Help choosing first high quality stone set! (EU Buyer)

[zatowashi]

Hey guys,

Firstly just wanted to thank all the kind souls for the guidance I've received on this forum so far. I'm quite new to this hobby and my first knives are a Kurosaki R2 210mm Shizuku gyuto and a Tanaka Ginsan 150mm petty. Thinking to add some carbon knives to my collection but I need build out my sharpening setup. I have a cheap BearMoo Amazon stone (1k/4k combo) which I've managed to put edges on my old Western knives with. I assume it's too soft for the R2 steel but also I want proper stones to learn on.

So I'm thinking of Naniwa Professional (Chosera) 400/1000/3000 from K&T (Euro seller)
Or a Suehiro Cerax 320/1000/6000 from an EU site. (With a view that the 6k will be more like the Naniwa 3k in reality)

I'm not really set on splash'n'go stones as I enjoy sharpening, taking time is less of problem than having good stones to learn on. What I'm looking for is a solid choice of 3 or 4 stones that are high enough quality to keep but not super difficult to work with (I heard Shapton glass for example is better for experienced sharpeners).

My top budget is around £200, but if I could solve it for less I would have more towards my next knives!

Apologies if I missed a sticky with a guide on this - but if there isn't one I think it would be great if there was some recommended stones!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Migraine]

When I was in the same situation as you (also EU) I got a Shapton Glass 320, JNS 1000 and JNS 6000 and they've served me extremely well.

 

[zatowashi]

When I was in the same situation as you (also EU) I got a Shapton Glass 320, JNS 1000 and JNS 6000 and they've served me extremely well.

Sounds like a great setup - unfortunately the JNS 1k is out of stock at the moment though they do have an 800... Wondered how it measures up against a Cerax 1k which is a fair bit cheaper, but I'd rather aim for stones that I'll keep so I don't mind stretching if it's worth it...

 

[Famima]

Hey zatowashi! With the provisos that: a) I haven't used naniwa professionals (only a couple of super stones) and; b) I have very few stainless (e.g. only some regular german, and 1x vg10, 1x AEB-L) and not something like R2... the suehiro stones I have are my most used: cerax 320, cerax 1000, rika 5000. They're really nice to use, relatively cheap to buy and only need 10mins or so soak time before using. I really don't think you can go wrong with them as a first decent set of stones - the only downside is that you need to flatten them a bit more often than some other stones, but this is less an issue if you're not sharpening single bevel knives and also easily acheived with some 120 grit wet&dry on a flat surface. No experience with the cerax 6k; the debado line look interesting also.

 

[Lars]

Bester 1200 and JNS Blue Aoto works very well for me.

 

[mpier]

I’m a huge fan of the chosera, I started out with the 800 and 3000k. I bought the originals with the stand just because they were thicker and will last longer, eventually I bought them all except the 10000k just too much money. They all have a nice tone, feel, feedback and they all cut well. If I had to choose three 400 800 and 3000k although you can’t go wrong with the 1000k or 2000k

 

[zatowashi]

So I got the Chosera 1k and an Atoma 140 in the end. I tried to email JNS but couldn't get updates about the stock. My strategy is to practice on every knife in the house (apart from my expensive ones) until I can get a screaming edge from the one stone. I don't have any knives in need of repair as it stands. I'll add in Chosera 3k or another finishing stone and something coarse in future! Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

[Garm]

Excellent choice and strategy!
It's a really pleasurable stone to use.

 

[krx927]

I also have it, great stone! Amazing on carbon steel, not so much on powdered ones but still works well.