Oh yes, the King 1K is King....

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branwell

branwell

Straffanforge
KKF Supporting Member
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For all those of you that clicked this post just because your brains where going "F that" I got a smile for you :)

The King 1K has been around as long as I can remember and to be honest, its lack of current popularity is pretty understandable given its not going to be braking any speed records, its feedback is not going to be winning any awards, and it dishes pretty readily.

All that said, I still have one knocking about and I have to say, the edge it leaves is to me, 1K perfection.
I can honestly say I would take the King 1K edge over any of the other 1K class stones I have including the Chosera 800, King 800, Shapton Glass 1K, Nubatama Ume 1K, Bestor 1.2k, King 1.2k. The King 1K just has this prefect blend of keenness and bite. The only stone I have which I think has a comparable edge is the Nubatama Platinum 1K which literally costs 6 times as much. Yup, the King 1K is only $25.00.

Of course, unless you like to stop at a 1K edge or want a 1K foundation for a hybrid edge, 1K edge quality is largely irrelevant but yea, at least to me, squinting at just the right angle, the King is still King.
 
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Yeah, you got me with the clickbait thread title, all right. I had to see where you were going with that. I wouldn't have come close to guessing.

Years ago, when I was doing woodworking, a King 1000 was my only stone lower than 6000. I spent a huge number of hours with it, flattened it a bunch, and went back at it. Pretty much all of my stones now are better, but I have a clear memory of how it felt.

Which gave me a shock of recognition when I recently tried out a Naniwa Hibiki 1000, an extra-hard soaker stone intended for chisels and plane blades. It felt a lot like the King! Oh, it was much harder, much denser with abrasive, but still, there was a strong resemblance in the feel of steel on stone.
 
I assume you are talking about Kind Deluxe line, then it has great feedback compared to many faster 1K stones out there. I still enjoy using it time to time.
 
What is the difference in the edges you get from King 1000 versus the King 1200?
 
I prefer the Cerax 1000 over the King 1000. The Cerax cuts faster and dishes less. But the King is a good stone, and I could live with it for the rest of my days. I use a King 1000/6000 regularly to sharpen the knives at a friend's place, and it does the job just fine.
 
Mr.Wizard said:
What is the difference in the edges you get from King 1000 versus the King 1200?
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From an edge point of view, of the two I prefer the 1K. I feel while the 1.2k is a little keener, it gives up to much bite for only a little gain in sharpness.

From a feel point of view, the 1.2K wins hands down. Where the 1K is okay to sharpen on, the 1.2K feels really good. Its also got noticeably better feedback.
 
branwell said:
From an edge point of view, of the two I prefer the 1K. I feel while the 1.2k is a little keener, it gives up to much bite for only a little gain in sharpness.

From a feel point of view, the 1.2K wins hands down. Where the 1K is okay to sharpen on, the 1.2K feels really good. Its also got noticeably better feedback.
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Interesting... I find the 1.2 has quite a bit of bite, do you permasoak yours?

How's the 1k for kasumi? I find the 1.2 absolutely superb, basically no visible scratches at all.
 
This makes me feel better. I've been rocking the king deluxe 1k since I started in restaurants 15 years ago (it's the thick one!), and reading all the threads here makes me feel inadequate. 😁

The king 1k does everything I need it to, and I just got a shapton pro 220 for fixing chips and stuff.
 
Rainman890 said:
This makes me feel better. I've been rocking the king deluxe 1k since I started in restaurants 15 years ago (it's the thick one!), and reading all the threads here makes me feel inadequate. 😁

The king 1k does everything I need it to, and I just got a shapton pro 220 for fixing chips and stuff.
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Says it all! If something works brilliantly for you, then it doesn't matter if others aren't so keen.

@branwell 's other recent post highlighted just how much variation there is in what people like best, both in terms of brands, and in finishing grits. The glorious plurality of it all means that, as is often pointed out - there's absolutely no 'right' answer.

Though if there was, then I imagine the King 1000 (at a guess perhaps the most sold Japanese synthetic stone in the world (?)), would probably have as good a claim as any.
 
branwell said:
For all those if you that clicked this post just because your brains where going "F that" I got a smile for you :)

The King 1K has been around as long as I can remember and to be honest, its lack of current popularity is pretty understandable given its not going to be braking any speed records, its feedback is not going to be winning any awards, and it dishes pretty readily.

