Naniwa Pro 800 is my favorite so far. I have the Bester 1200, Cerax 1000, Gesshin 2000 and Shapton Pro 2000 as well. All nice in their own right.
Favorite 1k stone?
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Is there a Nanohone mid grit out there that anybody loves?
I’ve only had experience with the 400 and honestly didn’t like it at all. Very glassy feeling. But maybe different grits perform differently? I know that can be the case for say the Shapton 1k vs Shapton 5k.
I’ve been reaaaaal interested in the hyper. Might use it for low quality stainless..
Yep the Naniwa Pro. The King 1000 / Cerax 800 that I have generate so much mud that it gets really messy on my table fast. the SG1000 on the other hand doesn't have that milky feel. Been eyeing a few options for something in between those stones. On the higher end, Ouka/Rika I think is end game for me (same with lower end, have a synthetic Aoto 600 from RSK that feels good).
Also, not gonna lie... maybe I just hate the brown color, but have been looking at the Morihei Hishiboshi hard...
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The Gesshin soakers are also worth a look in the profile you're seeking. The 1K comes in a giant form that makes for a very appealing stone.
Sigma Power ceramic hard 1K.
Beast of a stone that chews through anything and leaves an excellent edge. MAJOR PITA to flatten and clean, but work-wise, killer stone.
Norton India Coarse / Fine
Forget Norton’s stated grit ratings. Coarse is probably a little coarser than 1K and Fine is finer. Maybe the medium is closer to 1K but I don’t have one of these. Not exactly fast but convenient to whip out, work, and be done. No soaking, flattening, or real cleaning needed. Edge quality is insanely good.
Suehiro Gokumyo 240
This stone is hard and very surface-prep-dependent. Taking one surface to a smooth finish gets it close to the range of a 1K. Effectively two stones when surfaces are prepped differently on both sides. It does cost the same or more than buying two King’s money might be a wash. It performed very well on a magnacut knife.
Beast of a stone that chews through anything and leaves an excellent edge. MAJOR PITA to flatten and clean, but work-wise, killer stone.
Norton India Coarse / Fine
Forget Norton’s stated grit ratings. Coarse is probably a little coarser than 1K and Fine is finer. Maybe the medium is closer to 1K but I don’t have one of these. Not exactly fast but convenient to whip out, work, and be done. No soaking, flattening, or real cleaning needed. Edge quality is insanely good.
Suehiro Gokumyo 240
This stone is hard and very surface-prep-dependent. Taking one surface to a smooth finish gets it close to the range of a 1K. Effectively two stones when surfaces are prepped differently on both sides. It does cost the same or more than buying two King’s money might be a wash. It performed very well on a magnacut knife.
Norton India's are much coarser than 1k. The fine is probably more like sub-500. Great stones all the same.
shobudonnie
Well-Known Member
King 1000 is king of tactile feel and feedback. Arashiyama 1000 is very good. Cerax 1000 is alright.
Shapton glass better for stainless
DitmasPork
Senior Member
My favorite 1k stone is the Debado MD extra wide. Nice feel, extra with is very useful.
How fast does it wear/dish compared to other stones?
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Mine seems really reluctant to dish, compare to most stones that are not Shapton Glass.
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naniwa800 > naniwa1000 = suehiro md 1000
Chasingsharpness
Senior Member
There are many excellent stones in this medium grit range (say 500-1500 grit). Hard to pick a clear favourite but here are some observations I've made about ones I would recommend. I actually group ~500 and ~1000 grits together myself as i use them for the same thing. At the end of the day it all comes down to technique, but here are my opinions on the stones regardless. You can't really go wrong with any of these.
King 300 - Feels closer to a 500. Excellent feel and feedback. Very hard, releases a lot of grit. I keep coming back to this one and its definitely a keeper. Great as a one and done stone for soft stainless. The only downside is that its slightly narrower than traditional 3 inch wide stones (I think its ~70mm), which is noticeable.
Shapton Glass 500 – Very versatile stone, very hard, does not dish much. Feel and feedback is great. If you had to have only a single stone, this is a good contender. I've also tried Shapton Glass 1k and 2K, and they are also excellent but I prefer the 500, particularly for softer stainless.
