Hattiwatti
Member
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2014
- Messages
- 8
- Reaction score
- 0
Greetings esteemed burr chasers!
People who dont want to bother with the overlong newbie rant can jump straight down to the Long story short version just above the stone list!
Others try to bear with me, because this is going to be a bit on the long side and sorry for my mistakes in English, as it´s not my native language.
I would like to start at thanking for this great forum, so much good information and knowledgeable people! Came here just to read on a few things about sharpening stones and got bitten by a knife/sharpening bug, and Im developing a serious addiction. I´ve been reading and watching Jons videos to learn about sharpening and I think I´m ready to jump in and get some nice whetsones. I have also been checking out different new knife options for me, but lets not even go there. Thats going to be a whole other overlong and boring post from me.
So my dilemma is that I want a setup of stones from scratch and I´m a bit overwhelmed of the possibilities, to say the least.
I´m ready to invest about 200/250$ and this doesnt have to include a stone lapping plate. I would prefer to spend a little less, so please dont make me go much higher cause this has already doubled and severely impacted my knife budget...
I think it would be better to have a different stone(s) for the cheap stainless steels. As I´ve read from here, they are strongly abrasion resistant and will sharpen a lot better with silicon carbide or diamond. I would also prefer to perma soak the Japanese whetstones or have splash and go´s, just for the storage convenience. Choseras and Shaptons cant be submerged for a long time but I´m not sure which others.
I´m going to sharpen a lot of cheap/softer stainless steel knives for relatives, friends and off course few of my own (Victorinox/Forschner set, F. Dick). Those are going to be my practicing knives, also my nakiri from MAC.
For the Japanese ones I´ll probably get a Ginga (AEB-L) gyuto or something carbon on a stainless clad and later maybe a pure carbon one. As Ive learned from here the first Japanese knife I´ll get, surely will not going to be my last
I am a total beginner in sharpening but very eager to learn. If I understand correctly, beginners should get stones that are a bit different (softer and slower cutting speed?), compared to the stones people usually end up with. But I rather practice holding the angle on cheap knives, spend a bit more and buy stones that I stick with, than those that I possibly want to change when I´ve learned to sharpen more. I hope you´ll understand my reasoning and dont get me wrong, I dont mean those stones that are usually recommended for beginners are bad choices by any means.
I´ve put examples from Japanese Natural Stones and I want to buy 1 or 2 stones from there. Id like to support the forum vendors, small shops and of course because they have gotten great reviews. The other stones I was thinking to get from fine-tools in Germany or straight from Japan for minimizing shipping costs.
I would love to try something in the highly praised Gesshin line from Jon at Japanese Knife Import and support him too, but as I live in Finland, the shipping + VAT costs will be too much for me at this point. For that reason those arent in the options listed below.
Long story short:
A home cook from Finland here, with a budget of ~200/250$ (doesnt have to including a lapping plate) ready to jump in and get my first whetstone setup. I need advice for picking a separate 2 stone/grit silicon carbide or a diamond plate setup for soft stainless and a different 3 stone/grit whetstones + loaded strop for the Japanese knives.
It would be a nice bonus if the Japanese whetstones would work well on my semi cheap stainless knives too. Perma soaked or splash and go, for storing convenience. Knives I own at the moment are Victorinox/Forschner set, F. Dick (X55- or X50CrMoV15) and a MAC nakiri. Going to get at least a gyuto, probably Ginga (AEB-L) or a carbon with stainless clad and later some monosteel carbon.
I will practice sharpening/holding the angle on my old knives and looking for the best bang for the buck stones. They can be a bit harder and faster than usually recommended for beginners. I would like to support JapaneseNaturalStones.com and order 1 or 2 stones from there. The rest from fine-tools.com or straight from Japan to keep shipping costs low. Would love to try Gesshin´s from Japanese Knife Import, but they are a no go because of the shipping + VAT.
On a side note, I want to express my gratitude and say thank you to Jon from Japanese Knife Import for all the sharpening videos! Those are just great for us new sharpeners!
Finally to the stones and questions, hope someone is still with me Here are the options what I have tried to narrow down from reading around here.
For the cheap stainless steel
Coarse/medium:
Missarka Combination stone, grit 150 and 800 (JIS) LINK
Norton fine/coarse combination stone
Generic double sided diamond plate grit 400 and 1000
Is anyone using the Missarka for cheap/soft stainless steels? Norton seems to be hard to find here in Europe, so the Missarka would be easier to get. These are all in the same price range about 40$, so they wont break my budget, and I dont have to use my nice Japanese whetstones on relatives butter knives.
For the Japanese knives
Coarse:
JNS 300 Matukusuyama
Beston 500
Bester 400
Naniwa Chosera 400
Medium:
JNS 800 Matukusuyama
JNS 1000 Matukusuyama
Bester 700
Bester 1200 or 1K
Bester 2000
Medium fine:
JNS Red Aoto Matukusuyama Blend of 2000-4000 grits
JNS Blue Aoto Matukusuyama
JNS 6000 Matukusuyama
Suehiro Rika 5000K (seem to be really hard to find in Europe)
Arashiyama 6000
Something else in the 6K range or higher?
So guys/galls what kind of combination would you choose if you were in my shoes? Any input to help me pick on these options or other suggestions would be greatly appreciated! There´s still Naniwa SS, Sigma Select II, Shaptons etc., but my head is spinning already.
ps. Sorry for the longest first post in the history of first posts. I´ve probably put a lot of wrong and useless info. If nobody will not answer or read the whole thing, I´ll understand completely. Will just flip a coin and pull a trigger on something, so I can finally start sharpening, anything! xD
Thanks!
