Help me pick out replacement stones (synthetics)

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chiffonodd

chiffonodd

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So I need to replace my synthetic sharpening stones thanks to some rats 🐀🐀 that got into the garage and literally sh*t all the f*** over where my stones were kept unboxed in order to dry. I could try cleaning them but ... no. They're porous. Country living y'all!

Will be sharpening primarily sg2 and aeb-l.

Need a coarse stone for repairs/maintenance thinning, an all purpose workhorse for primary sharpening duties, and a finishing stone or two. Soaker or splash and go, either way. Combo is always nice to save a little $$ but not necessary.

What are your go to synthetics? I bought these ones so long ago I don't even remember what they are. Some choseras, shapton, and imanishi I believe.

Help 😭
 
chiffonodd said:
I know different stones cut differently, even at the same grit, so just wanna verify -- that 500 is aggressive enough for repairs and maintenance thinning? Thanks!
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For maintenance it's fine. For repairs, it will work, but I'd go to 220 to save time.
 
I always thin my knives with Shapton 220. You have enough abrasive power, doesn't dish that fast and doesn't get clogged easily as the 120. Scratch pattern is also very nice and not too deep, which is always appreciated.

I'm a big fan of Naniwa pro 400 before jumping to 1k. The 400 is actually more like a ~600 and you get a really nice finish with it. For minor repairs on the cutting edge, the 400 will be just fine for that task.

You can't go wrong with shapton 1k. It's definitely coarser than 1k but you can work faster compared to Naniwa. I do have 5 more 1k stones but I always work with shapton or Naniwa.
 
Full disclosure: I don’t own any other 1k stones, only spent limited time a few others but NP1k has never let me down. It’s also taught me a thing or two about feedback.
 
Venev is a great option for a coarse stone. I do a lot of thinning and I can go through coarse stones very quickly. My venev will last me a long time and it's not crazy $$$. Not the fastest stone I own but I get that time back not having to flatten it every 2 minutes. Get some sic powder and the back of an SG stone to refresh it. If you're only occasionally doing repairs or thinning it's probably not worth it. For finishing stones I like the Chosera 3k or even a BBW.
 
I would recommend a combination of Shapton Glass 500 and Shapton Pro 2000. Works for pretty much everything from **** stainless to nice carbon. Cuts fast, easy to work with and not too expensive. Those two are the only stones I have in our cabin and I honestly don't miss all my other stones at home THAT much when I'm there, haha.
 
I second the SG500 and SP2k combo. Both great for edges, the SG500 also for maintenance thinning and polishing after a coarser stone. Get the double thick already.

For repairs / heavy thinning, can’t go wrong with any of these: SP220, SG220, Debado 180 or 200.

Finishers: I like Gesshin 4k for my AEB-L knives (for most knives actually lol). It’s a soaker. Super fast for a 4k.

Speaking of soakers - Gesshin 400 and 2k are a fantastic alternative to the SG500 and SP2k combo. Better feedback and more pleasurable to use IMO.
 
Just to throw my hat in the ring:

If you, like me, insist on everything being well matched there is nothing wrong with a progression of Chosera, Shapton Pro or Shapton Glass.
They will all get you there.

Personally, I use Shapton Glass 320, 500, 1k, 2k and occasionally 4k.
This usually gives me a good base to start playing with JNATs.

However, you seem a bit more audacious than me when it comes to mix and match.
So let me tell you, I recently learned the value of high quality diamond stones. I am speaking of the resin or otherwise bonded ones, not the Atoma plates.
I splurged and went Naniwa Diamond 1k, 3k and 6k. Tremendous stones. The 1k cuts really well, but not good enough for thinning, of course.
They come in much coarser versions, too. But they are expensive.

Other options from Venev etc. might be worth looking into and I am definitely considering going coarser with these resin bonded diamond stones myself.
If I had unlimited budget and would need to build a heavy duty working set I'd go with a progression of high quality resin bonded or vitrified diamond stones. They are not magic but so far I am impressed with cleaning up after thinning and polishing. The result would not be a pretty Kasumi, of course.
 
My preference is:

Chosera / Naniwa Pro
Shapton Glass
Everything else

in that order. That said, I've not yet had the chance to try Morihei's stones yet, and there is a special exception for the Suehiro Debado in the 180 grit, though apparently they can vary a lot.
 