Shapton Pro 1k - Feels closer to 700. A decent stone, hard and doesn't dish too much. I would recommend it to a beginner as it includes the holder/box, but I do think the Shapton Glass 500 is better.
Naniwa Chosera/Professional 800 - One of the very best around regarding feel and feedback. Feels finer than 800 (maybe~1200?). An amazing property of this stone is that it does NOT load up at ALL. You can literally sharpen on it for 10 hours straight and there will be zero load up. I wish more stones were like this. Cuts fast and well. I’ve also tried the 400, 600 and 1000 but slightly prefer the 800 over those.
Suehiro Debado MD100 (1k) - A splash-and-go version of the Cerax 1K. Excellent feel and feedback. Soft and creamy feeling. A major advantage to this stone is that its slightly taller and wider than your average stone (225x90mm) so great for longer knives. I was torn between this one and the Naniwa 800 for a while as they are both similar in quality of feedback and sharpening pleasure, but I think the increased size puts this one over the edge. Loads up a little bit but keeps cutting. Probably my current favourite "true 1k" due to the size and performance.
NSK 400 (Hakuto1 - hardest version) - Feels a bit different to the other stones on this list. I haven't tried any other resin-bonded diamond stones to compare it to but that might be why. Nevertheless an excellent stone, cuts very fast, does not dish much, and releases very little grit for a 400. Slurry is an absolute game changer with this one, so I usually rub the surface with a King 300 Deluxe or nagura. Looking forward to trying different NSK stones in the future.
Gesshin Vitrified Diamond 800 – Still testing this one out. It cuts faster than any other 800 I’ve tried, faster than a 400 grit stone. Does not release much abrasive. A soaker but soaks in seconds so basically a splash-and-go. The feel and feedback were much more like a traditional soaking waterstone rather than resin-bonded and plated diamond stones I’ve tried. A hard and very thin layer of abrasive, but VERY wear resistant so does not really dish and should last as long as any other stone. I had some initial issues so I did flatten this stone, which took a lot longer than most stones but was definitely doable with 60 and 120 grit SiC grit. One thing to note is that soft stainless will load this stone quickly, but the stone does keep cutting. Expensive but you're paying for speed here.
Gesshin 400 XL - So technically this is a soaker and a bit coarser, but I wanted to give it a special shout out. It really is excellent and I'm surprised its not more popular. Very hard, cuts fast, releases a lot of grit and dishes a bit. Excellent feedback and incredibly pleasurable to sharpen on. My current favourite stone for soft stainless and minor repairs. This was the coarse medium stone to take the throne from King 300. One major disadvantage is that it is very thirsty so the surface does need to be splashed with water often, if it starts drying out you will know about it quickly as the tactile feeling will drastically change within seconds. I would definitely recommend anyone to give this one a go. I love the XL version due to the size but I know they make smaller versions too. I suspect the 1k in this range is also very good although I hadn't tried it yet.
King 300 - Feels closer to a 500. Excellent feel and feedback. Very hard, releases a lot of grit. I keep coming back to this one and its definitely a keeper. Great as a one and done stone for soft stainless. The only downside is that its slightly narrower than traditional 3 inch wide stones (I think its ~70mm), which is noticeable.
Shapton Glass 500 – Very versatile stone, very hard, does not dish much. Feel and feedback is great. If you had to have only a single stone, this is a good contender. I've also tried Shapton Glass 1k and 2K, and they are also excellent but I prefer the 500, particularly for softer stainless.
Shapton Pro 1k - Feels closer to 700. A decent stone, hard and doesn't dish too much. I would recommend it to a beginner as it includes the holder/box, but I do think the Shapton Glass 500 is better.
Naniwa Chosera/Professional 800 - One of the very best around regarding feel and feedback. Feels finer than 800 (maybe~1200?). An amazing property of this stone is that it does NOT load up at ALL. You can literally sharpen on it for 10 hours straight and there will be zero load up. I wish more stones were like this. Cuts fast and well. I’ve also tried the 400, 600 and 1000 but slightly prefer the 800 over those.