People who dont want to bother with the overlong newbie rant can jump straight down to the Long story short version just above the stone list!
Others try to bear with me, because this is going to be a bit on the long side and sorry for my mistakes in English, as it´s not my native language.
I would like to start at thanking for this great forum, so much good information and knowledgeable people! Came here just to read on a few things about sharpening stones and got bitten by a knife/sharpening bug, and Im developing a serious addiction. I´ve been reading and watching Jons videos to learn about sharpening and I think I´m ready to jump in and get some nice whetsones. I have also been checking out different new knife options for me, but lets not even go there. Thats going to be a whole other overlong and boring post from me.
So my dilemma is that I want a setup of stones from scratch and I´m a bit overwhelmed of the possibilities, to say the least.
I´m ready to invest about 200/250$ and this doesnt have to include a stone lapping plate. I would prefer to spend a little less, so please dont make me go much higher cause this has already doubled and severely impacted my knife budget...
I think it would be better to have a different stone(s) for the cheap stainless steels. As I´ve read from here, they are strongly abrasion resistant and will sharpen a lot better with silicon carbide or diamond. I would also prefer to perma soak the Japanese whetstones or have splash and go´s, just for the storage convenience. Choseras and Shaptons cant be submerged for a long time but I´m not sure which others.
I´m going to sharpen a lot of cheap/softer stainless steel knives for relatives, friends and off course few of my own (Victorinox/Forschner set, F. Dick). Those are going to be my practicing knives, also my nakiri from MAC.
For the Japanese ones I´ll probably get a Ginga (AEB-L) gyuto or something carbon on a stainless clad and later maybe a pure carbon one. As Ive learned from here the first Japanese knife I´ll get, surely will not going to be my last
I am a total beginner in sharpening but very eager to learn. If I understand correctly, beginners should get stones that are a bit different (softer and slower cutting speed?), compared to the stones people usually end up with. But I rather practice holding the angle on cheap knives, spend a bit more and buy stones that I stick with, than those that I possibly want to change when I´ve learned to sharpen more. I hope you´ll understand my reasoning and dont get me wrong, I dont mean those stones that are usually recommended for beginners are bad choices by any means.
I´ve put examples from Japanese Natural Stones and I want to buy 1 or 2 stones from there. Id like to support the forum vendors, small shops and of course because they have gotten great reviews. The other stones I was thinking to get from fine-tools in Germany or straight from Japan for minimizing shipping costs.
I would love to try something in the highly praised Gesshin line from Jon at Japanese Knife Import and support him too, but as I live in Finland, the shipping + VAT costs will be too much for me at this point. For that reason those arent in the options listed below.
Long story short:
A home cook from Finland here, with a budget of ~200/250$ (doesnt have to including a lapping plate) ready to jump in and get my first whetstone setup. I need advice for picking a separate 2 stone/grit silicon carbide or a diamond plate setup for soft stainless and a different 3 stone/grit whetstones + loaded strop for the Japanese knives.
It would be a nice bonus if the Japanese whetstones would work well on my semi cheap stainless knives too. Perma soaked or splash and go, for storing convenience. Knives I own at the moment are Victorinox/Forschner set, F. Dick (X55- or X50CrMoV15) and a MAC nakiri. Going to get at least a gyuto, probably Ginga (AEB-L) or a carbon with stainless clad and later some monosteel carbon.
I will practice sharpening/holding the angle on my old knives and looking for the best bang for the buck stones. They can be a bit harder and faster than usually recommended for beginners. I would like to support JapaneseNaturalStones.com and order 1 or 2 stones from there. The rest from fine-tools.com or straight from Japan to keep shipping costs low. Would love to try Gesshin´s from Japanese Knife Import, but they are a no go because of the shipping + VAT.
On a side note, I want to express my gratitude and say thank you to Jon from Japanese Knife Import for all the sharpening videos! Those are just great for us new sharpeners!
Finally to the stones and questions, hope someone is still with me Here are the options what I have tried to narrow down from reading around here.
For the cheap stainless steel
Coarse/medium:
Missarka Combination stone, grit 150 and 800 (JIS) LINK
Norton fine/coarse combination stone
Generic double sided diamond plate grit 400 and 1000
Is anyone using the Missarka for cheap/soft stainless steels? Norton seems to be hard to find here in Europe, so the Missarka would be easier to get. These are all in the same price range about 40$, so they wont break my budget, and I dont have to use my nice Japanese whetstones on relatives butter knives.
For the Japanese knives
Coarse:
JNS 300 Matukusuyama
Beston 500
Bester 400
Naniwa Chosera 400
Medium:
JNS 800 Matukusuyama
JNS 1000 Matukusuyama
Bester 700
Bester 1200 or 1K
Bester 2000
Medium fine:
JNS Red Aoto Matukusuyama Blend of 2000-4000 grits
JNS Blue Aoto Matukusuyama
JNS 6000 Matukusuyama
Suehiro Rika 5000K (seem to be really hard to find in Europe)
Arashiyama 6000
Something else in the 6K range or higher?
So guys/galls what kind of combination would you choose if you were in my shoes? Any input to help me pick on these options or other suggestions would be greatly appreciated! There´s still Naniwa SS, Sigma Select II, Shaptons etc., but my head is spinning already.
ps. Sorry for the longest first post in the history of first posts. I´ve probably put a lot of wrong and useless info. If nobody will not answer or read the whole thing, I´ll understand completely. Will just flip a coin and pull a trigger on something, so I can finally start sharpening, anything! xD
Thanks!