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Staystrapped

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Stones I have so far:
King 320
Kuromako 1000
What should I get next?
On a slight budget so I’d like to keep it to the 40-50 usd range per stone. I’m thinking rika 5000 but will it take out the shapton 1000 scratches?
 
Are you using these for more polishing or sharpening?

+1 for the Rika especially for your budget. Also think about Amazon Warehouse or BST, some good deals pop up every now and then.

Arashiyama 6k, Kitayama 8k also good affordable options
 
I sharpen a wide variety of steel none of It high end lol
From Victorinox boning knives to outdoors blades with fairly hard Rockwell.
 
I sharpen a wide variety of steel none of It high end lol
From Victorinox boning knives to outdoors blades with fairly hard Rockwell.
Then I would get the Kuromaku 2000. They sound too close in grit but the 1000 is more like an 800 and the 2000 more like a 2-3000. If you read around you will find that quite a few like this combo, one after the other. For higher end knives for everyday kitchen use you would be good to get a 3000-4000 grit stone.
 
Unpopular opinion, but I like my king4k better than the Rika5k. I do wish it was wider tho. It is affordable and can splash and go so it is good to keep by the sink.
 
Then I would get the Kuromaku 2000. They sound too close in grit but the 1000 is more like an 800 and the 2000 more like a 2-3000. If you read around you will find that quite a few like this combo, one after the other. For higher end knives for everyday kitchen use you would be good to get a 3000-4000 grit stone.

Another fan of following the Shapton Pro 1000 with the SP2000. And done. If you have to go higher the Rika 5K works well (but it's a soaker).
 
OK this won't make me popular but here goes. Bob Tate sold these for years. Pro sharpener trained by Kramer in Seattle. Bob Tate is moving onto Montana so you can't buy direct from him just now. But for $50 you get a slightly more refined 1000, and what I think is an excellent 4000. I've worked with a half dozen JKI stones, Aizu, Arkansas black, translucent, and both blue and yellow coticule naturals for edge finishing. The only stone I like better for a final edge (maybe... it's still new) is the much more expensive JKI 6k diamond stone.

Final edge is toothy and refined, feels great to sharpen, cuts quickly. It doesn't need to soak long, seems not seem to dish quickly. I don't think it's well known at all, but I'll say this. If you bought it and hated it, I'd buy it from you to set my buddy up who is also establishing a good knife block. If he didn't want it, I'd send it on a passaround.

Edit : only soak the 1000 side, not the 4000

https://www.korin.com/Togiharu-1000-4000-Two-Sided-Stone_2
 
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Sounds interesting but I’m really not interested in combo stones. The cerax combo was a real disappointment for me.
 
I guess something around 2-3k would serve you better.
This grit range because the stones are still fairly easy to use and you end up with a good balance between a refined and an aggressive edge.
 
The sp1000 comes tomorrow I’m going to use it to take some 320 king scratches out of my wavy yanagi hira. If I like it then I’ll probably get the sp 2000
 
then after that you can complement with the 220 pro and 500 glass, then the 6k glass or 8k pro :)
 
I'll +1 on the SP 2k. For sharpening, it excellent following the 1k. And for touchups and maintenance, I use it almost exclusively.
 
I always take whatever sharpened on SP1000 to SP2000. Just don't buy higher grits of SPs. I don't particularly like using the SP5K, although it does leave a nice edge, it's also very demanding not to mess up your work, have to be very precise, and it doesn't help that there's absolutely no feedback and a glassy feeling.

As I said in your other post, SP2000 is also quite the touch-up stone.
 
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