Suehiro Debado MD100 (1k) - A splash-and-go version of the Cerax 1K. Excellent feel and feedback. Soft and creamy feeling. A major advantage to this stone is that its slightly taller and wider than your average stone (225x90mm) so great for longer knives. I was torn between this one and the Naniwa 800 for a while as they are both similar in quality of feedback and sharpening pleasure, but I think the increased size puts this one over the edge. Loads up a little bit but keeps cutting. Probably my current favourite "true 1k" due to the size and performance.
NSK 400 (Hakuto1 - hardest version) - Feels a bit different to the other stones on this list. I haven't tried any other resin-bonded diamond stones to compare it to but that might be why. Nevertheless an excellent stone, cuts very fast, does not dish much, and releases very little grit for a 400. Slurry is an absolute game changer with this one, so I usually rub the surface with a King 300 Deluxe or nagura. Looking forward to trying different NSK stones in the future.
Gesshin Vitrified Diamond 800 – Still testing this one out. It cuts faster than any other 800 I’ve tried, faster than a 400 grit stone. Does not release much abrasive. A soaker but soaks in seconds so basically a splash-and-go. The feel and feedback were much more like a traditional soaking waterstone rather than resin-bonded and plated diamond stones I’ve tried. A hard and very thin layer of abrasive, but VERY wear resistant so does not really dish and should last as long as any other stone. I had some initial issues so I did flatten this stone, which took a lot longer than most stones but was definitely doable with 60 and 120 grit SiC grit. One thing to note is that soft stainless will load this stone quickly, but the stone does keep cutting. Expensive but you're paying for speed here.
Gesshin 400 XL - So technically this is a soaker and a bit coarser, but I wanted to give it a special shout out. It really is excellent and I'm surprised its not more popular. Very hard, cuts fast, releases a lot of grit and dishes a bit. Excellent feedback and incredibly pleasurable to sharpen on. My current favourite stone for soft stainless and minor repairs. This was the coarse medium stone to take the throne from King 300. One major disadvantage is that it is very thirsty so the surface does need to be splashed with water often, if it starts drying out you will know about it quickly as the tactile feeling will drastically change within seconds. I would definitely recommend anyone to give this one a go. I love the XL version due to the size but I know they make smaller versions too. I suspect the 1k in this range is also very good although I hadn't tried it yet.
I 100% agree with your thoughts about the gesshin 400. Great stone! if I didn’t already have one I’d grab a SG 500.
You're kinda shooting fish in a barrel at 1k, it's pretty difficult to go wrong. When stones the King 1k and Chosera 1k are looking like some of the least good options available - you know the deck is stacked in your favour.
If push comes to shove, then for me personally I think the King 800 and SP 1k are really exceptional. And one that I don't think's been mentioned yet: the Sigma Select 2 1k is very cool.
If push comes to shove, then for me personally I think the King 800 and SP 1k are really exceptional. And one that I don't think's been mentioned yet: the Sigma Select 2 1k is very cool.
Choppin
Senior Member
I really like SG500, SP1000 and Gesshin 2000 (cuts fast like 1200-1500).
Just got a Cerax 1000 to try. Also curious about Debado and Gesshin 1k.
Just got a Cerax 1000 to try. Also curious about Debado and Gesshin 1k.
It's all relative. I have quite a few 1K stones all the likely suspects. Like the s&g shapton pro for convenience sharpening home knives. JKI diamond stone for high abrasive stainless steel. Always had a soft spot no pun intended for Gesshin soakers. Teaching sharpening hundreds of knives the feedback of the soakers is pleasurable. My Xtra large 1K Gesshin took on all kinds of knives. Most softer stainless like Mercers, Victorinox etc. Carbons, powder steels, lots of Tanaka G3. Also had Xtra large Gesshin 400 because many knives needed a little thinning.
Now teaching home users recomm. Shapton pro 320 & 2K. Teach thinning behind edge with 320 then refine to a very sharp edge with green 2K. The jump works fine. With good technique most folks only need couple stones to keep their knives sharp.
I have to say from feel that the 800 np is my favorite stone and one of the first I got when I started. I did just recently pick up an arashiyama 1k but I haven't played with it long enough to decide how I like it yet. I do like the 6k version of it and while watching some Japanese sharpeners on YouTube I saw there was a 1k and grabbed it since I needed a debado 180 as well for thinning work.