All that said, I still have one knocking about and I have to say, the edge it leaves is to me, 1K perfection.
I can honestly say I would take the King 1K edge over any of the other 1K class stones I have including the Chosera 800, King 800, Shapton Glass 1K, Nubatama Ume 1K, Bestor 1.2k, King 1.2k. The King 1K just has this prefect blend of keenness and bite. The only stone I have which I think has a comparable edge is the Nubatama Platinum 1K which literally costs 6 times as much. Yup, the King 1K is only $25.00.

Of course, unless you like to stop at a 1K edge or want a 1K foundation for a hybrid edge, 1K edge quality is largely irrelevant but yea, at least to me, squinting at just the right angle, the King is still King.
Click to expand...
I would ascribe everything you describe to the King 1200 at any time. Maybe I should get another King 1000 for a direct comparison ...
 
cotedupy said:
Interesting... I find the 1.2 has quite a bit of bite, do you permasoak yours?
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No, I don't use them that often so when I do, I normally just run water over them till it stays pooled on the surface. But, they are soakers so maybe I'm doing them a disservice by not giving them a long soak. I'll try it :)

cotedupy said:
How's the 1k for kasumi? I find the 1.2 absolutely superb, basically no visible scratches at all.
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I've not played with kasumi for years but if I remember right, of the King 800 / 1K / 1.2k I remember thinking the 800 was the go to.
 
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Rainman890 said:
This makes me feel better. I've been rocking the king deluxe 1k since I started in restaurants 15 years ago (it's the thick one!), and reading all the threads here makes me feel inadequate. 😁
Click to expand...
Right. Legit feeling. People in the know would say we are wired to be part of the tribe through evolution. Better survival and procreation rates, although I have to say, whipping out my Shapton over the King doesn't seem to make a lot of difference. Maybe I should whip out the green brick of joy instead :)


Rainman890 said:
The king 1k does everything I need it to, and I just got a shapton pro 220 for fixing chips and stuff.
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I got a Shapton Pro 220 a few weeks back in a trade. Been using it as a bevel setter / chip fixer in my side hustle sharpening business and really like it.
 
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Haha, that's the exact same reason I got the 220. I need the side hustle to afford more knives. That black Yoshi Damascus in BTS isn't going to buy itself...
 
branwell said:
No, I don't use them that often so when I do, I normally just run water over them till it stays pooled on the surface. But, they are soakers so maybe I'm doing them a disservice by not giving them a long soak. I'll try it :)
Click to expand...
The King 1200 needs a minimum of 3 hours of soaking, the King 800 a minimum of 5 hours.

In both cases the stones change significantly for the better, you should definitely try that out.
 
branwell said:
For all those of you that clicked this post just because your brains where going "F that" I got a smile for you :)

The King 1K has been around as long as I can remember and to be honest, its lack of current popularity is pretty understandable given its not going to be braking any speed records, its feedback is not going to be winning any awards, and it dishes pretty readily.

All that said, I still have one knocking about and I have to say, the edge it leaves is to me, 1K perfection.
I can honestly say I would take the King 1K edge over any of the other 1K class stones I have including the Chosera 800, King 800, Shapton Glass 1K, Nubatama Ume 1K, Bestor 1.2k, King 1.2k. The King 1K just has this prefect blend of keenness and bite. The only stone I have which I think has a comparable edge is the Nubatama Platinum 1K which literally costs 6 times as much. Yup, the King 1K is only $25.00.

Of course, unless you like to stop at a 1K edge or want a 1K foundation for a hybrid edge, 1K edge quality is largely irrelevant but yea, at least to me, squinting at just the right angle, the King is still King.
Click to expand...

The King 1000 is also nice and thick, it's a great value for the money.
 
KingShapton said:
The King 1200 needs a minimum of 3 hours of soaking, the King 800 a minimum of 5 hours.

In both cases the stones change significantly for the better, you should definitely try that out.
Click to expand...

Soaked the 800, 1K and 1.2k over night. Here's how it worked out.

Of the three, the one that's gotten most interesting is the 1.2k. All subjective of course but it went from a pretty good feeling stone with a super short soak to a really very nice feeling stone with the over night soak. The feedback went from meh to very workable. The edge also gained bite and as a bonus, the speed increased a little.

