Looking for a good 2-3 stone starter set for sharpening!

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Hermes7792

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Like the title says I'm looking for a good stone for my knife set. All I currently have is an old oil stone set my granpa had but it isnt good at all.

Stones Im looking at:
Shapton glass 1k, 5k
Shapton pro 1k, 5k
Chosera 1k, 5k

Obviously looking at the nicer stones, Dont see the point of buying a stone or knife just to upgrade in a couple years.

Steels the stones will be used on:
AEB-L
O1
1095/15n20 damascus
 
I have been very satisfied with the Choseras, 1k, 3k, 5k. If you don't mind the price or waiting about ten minutes to soak, they are great. I have not tried any other synthetic stones, so I can't speak for the other options.
 
I have Choseras too, 400, 1000, 3000 and 5000. Been very pleased so far. No need to soak, they are splash and go.
 
I was more leaning towards choseras, all I hear is good reviews
 
The gesshin 5k leaves a nice finish but might cut a little too slowly for some. I haven't tried the gesshin 4k, but it seems like that might be the better choice.
 
i currently use a gesshin 400 and 4k. im looking into a 2k to round out the set but not sure if i need it yet.

another good setup that i use for sharpening other peoples knives is the classic beston 500, bester 1200, and suehiro rika 5k. this is a tried and true setup that works really well for kitchen knives
 
Still a novice sharpener but i having great results with my Gesshin 2K & 5K, all te hstones you mention though seem to be very well liked.

I think the most important thing is not so much which stone of the ones you are thinking about you pick but that you find a mentor/person to give you solid advice. From that viewpoint there are none better than Jon at JKI, he will flat out talk you out of sale if your not on the right track.

Alan
 
Gesshin 400, Bester 1200 and RIKA 5K is my current 3 stone lineup.
 
My recommendation would be for a straight Gesshin setup of a 400, 2k and 4k.
 
I'll also recommend a straight Gesshin set-up: 400, 1k, 5k. The soakers that 99 listed are great, faster and feel better but I like the convenience of the 1k, 5k splash n go stones. Btw, all the steels you listed are on the very easy to sharpen side of the spectrum. Pretty much any good stones will work great.
 
I like the super stones. They don't cut to fast and leave a hell of a nice polish. Why the slower cutting speed? well I find it helps when starting out to avoid over grinds and stuff. The polish out of that series is in my opinion one of the best if not the best and they feel really nice.
 
I'm noticing that whenever someone only uses two stones, it's the super-low grit that they leave out.

Is it unnecessary to have a 4- or 500 grit stone? Does a 1000 or 1200 do the same job, just at a slower pace?

Just got my first gyuto and am a little overwhelmed :)
 
I am also looking to expand beyond my inheirited oil stones. I am looking at the Sigma Stones but am a little leary about the 1k, thus I may go with the Chosera 1k and the sigma's for finer stones.
 
I am also considering the JNS1000 but it looks like that may be hard to get now.
 
I am also looking to expand beyond my inheirited oil stones. I am looking at the Sigma Stones but am a little leary about the 1k, thus I may go with the Chosera 1k and the sigma's for finer stones.

In what way?

I've got all 5 they make (Oribest, Select II, hard, soft, oversize), they're all different and if there's anything you need to know about any of them, let me know and I'll try to answer it.

I've also got a Chosera 1K for reference, as well as danged near everything else. But not a JNS 1K. Or a Gesshin. :(

Stu.
 
Not a huge fan of the Beston 500x. Friggin pain in the ass to flatten, and mine came with some 'surprise' inclusions.
I wouldn't recommend the Shap Pros either. For me they had a very steep learning curve.
IMHO Naniwa SS 3k feels like I'm sharpening on Play Dough, but leaves a decent kasumi finish on the single bevels.
I can't say enough good things about the Rika 5k. It's as silky as a 17 year old...errr...never mind.

Caveat: I'm only an average sharpener at best, so take this for what it's worth.
 
I'm noticing that whenever someone only uses two stones, it's the super-low grit that they leave out.

Is it unnecessary to have a 4- or 500 grit stone? Does a 1000 or 1200 do the same job, just at a slower pace?

Just got my first gyuto and am a little overwhelmed :)

A lower grit, but not too low, is nice and handy to have. A GOOD #1000 will do the job, but yes slower. For a while the choices for low grit that didn't just flat out pull vacuum were very limited, so you either dealt with a decidedly average low grit stone or gutted it out with a higher grit one.

Nowadays, a good, solid and reliable low grit stone is much easier to find and actually get your hands on.

But then again, I just did a half dozen knives tonight. 30 seconds on a Sigma #400, 30 seconds on a Shapton M5 #2000, pulled the wire edge off on another knife's handle and they were done. Not razors, but very serviceable and you can't beat getting a trashed knife back to useably sharp again in a minute. Just a nice thing to be able to do. :)

If I had only a #1000 and a 3-4-5-6-thousand, the knives would be sharper but no more serviceable for general cutting and it would have taken 2-3 times as long to get them sharp.

Stu.
 
That sounds just fine by me. I'm no line cook and I'll be sharpening much less frequently than most of the folks on this board, I think.
 
The Rika 5k really is a fantastic stone. It deserves the accolades it gets, and it puts an edge on a knife that is superb for a kitchen.

As far as a ~1k stone, I am still using my shapton pro 1k, I enjoy not having to soak it. But honestly, since the 1k is never the last thing the edge hits, it doesn't matter to me very much what the 1k is like. I would probably save the cheddar and get the bester 1200x that Dave recommends, because he knows his stuff! Chef Knives To Go used to sell a set that was a Beston 500x, Bester 1200, Rika 5k, deburring felt, and a loupe because they were such common recommendations.

My advice if you are just a home cook, and not interested in playing around with sharpening:
Get your knives sharpened professionally, one time. Buy a Rika 5k, and a honing rod. Just keep up with the rod, and when it's not doing the trick, match the bevel on the Rika 5k, deburr into some cork or rubber and done. I do this with the knives on my kitchen wall, and they'll stay sharp forever--no need to set new bevels or anything.
 
Obviously looking at the nicer stones, Dont see the point of buying a stone or knife just to upgrade in a couple years.

Trust me, in few years you will want to upgrade. Try the cheapest first to get the feeling. Talk to the cheapo stones first, then go upwards
 
Can anyone compare the Suehiro 5K and the 6K?
 
All of the afore mentioned stones are a good start. Also you will need a flattener. For grit range, don't go lower than 1k. The slower you remove steel the better, take your time and concentrate on technique. Good rubbing!
 
+1 to what's been said. I'd stay clear of sub 1k stones until you're more confident in what you're doing, a 400 stone will remove metal quickly, inadvertently changing bevel angles and potentially the profile as well.
A 1k, 5 or 6k and strop setup will give you great edges with practice, they're my most used stones with others just a luxury/experimenting.
 
The other side of that coin though is since it is taking you longer to cut the steel, that leaves more room for error. If you are grinding and grinding and grinding for a long time you are probably wobbling for a long time as well. Wobbling makes for rounder edges. I say get in, cut a nice flat bevel as fast as possible. A nice lower grit stone like the Gesshin 400 will help you achieve this. Setting the bevel properly is the foundation for a great edge. You cant do this well with a 1k-1.2k stone in my opinion.
 
Chosera 1k(upgraded from a Sugimoto 1k) and a Arashiyama 6k + a truing stone..works great for me.
 
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