Chosera 1000 is awesome!

one of my best friends bought me one of the Miyabi branded Chosera 1000 stones for a wedding gift. this was somewhat self-serving, as she knows it'll get used on her knives at some point (she is perfectly capable of putting a nice edge on a knife, but she doesn't have the equipment or experience to take big chips out or regrind to stock, and her husband has a tendency to mess up her knives), but still, pretty great gift! what an awesome stone! i've never used a great 1000, but i've used a bunch of good ones, and i had decided that a King 800 was better than the 1000s i'd tried. no longer! i sharpened a couple of my soon-to-be-wife's knives to get a feel, and then re-beveled my 150mm Kono HD petty that i dented cutting a chicken up with. damn! this is the first 1000 stone that i've gotten a real shaving edge off of, and the feel is fantastic! anybody else really love the Choseras? i gotta get more of these, if they are all like this!

I have and love the whole set. The higher grit stones are wonderful. I still prefer jnaturals, but the chosera are very nice to use.

i have a high quality Asagi that any fine synthetic would have to be awesome to beat, but i am totally ready to believe that all the Choseras are great!

I'm a Chosera 1k fan as well.I love what it does to my Konos(and the rest of my j-knives),great feedback,nice toothy edge.Sometimes I won't go any further than the 1k.

with Emily's paring and petty knives, i think the Chosera 1k is really the best. she cuts tomatoes, most of the time, and these are good tomato edges (my knives gravity cut tomatoes, but my partner doesn't need that).

I have the Chosera 1,3,5k and like all of them, I have been using the naturals more often lately, but still pull out the Choseras whenever I can.

GlassEye said:

I have the Chosera 1,3,5k and like all of them, I have been using the naturals more often lately, but still pull out the Choseras whenever I can.

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what naturals do you use? i've used a few naturals over the years, and i really like my asagi, but i don't find them to work as well with as many knives as synthetics...

I have been using the "Red Aoto" from Maksim and Takashima Awasedo from Jon, I am sure I will acquire more sooner than I can afford. The synthetics work well on basically everything I have tried, but on my shiroko and aoko blades, I prefer the naturals.

i'll be trying the Awasedo soon, from a friend here. i've love to try the Red Aoto, but i've had a few aotos, including a natural, and they all seemed similar (except for the blue synthetic, which fell apart).

Fellow Chosera lover here. I go from 1K straight to 5K, and then red aoto, or ohira renge suita, and 10 seconds on the strops. Or all 4 stones when I'm in the mood, since naturals are splash and go. Finishing off with the naturals after the chosera improves my edge - more bite and more feel to me.

The only thing that annoys me about the chosera is that it seems to benefit from a 15min soak before using, else it dries up faster than I can water it.

1, 3 and 5. I didn't like the 10.

GlassEye said:

I have the Chosera 1,3,5k and like all of them, I have been using the naturals more often lately, but still pull out the Choseras whenever I can.

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How do you feel the edge retention is comparatively between the two progressions?

400, 800, 2k and 5k. Rarely use the full progression, prefer large jumps. Some get a few strokes on 2k after 5k leather + Cr2O3.

I have a full set of choseras...and I have to say I love them. I agree with Salty though, that the 10k is not my cup. It was a little too chalky and loaded to quickly for me when used with knives, however it is excellent as a razor stone. The 1k, 3k, and 5k chosera stones are some of the best I have encountered.

But I have to admit, I am J-nat kinda guy mostly, but will pull the choseras out if I have some good stainless that needs a touch up.

Gesshin 2K soaker my fav. med.:2cents:

400 if it needs it then 1k and 5k. Of the stones I've tried they are the best I've used for knives.

yeah the choseras all the way. i have the full progression. different jumps for different knives. i like that the 2 and the 5 can be run from wet to dry and the dry stage adds a different finish. some stones dont like to be run dry but i find that the 2k and 5k respond very well to a wet to dry run as a finishing step/stone. I only go up to 10k on my W2 Fowler, its the only knife i own that really responds well to reasonable time on that grit.

hambone.johnson said:

i like that the 2 and the 5 can be run from wet to dry and the dry stage adds a different finish. some stones dont like to be run dry but i find that the 2k and 5k respond very well to a wet to dry run as a finishing step/stone.

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How would you compare the edge with the one you get on a wet stone? As you're dealing with dried swarf I expect it to be a rather aggressive one, especially with the 2k.

I am also a Naniwa person and still prefer the Superstones series for the feedback as it is a softer stone as compared to the chosera stones.

I do use the 5000 grit chosera as since it is a harder stone which i imagine is better for getting rid of burrs and wire edges with edge leading into the stone(cutting stroke). When I am in teh pull back stroke mood ( spine leading, i will start with a higher angle of which I imagine stands a better change of breaking teh burr off and progress to a lower ange adn up to a higher angle again for the finishing microbevel.

Line up of chosera stones 200, 400, 800, 2000, 5000 and 10,000 are at my disposal. Most of the time, will go back to 2000 as my final stone on the primary bevel. (cutting edge)

I suppose, different strokes for diff people! Some like to push and some pull.. use both at the right time and it can be an orgasmic stroke(s) for the edge

have fun..
rgds
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