Anyone tried the cheap 1000/6000 stones on Amazon?

Miura knives
Find deals on amazon
Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
H

heliosphere

Active Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
35
Reaction score
27
Location
MN
I've been trying to help a friend learn to sharpen his knives, remotely. He has one of the cheap 1000/6000 blue and white stones that are are all over Amazon for around $20. He's having a bit of trouble getting a good edge on his knife, and I'm wondering if the stone is holding him back. I mean, it's obviously not going to be a great stone, but I'm wondering: is it substantially worse than other inexpensive stones that people here use? If anyone here has used one, I'd like to hear your opinions about it.
 
Stay away. I made the same mistake when I started, and those stones are complete garbage. The 1000 is more like a 600, and the 6000 is more like a 2000. And they dish extremely quickly. If you want a low-cost 1000/6000, the King KDS is good value for money, and it works well.
 
Now don’t get me wrong you can get a decent edge on the cheap stones. However they don’t last long and do not perform as well as the well known brands. If you look around you can get great stones from 27-40$ that work well and will last far longer. I have a 400/1000 and a 3000/6000 amazon junk stones. Now I wish I had that cash back to invest in good stones.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I'm hoping that my friend will be able to learn the basics using the stone he already has. If it were up to me, I would have had him get a different stone (or two) from the start, but that's what he had to begin with. I mean, if I knew that spending $50ish on a King 1000/6000 would get him going, I'd tell him to do it, but I'm not sure if that's what's holding him back. If I could see him in person, I'd probably be able to diagnose whatever issues he's having, but he lives far away so that's not possible.
 
I’d have him watch the korin sharpening videos that’s how I learned
 
Do you mean this stones?

Picture after sharpening two knives!


If yes it´s waste of money! I bought this stones at my beginning. After sharpening two knives the #1000 side lost 50% of it´s size. Normaly the stone will sharp the knife but the knife sharps the stone :D :D. After this bad buy i bought my first real stones :). A Suehiro Cerax 1k and a Suehiro Rika 5K and all is fine :). I love this two stones
 
heliosphere said:
Thanks for the feedback. I'm hoping that my friend will be able to learn the basics using the stone he already has. If it were up to me, I would have had him get a different stone (or two) from the start, but that's what he had to begin with. I mean, if I knew that spending $50ish on a King 1000/6000 would get him going, I'd tell him to do it, but I'm not sure if that's what's holding him back. If I could see him in person, I'd probably be able to diagnose whatever issues he's having, but he lives far away so that's not possible.
Click to expand...
He can upload a video to youtube and set the privacy to unsearchable.
 
Was asked to sharpen some Zwilling tonight and all I had in the car was a blue/white 1000/6000 Sharp Pebble (so neither 1000 nor 6000 at all) … and a good ceramic rod … and some green compound on a cloth …

The stone, oh man, it dished so fast it felt like that friable green sponge florists poke stems into. Surprisingly, after careful apexing and deburring and light pressure edge trailing honing strokes, then rod and strop, it went through paper towel better than my usual 16000 edge. Wire edge, I thought, so I sliced against a wooden board, but it kept going against the paper towel. So it is possible to make it work, but you have to know what you’re doing. Would not recommend for beginners.

The big 8" “TWIN POLLUX FRIODUR ICE HARDENED 30721-200” chef’s had visibly reflecting rolled areas. I didn’t use the stone, just the rod, and stropping compound on cloth, and to my surprise that was enough touch-up to be shaving sharp through paper towel also. Then I discovered I had a Grinding Stone from SharpeningSupplies at the bottom of the box so I tried thinning the knife, destroying the edge in the process. Had to go, so hastily reset the edge to probably 150 BESS 20dps before running away.
 
Last edited:
Yes I have tried these. I suggest to not waste your money. These are low quality and the grit rating is meaningless. If you do want to try one, get the AMAZON BASICS. It's the same exact cheap Chinese made that brands like Sharp pebble sell but it's like $20. Obviously it works. It's a soaker. It dishes immediately. It makes a big mess. It cuts fast. But that's because the 6k is more like 600 grit at absolute most. The 1k side is not 1k either, idk what it is. 320 maybe. The two sides not much different just the 6k side is smoother and the 1k side is like chunky and rocky and harder.

If you want a cheap soaking stone, I'd suggest you get a 1k/6k Suehero new Cerax off Amazon for like $40. This is an excellent soaking combo stone and will last much longer, work much better, and much higher quality. The 1k is similar to a naniwa maybe 800 but it cuts much much faster. The 6k side is like a naniwa 3k at most. The finish isn't much different from the 1k side, but it's much smoother. Cuts very fast. I just used it on some chunky 61 rc S35VN and it make quick work of it and left a rather nice matte finish. For a soaker it stays flat quite well and it cuts very fast and smooth and excellent feedback and consistency. All around great soaking stone.

Most will be better off with a non soaking stone because of convenience and whatnot. 1k/5k Shapton pro would cost like, what, $100 or less.
 
