Which line of stones are the best/ most consistent?

[Eamon Burke]

Not terribly feasible to stick two maker's stones together of course, but Suehiro can probably wangle something with stuff they have kicking around...

I'll find out this afternoon.

And if not, I reckon I could finagle something with a tube of glue and a few stones...

Although I must confess, I've never been attracted to combo stones myself. Haven't been that attracted to Imanishi stones either actually but apparently that's something I need to deal with.

Or not...

Stu.

Oh, I thought Suehiro and Imanishi were under the same umbrella, I've seen them sold together for so long.

If you could split them in half, and sell a combo stone for less than the price of both, I think they'd be well liked. I don't see a lot of combo stones that are made from popular name brand stones.

[Schtoo]

Oh, I thought Suehiro and Imanishi were under the same umbrella, I've seen them sold together for so long.

If you could split them in half, and sell a combo stone for less than the price of both, I think they'd be well liked. I don't see a lot of combo stones that are made from popular name brand stones.

Nope, Imanishi is out of Kyoto and Suehiro is from Niigata. Both are very similar in that they started out with natural stones and branched into synthetic stones, but the similarity stops there. I don't know for sure, but I believe Imanishi has their stones made for them (not unusual) and Suehiro keeps manufacturing in house.

It's very likely that whoever is sending the stones out of Japan deals with both Suehiro and Imanishi, so stores going through whoever that might be have easy and ready access to both of these brands.

It'd be unlikely that I'd be able to split the stones and combine a Bester with a Rika. Not impossible to do, just get them and do it myself, but the sum of the parts would be more expensive than anyone would like. Getting someone to do it for me, that's not out of the question either but as I deal with Suehiro directly and don't deal with Imanishi directly, it'll be more likely that I'd get the Rika stuck to the back of one of the dozen or so #1000 stones that Suehiro makes. But I have to wait and see what Suehiro thinks of the idea. If they say ok, then it's a go. If not, then I'll look at other options but it'd be most likely that I'd stick together full thickness Rikas to full thickness 'something that's not a Bester' stones.

And yes, price is a consideration.

We'll just wait and see.

Stu.

[bieniek]

I think my JNS is awesome and If I would be about buying more synthetics I would get the rest of the line.

BUT

Honestly I dont sharpen too much stainless but anyway I hate it. Funny how this stone changes, is works wonders on tough carbons yet is upleasant on softer stainless. Clogs too much for my likings and begins to dish more.
Is not very muddy, cuts ultra fast and is hard.
As I written in my review, good for sharpening, little hard for polishing - would use something like King 1K after or something, before moving on with progression.