Where before I didn't see how any of the King KD trio would fit my rotation as I've more or less stopped using 1K class stones and moved that slot to 2K and 3K, the edge the soaked 1.2k leaves feels very much in the ball park of the Shapton Glass 2k which I do like on Henkel's, Whustofs, Victorinox etc. The 1.2k might well serve in my Sunday night sharpening side hustle where I see a lot of those knives. I think I'll give it a go this coming weekend in place of the SG 2k.

The 800. I've never liked how this stones feels to sharpen on and while its improved with a long soak, its only really getting into the bottom of "I want to sharpen on this stone" territory. On top of that, 800's aren't course enough as finishers for crap steel and aren't fine enough as finishers for the Germans leaving them in the transition stone position. Problem is, good 500 and 600's smoke them speed wise and do serve better as finishers for crap steel. That leaves the King 800 in a tough spot. That said, one area it did shine was the edge it put on those little Victorinox paring knives. Maybe that's it slot. Paring knives?

The venerable King 1K. I was still using this stone as a base for the occasional hybrid edge. Its only gotten better with the long soak so still might see this slot but with the 1.2K being nicer to sharpen on and having gained bite, the 1K might just get displaced but we'll see.

All the above said, the King KD's are still a hard sell. At each grit level there are other stones out there that just smoke them speed wise which is not subjective. With very wear resistant steels, the KD's fall flat on their face, again, not subjective, but to me, they still have a place because there is something just so so compelling about edge they leave on steels they can effectively sharpen.

Of course the other significant selling point is price. $25.00 is pretty hard to argue with.
 
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Michi said:
I prefer the Cerax 1000 over the King 1000. The Cerax cuts faster and dishes less. But the King is a good stone, and I could live with it for the rest of my days. I use a King 1000/6000 regularly to sharpen the knives at a friend's place, and it does the job just fine.
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My experience was different. The cerax dished much faster for me.
 
About the mid grit kings. They will always have a special place in my heart. My first decent stone was the kw-65. I had some cheapo Amazon combo stones, the kind that come with a whole set with a base. Definitely don't ever waste your money on those. They are inaccurately rated, dish badly. If they don't dish then they load up. Just not good

I digress though. I think the 1.2k will always have a special place in my heart. I've got a shapton 1k that blows my other mid grit stones out of the water speed wise, and I rarely finish with mid grit stones right now. So a fast transition stone is important to me. If I wanted to finish on a mid grit stone my choices with what I have would probably be aoto, GBOJ, chosera 800, then the king 1.2k, followed by the shapton 1k in last place.

I still pull it out though when I feel I've neglected it for too long, and give it a nice sharpen.
 
Well lads. I've had the King KD 800/1K/1.2K soaking for 5 days now and sharpened about 25 customer knives as well as my own using them somewhere in the mix and got to say, I know these have lost favor, but fully soaked, I find myself reaching for them more than my Shapton Glass, Chosera, Nubatama and other stones enough so that I took down the splash and go rack and replaced it with a soaking tub. Definitely need to get something that looks better, but point being, looks like the S&G's have been displaced for a while.

The main reason is feel, especially the 1K and 1.2k, followed closely by the edge they leave.
While they are noticeably faster than they where when I was using them with a 5 minute soak, they still aren't near as fast as most of the other mid grits I have but given I'm doing the heavy lifting with a Shapton Pro 220 followed by a Carter / Pride 600, their speed is largely irrelevant.

So what are they good for?
The 800 is a great finisher for things like the little Victorinox paring knives.
The 1K I'm using as a base grit for hybrid edges on better stainless and carbons.
The 1.2K I'm using in place of a Shapton Glass 2k as a finisher for the Germans.

I do so love the waterstone rabbit hole. So many twists and turns.

Before
IMG_1383.JPG

After
IMG_1384.JPG
 
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branwell said:
Well lads. I've had the King KD 800/1K/1.2K soaking for 5 days now and sharpened about 25 customer knives as well as my own using them somewhere in the mix and got to say, I know these have lost favor, but fully soaked, I find myself reaching for them more than my Shapton Glass, Chosera, Nubatama and other stones enough so that I took down the splash and go rack and replaced it with a soaking tub. Definitely need to get something that looks better, but point being, looks like the S&G's have been displaced for a while.