You only need 2 stones to set bevel correctly. Atoma 400 and 1200. They cut fast and last a real long time and they dont dish. The A400 serves as a good flattening stone and the A1200 builds nice slurry on your finishing stones 3000 grit and up. Finishing stones....Chosera 3000 is one of the best. After that, I go to diamond loaded strops. For diamond emulsions, Gunny juice is good.
 
Choppin said:
I second the SG500 and SP2k combo. Both great for edges, the SG500 also for maintenance thinning and polishing after a coarser stone. Get the double thick already.

For repairs / heavy thinning, can’t go wrong with any of these: SP220, SG220, Debado 180 or 200.

Finishers: I like Gesshin 4k for my AEB-L knives (for most knives actually lol). It’s a soaker. Super fast for a 4k.

Speaking of soakers - Gesshin 400 and 2k are a fantastic alternative to the SG500 and SP2k combo. Better feedback and more pleasurable to use IMO.
Click to expand...
I've been curious about the gesshin line up, thanks for the info
 
Thanks everyone for responding. Follow up Q: for those who use the shapton 500/2000 progression, or the gesshin 400/2000 progression, is the 2K aggressive enough for maintenance sharpening or do you always start with the 400 (gesshin) or 500 (shapton) when sharpening?

I assume that if the knife has been neglected for a while that it's better to drop down to the 400 or 500 to start.
 
HumbleHomeCook said:
If I do to anything much more than light maintenance, I drop to the SG500. But part of that is just my style. Like @mengwong, I like coarse. I just prefer to drop down, get things set and then finish rather than see if the higher stone will get it.
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My previous set up was 220, 1k, 3k, 8k. I thought the 2k was a little coarse for routine work (sorry, @mengwong), so I would often just start with the 1k. I think using a 1k instead of a 2k kinda skewed my perception.

Thanks for your thoughts!
 
chiffonodd said:
Thanks everyone for responding. Follow up Q: for those who use the shapton 500/2000 progression, or the gesshin 400/2000 progression, is the 2K aggressive enough for maintenance sharpening or do you always start with the 400 (gesshin) or 500 (shapton) when sharpening?

I assume that if the knife has been neglected for a while that it's better to drop down to the 400 or 500 to start.
Click to expand...

I have no experience with SG2, my knives are mostly AEB-L, SK, white and blue, A2, etc.

For maintenance sharpening (meaning the edge is not damaged or very dull, it still cuts food decently well but doesn’t feel SHARP), I usually grab a 2-4k stone. The Gesshin 2k and 4k in particular are quite fast for their grit.

You see opinions vary about this. The only way to find out what works for you is testing yourself. You can’t go wrong with the stones you mentioned, they will be useful one way or the other.
 
HumbleHomeCook said:
If I do to anything much more than light maintenance, I drop to the SG500. But part of that is just my style. Like @mengwong, I like coarse. I just prefer to drop down, get things set and then finish rather than see if the higher stone will get it.
Click to expand...
I do that too, though my drop down stone is the SG1000. But I think that's because I tend to use much lighter pressures than a lot of people, so it's not really the radical move that it might appear to be. Maybe you do too?
 
Rangen said:
I do that too, though my drop down stone is the SG1000. But I think that's because I tend to use much lighter pressures than a lot of people, so it's not really the radical move that it might appear to be. Maybe you do too?
Click to expand...

I guess I'd say I just use moderate pressure to start on everything unless I'm doing repairs or thinning. I have zero issue jumping from the SG500 to the SG2k though.
 
Choppin said:
For maintenance sharpening (meaning the edge is not damaged or very dull, it still cuts food decently well but doesn’t feel SHARP), I usually grab a 2-4k stone. The Gesshin 2k and 4k in particular are quite fast for their grit.
Click to expand...

I take a similar approach. I’ll put my own edge on every new knife I get using a full progression and then take that edge as long as I can using higher grits 2k+ for touch up/maintenance.

I’m more of a feel vs science type of person so I’ll usually use that method until I feel like the edge isn’t staying keen as long as I would like and that’s my tell for dropping to a lower grit and doing a full progression again.
 
Choseras have pretty good feedback and are perfectly capable of dealing with SG2.

Shaptons are cheaper but the ones I have used have less feedback.

My progression for SG2 is +/-Chosera 400, Chosera 1k, Naniwa diamond 6k (I reckon 3k would work fine but 6k is what I have).

A Chosera 3k also works perfectly well as a fine stone but the edge off the diamond stone seems a little better with SG2.
 
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