit finicky to me due to oversoaking issues and the high grid ones are pricy), Bester and Shapton pro. Bester looks like a nice "bang for your buck" line, esp. the finer grits. The 6k Bester is ~60 here in Germany, the 8k one only costs around 70...compared to 90 for a 8k Shapton pro or the 133 for a 5k chosera.
Anyone from Europe, who has some good recommendation for a 3 stones setup that's less than 150-175 Euros?