did you get one? if yes, what do you think about it?
Yes, in the meantime I've got the stone.
For the sake of simplicity, I will compare it with the impressions you have described. And as we all know here, the impressions of stones on different people are always subjective and often differ from one another.
Yes, the stone is hard, possibly slightly less hard than a Shapton Pro, but really very little.
release little or no abrasive.
The stone does not release a lot of abrasives, but I rub it with a mini diamond plate and create a bit of mud.
doesn't feel super nice and creamy but not bad.
For me it's the exact opposite, I find the stone very creamy and I like the feeling of sharpening on it.
no problems with powder SS.
if very very careful it can create a fairly good kasumi contrast.
It's something I'm not interested in at all, I'm interested in sharpening, not in kasumi or polishing.
usually it removes all contrast though!
good even scratch pattern.
Impossible to clean the stone with a synthetic Nagura from Matsunaga, that's true.
But with a mini diamond plate no problem at all, even a Nagura from Suehiro (Cerax or Traditional series) should work fine.
its a workhorse stone meant to get sh1t done fairly fast.
The stone is not slow, but the Shaptons (Glass and Pro) are faster for me in comparison. But there is also the possibility that I may simply be more used to the Shaptons (for years). I haven't used the Bester that often, my own mind may be mistaken.
allinall its very similar to the Juuma 2k. but the juuma is better.
I can't make the comparison, I haven't tried the Juuma stones yet.
What I also have to add is that the Bester 2K creates an excellent edge with lots of bite for me. I'm really excited about it, this edge is excellent for butchery and is a very good all-round edge if you like lower-finished edges.
The sharpness, the bite is different from the Shapton Pro or Glass 2K. I don't want to say better, I haven't been using the stone long enough for that. But what I can say, that I appreciate this stone very much and that I don't want to do without it anymore. In short, the Bester 2K has become one of my favorites in synthetic stones in a very short time.
I always find it interesting how different the assessment of a stone can be. Especially with an experienced user like
@inferno who, like me, has already tested a lot of different stones. In the end, it's always a matter of personal likes and dislikes, and I personally learn a lot from this exchange of impressions.
By the way, thank you
@inferno for your effort to present many different stones here in the forum and to describe your impressions. I've wanted to say that for a long time.