I think I have the same or similar- it's yellow and white instead of blue and white, and came with a wooden base, a rubber fitting and a tiny levelling stone. Looks a lot like the "Sharp pebble" stone exept the color. I'm also an absolute beginner in sharpening, so can't really comment on the quality of the stone, but I've used it a lot over the last couple of years, with not stellar results (probably due to my poor technique). I really want to upgrade, and have been following discussions on J-Nats, Coticules, BBWs, but that would probably be overkill considering my skills.
What would you recommend as next level from cheap chinese starter stones? (I recently bought a Morihei #4000, but don't get better results with that).
Any experience with JNS synthetics? Worth the price?
If not, where do I start, King, Suehero, Naniwa, Morihei? What would be a reasonable setup for home cooking knife maintenance?
I have mostly carbon steel knives, but also VG10 and softer "German" style knives (Zwilling, Fiskars)
 
jsandvad said:
I think I have the same or similar- it's yellow and white instead of blue and white, and came with a wooden base, a rubber fitting and a tiny levelling stone. Looks a lot like the "Sharp pebble" stone exept the color. I'm also an absolute beginner in sharpening, so can't really comment on the quality of the stone, but I've used it a lot over the last couple of years, with not stellar results (probably due to my poor technique). I really want to upgrade, and have been following discussions on J-Nats, Coticules, BBWs, but that would probably be overkill considering my skills.
What would you recommend as next level from cheap chinese starter stones? (I recently bought a Morihei #4000, but don't get better results with that).
Any experience with JNS synthetics? Worth the price?
If not, where do I start, King, Suehero, Naniwa, Morihei? What would be a reasonable setup for home cooking knife maintenance?
I have mostly carbon steel knives, but also VG10 and softer "German" style knives (Zwilling, Fiskars)
Click to expand...


I did a review of this type of stone a while back:

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/no-name-amazon-stones-review.55923/

I (personally) would advise getting a Suehiro Cerax 1k/3k combi. It was the first Japanese synth I got, and I'd buy it again in a flash. Awesome, awesome stone.
 
If you're gonna get a Cerax combo I strongly suggest you pay a tiny bit more and get the 1k/6k combo. Which if you're used to say Naniwa will leave a finish in line with a 800/3k combo. Except it's WAY more aggressive cutting than any non soaking. The 1k side is a very fast course to medium sharpener. The 6k side is a very fast and smooth medium fine to fine sharpener. Both leave a matte finish, the 1k is hazy like you get off a king 800 and the 6k is somewhere between 2k sp and 3k chosera in finish though obviously way faster cutting than either of those. When I say sharpener I mean medium grit stones, 800 to 2k usually. An 800 is a course sharpener aka medium stone and 2000 is a finer sharpener aka medium stone. idk whats the best or right way to phrase that, course medium and fine medium I guess, or maybe medium course sharpening/medium stone etc. whatever.

I just did extensive testing on these stones very recently. I should have taken pics of the scratch patterns but I'm lazy. The 1k and 6k are really already quite similar. Both cut very fast and are butter smooth. The 6k side honesty looks and feels like it could be 2 or 3k, and the finish is somewhere in that 2 or 3k range compared to shaton or naniwa. The 6k despite it's grit rating is not a finishing stone, its a sharpener 100% . Even with more tenacious steels you could go straight to the 6k and sharpen anything that's not totally needing a new bevel. It's a very high performing stone in my view. Aside from it being a soaker which means less convenient, mess, and quicker dishing this has become one of my favorite general use sharpening stones.

Honestly most folks myself included could get away with nothing but this one combo stone, a diamond plate and a loaded strop or three. And for under $50 on amazon, I think this is what folks should be suggesting to every newb rather than the standard suggestion I see all the time which is a $200 800/3k Chosera set.
 
Ah, forgot I was not allowed to post links yet. Trying without:
Thanks a lot for your recommendations! Trying to find EU retailers of these (not through Amazon, Bezos has enough money), no luck so far. Would JNS combo 1000/8000 Matukusuyama be a useful alternative?
 
heliosphere said:
I've been trying to help a friend learn to sharpen his knives, remotely. He has one of the cheap 1000/6000 blue and white stones that are are all over Amazon for around $20. He's having a bit of trouble getting a good edge on his knife, and I'm wondering if the stone is holding him back. I mean, it's obviously not going to be a great stone, but I'm wondering: is it substantially worse than other inexpensive stones that people here use? If anyone here has used one, I'd like to hear your opinions about it.
Click to expand...
It's like 600/1000 grit.
 
da_mich* said:
Do you mean this stones?

Picture after sharpening two knives!


If yes it´s waste of money! I bought this stones at my beginning. After sharpening two knives the #1000 side lost 50% of it´s size. Normaly the stone will sharp the knife but the knife sharps the stone :D :D. After this bad buy i bought my first real stones :). A Suehiro Cerax 1k and a Suehiro Rika 5K and all is fine :). I love this two stones
Click to expand...
Lol, I know where exactly it was produced. Leave it...
 
r0bz said:
do you use the diamond plate to flatten the stones ? if so what diamond plate are you using ?
@gc0220
Click to expand...
Yes I'm using a dedicated 400 atoma, but but I believe most people use an even courser one. You could find a generic equivalent from somewhere like CKTG for as little as $30. It's very convenient but also not necessary as there are many other ways to maintain stones. I've also used my DMTs anywhere from the 325 up to the 1200 to lap or generate slurry. Assuming they're well broken in, I've never had any kind of issues such as grit contamination. I haven't had any issues at all aside from the odd very high grit / super polishing stone like the 10k chosera, which get scratched to hell when lapped with the 400 atoma and thus need to be smoothed out. Even the 12k super stone is fine, but for some reason using the 400 atoma on the 10k chosera leaves terrible scratches in it's surface.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top