Man I always have trouble picking between stones, especially during the off season when money gets tight. I'm gonna have to take a moment to think. Either jns 300or pro 320.....
I have both the JNS 300 Matukusuyama (Current version, with lacquered sides.), and the Shapton Pro 320... Both have their pros and cons.
Of the two, the Shapton has the
potential to be the faster cutter (Notably so.), but as soon as it hits a steel with any volume of chromium it starts to glaze over and the cutting power begins to tank BAD. To give you an idea, the Shapton 1K Pro cuts stainless faster than the 320 Pro; if you work with SS, don't get this stone... On carbon knives, though (Especially with soft carbon cladding.), it's actually a fairly effective stone for mild-moderate thinning and repair. Unlike most Shaptons it does release quite a bit of abrasive, so it's still kind of a messy stone, but at least it's splash and go and doesn't dish as quickly as some coarse stones.
The JNS 300 is one of the oddest stones I own... The new ones are only 65mm wide, and come with cashew-lacquered sides. It is very hard (Even slightly harder than the Shapton, especially to flatten; it has a very dense sensation.), very smooth feeling for a coarse stone (You'd think it was a 1K to touch... I actually have some 1-2K stones that feel coarser than this.), and is possibly the most splash & go stone I own (Water consumption is tiny!). However, for me, the grit rating is a misnomer; this is more like a 500 grit stone than a 300. It's not a fast cutter, but in the right situation it has some advantages... The scratch pattern it leaves is very mild and consistent, it typically is a cleaner working stone than the Shapton (It only really muds up on soft carbon cladding, but when it starts to mud it will build TONS of the stuff very rapidly, and it is quite a sticky mud that tends to re-harden. This helps with speed, but precision goes out the window, so it's actually best not to let it build up too much and accept the speed reduction.), is very dish resistant unless thinning clad knives (Then it dishes more than its hardness suggests it should.), this means it can cut fairly precise bevels without mud washing up the sides of the blade (Again, unless thinning clad knives.), isn't as chromium-sensitive as the Shapton, and for the beginner to sharpening would be a very difficult coarse stone to get in trouble with.
Neither of these stones are what I would call 'versatile' coarse stones; they each have their niche where they are happy, and will leave you swearing at them if you try to use them with the wrong thing. The Shapton loves carbon; especially carbon with few alloying elements. Shirogami #2, 10xx-Series, O1, etc, it'll rip through and keep its shape pretty well. Aogami starts to get cuspy; it'll do it, but does better if it is <62hrc. Likewise, soft stainless cladding cheats it a bit due to the low-hrc, but it still doesn't really like it. A2, SKD, SLD, or anything stainless abrade horrendously slowly on this stone due to the glazing.
The JNS is ideally suited - for me - to mildly re-profiling pocket knives with low vanadium content (Because it doesn't really mud on edge bevels, the grit doesn't get into the joints of the knife, and also creates a fairly precise, controlled bevel.), thinning and edge repairs on blades made of moderately well treated western stainless steels <58hrc (420HC, 440-series, Sandvik 12C27, etc.), mild edge repair on moderately well treated Japanese carbon or semi/stainless steels @ 58-62 hrc that require precision and control over cutting speed, and mild thinning of stainless or carbon clad knives. In all of these situations, it suits a high-pressure sharpening technique. It really sucks when thinning monosteel knives over 58 hrc, major edge repairs on very hard or high carbide steels, and thinning applications where you need to really move some metal expediently.
In terms of versatility, both of these stones lose out to some of the 'milder' coarse stones in my collection, like the Shapton Glass Stone 500 or Naniwa Chosera/Professional 600. In their prime, the JNS 300 and Shapton Pro 320 will out-cut those two finer stones (The Shapton in particular, the JNS only mildly.), but the GS 500 and Naniwa 600 will cut everything you put in front of them at a similar more moderated rate without complaint, which is a feat these two coarser stones cannot match. If your application for the JNS 300 or Pro 320 falls within their niches of proficiency, they will not be a waste of money, but if you expect them to monster through everything like their grit number would suggest you may be disappointed.
Alas, I cannot give you a stone suggestion that is more ideal, as I myself am still searching for that perfect coarse stone... The Gesshin 400 is one of the best cutting coarse stones I've found, but alas, the dishing is rather extreme in exchange for its cutting power. On edge bevels, it's a little more controllable (Particularly with a gossamer touch.), but when thinning it's a little silly. I have heard that the Gesshin 400S is a little better from some aspects (Water retention, cutting speed; Jon also said it was a little more dish resistant.), but it still looks a relatively muddy stone from the video:
[video=youtube;WajM7mgrXK4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WajM7mgrXK4[/video]
My best of luck to you on your own search.
Hopefully this helps...
- Steampunk