suehiro dual density stones?

hey, just curious if anyone has much experience with the suehiro dual density stones- specifically the 300 grit stone? at the moment im usually using diamond plates for thinning as they stay flat/dont dish but the deep scratches are a bit painful. i have shapton 120 and 220 stones which I've been trying out too. the 120 feels hard and eats up steel which is sweet but the 220 feels rather muddy in comparison. it gets pretty messy real quick. i have a pink brick as well which feels a bit nicer than the shapton 220 but is again very muddy plus needs soaking. not to mention it's freaking huge so annoying to transport (although not a massive problem as I dont need to use a coarse stone that frequently).

the reason i ask about the suehiro is that im intrigued about the different levels of hardness. im hoping either side is coarse enough to get rid of shapton 120 scratches or atoma 140 scratches. im also hoping it cuts fast enough to use for minor thinning where I really don't need to go THAT coarse. the hard side of the stone would be good to ensure I'm removing steel equally as its going to stay flat easier as well. i just don't have any actual experience with this stone and not mad keen to throw away a fair bit of money for a coarse stone. can someone weigh in on this?

Hi - I recently got a dual density 300, but haven't used it on kitchen knives, only for flattening chisels. Very impressed - the split hardness works well in terms of evening things out especially in situations where flatness is crucial (like chisels).

that's really good to know. i know perfectly flat and even wide bevels aren't required for kitchen knives but there's a little ocd part of my brain trying to create even finishes on my knives lately. it's aesthetically pleasing...

i neglected to mention as well, my next coarsest stone (excluding a 400 grit or 600 grit atoma plate.. cant remember now) is a sigma power 1200, chosera 1000 or a natural ikarashi that recently arrived at my doorstep. ideally, i would be using this as my main coarse stone so it would be ideal that one of these medium stones could remove the scratches from the 300 grit relatively easily. i do have rust erasers and sandpaper around here i can use as well.

im open to other suggestions with coarse stones as well. however, im not interested in a bester 500 (found it very hard and thirsty and not really quite fast cutting enough) or sigma 2 400 grit (too muddy and dished quite a bit. more so than the shapton 220). i understand technique and pressure control is the most important part but it would be nicer to try something less temperamental.

I had one I used for a while. The hard side doesn't cut quickly, but it does clean up scratches from the soft side well. The soft side is a fairly fast 300 that dishes like you would expect. Right now I use a JNS 300 that dishes less quickly and had no problem going to any medium stone I have tried.

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/s...ro-gokumyo-dual-density-series?highlight=dual

soft side is nothing special
the hard side feedback is awesome, but the way it cuts is closer to a higher grit than it's actual rating and is not very fast, basically like a chosera but silkier feeling.

my recommended thinning stone is the suehiro cerax 320. it dishes, but is worth it because it cuts so damn fast and the feedback is great. if you can't get past the dishing part, jns 300 is probably your best option.

hmm.. fast cutting sounds good but im assuming if it's dishing accordingly its probably pretty messy too. for the price, xould probably by a cheaper, equally fast stone. been eyeing off that jms for a little while too. comparable price and seeing more info about it than the dual density

regarding the cerax, if the feedback is good i can probably deal with a bit of dishing. i hate using coarse stones but noticing that overall I've spent a lot more time using coarse stones than any other stone i own. thinning is a *****.. would probably make better sense to use a stone that feels good and focus on my technique more so than use a harder, slower stone.

just noticed maxim has a new iron clad gyuto in town looking rather sturdy. would be a shame not to pick one up with a jns 300.....

The Cerax is awesome. It dishes pretty quickly but cuts even faster. For big repairs I like the Gesshin 220.

unfortunately for me it gets pretty expensive ordering from jki (shipping to Australia alone is expensive). I'm feeling a bit of cerax love although I want to try all of these stones now... no problems going from the cerax to a 1000 for removing thinning scratches?

I would go from a Cerax to an ikarashi and wouldn't have to work it for too long. Another good option is the King Deluxe 300. You can probably get the King and the Cerax together for less than 100 usd from tools from Japan. I got both at the same time, they are both good stones. Different, but both good.

if im going to end up needing an extra stone with the cerax if I want to remove thinning scratches maybe i would be better off trying the dual density like I was thinking originally? if the soft side cuts well enough to do the grunt work and the hard side feels good, acts like a finer grit stone and replaces the scratches left from the softer side it seems like it might be a more compact solution. if the hard side cuts slowly surely the scratches would then be shallow enough to be taken out with a 1k stone?

I had no problem going Cerax, King deluxe, JNS 300, or JKI 320 to a few 1kish stones. That is the main reason I swapped the dual density.

so you actually found the dual density actually wasn't so good jumping to a 1k? thats handy to know. im actually considering selling my sigma 1200 to a mate learning to sharpen who would probably appreciate i bit more than I do. great stone but I'm finding im prefering splash and go stones at the moment. if i end up selling that maybe ill grab a jns 300 and 1000 to go with it (maybe that fancy new 240 gyuto as well). reading good things about that 1k stone and love trying out different stones. otherwise I guess the cerax or king might be worth a shot unless anyone else can convince me otherwise. are the coarse naniwa super stones any good? havent even looked at the price of them but the finer stones feel pretty good if a little soft and slow.

None of the stones I have mentioned have had any issues going straight to a 1k. The JNS 300, JKI 320, and King Deluxe 300 are all splash and go, while the Cerax is a soaker.

digging this up as i am still in search of that unicorn extra coarse stone.. has anyone tried the suehiro 300? http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store...t_info&cPath=335_404_587_591&products_id=1982

still in search of that unicorn extra coarse stone..

Click to expand...

it doesnt exist.