The main reason is feel, especially the 1K and 1.2k, followed closely by the edge they leave.
While they are noticeably faster than they where when I was using them with a 5 minute soak, they still aren't near as fast as most of the other mid grits I have but given I'm doing the heavy lifting with a Shapton Pro 220 followed by a Carter / Pride 600, their speed is largely irrelevant.

So what are they good for?
The 800 is a great finisher for things like the little Victorinox paring knives.
The 1K I'm using as a base grit for hybrid edges on better stainless and carbons.
The 1.2K I'm using in place of a Shapton Glass 2k as a finisher for the Germans.

I do so love the waterstone rabbit hole. So many twists and turns.

Before
View attachment 130980

After
View attachment 130981
Click to expand...

Very good to hear from another convert! I only have the 800 and 1.2, but they are undoubtedly my most used stones. The latter in particular I use for almost every knife I sharpen; whether that's the beginning, end, only, or for the start of a polish/kasumi. It kicks goals left, right and centre, and as you say - a lovely feeling stone. I really can't imagine anything I'd improve about it... a sleeper classic.

And the fact that it costs sod-all means I can recommend it to normal people without looking like the whetstone-geek-w***er that I undoubtedly am otherwise ;)
 
cotedupy said:
Very good to hear from another convert! I only have the 800 and 1.2, but they are undoubtedly my most used stones. The latter in particular I use for almost every knife I sharpen; whether that's the beginning, end, only, or for the start of a polish/kasumi. It kicks goals left, right and centre, and as you say - a lovely feeling stone. I really can't imagine anything I'd improve about it... a sleeper classic.

And the fact that it costs sod-all means I can recommend it to normal people without looking like the whetstone-geek-w***er that I undoubtedly am otherwise ;)
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Yeah. The only thing I could say would be an improvement is if it had all the same attributes, but was a splash and go.
 
Agree with all the stuff here about the value of these stones. The only soakers I still have are King's actually although they are from the Hyper line. Specifically the Hyper 1k Soft and the 2k. Had 2x of the 2k and traded 1 since I doubt I'll ever use up the 1x I have. I actually have 3x of the Hyper 1k Soft so if any of you King fans wants to try one let me know ;)

I actually used the 800 and 1.2k a lot more than the 1k since the 800 was a wonderful kasumi starter and removed a fair amount of metal while the 1.2k was a solid finisher actually for work knives and stuff used more heavily. The 1.2k leaves a nasty good edge on Blue steel as well.
 
SolidSnake03 said:
Agree with all the stuff here about the value of these stones. The only soakers I still have are King's actually although they are from the Hyper line. Specifically the Hyper 1k Soft and the 2k. Had 2x of the 2k and traded 1 since I doubt I'll ever use up the 1x I have. I actually have 3x of the Hyper 1k Soft so if any of you King fans wants to try one let me know ;)

I actually used the 800 and 1.2k a lot more than the 1k since the 800 was a wonderful kasumi starter and removed a fair amount of metal while the 1.2k was a solid finisher actually for work knives and stuff used more heavily. The 1.2k leaves a nasty good edge on Blue steel as well.
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I've always wondered about the hyper. That and the neo. They're very interesting to me.
 
Used the giant king 1K big brick for carbon gyuto at work.

Keep King hyper 1K & gesshin 4K Perma soaked at home.
 
The Hyper line is excellent, still has amazing feel, wonderful kasumi/core vs cladding coloring, great biting edges and cut just about anything including Hap40 by Sukenari and zdp189.

The 800 is interesting, feels nice but not as good, not as good for kasumi. Splash and go is nice and cuts fast as well. Good stone overall and pretty cheap too.

Best route is just buy a bunch from MTC when they have a discount :)
 
When was teaching sharpening at culinary school encouraged them to get their own stones. Cherry Imports here would give discount on King stones to students & deliver to the school. As low as 19.00 for King deluxe.

Cherry used to run out of 1K stones. They also carried Shapton splash & go. Some bought the green S&G as a quick touchup stone at work instead of using honing steels.
 
The Green Shapton is the 2k and absolutely makes a great touch up stone as well as a great stopping point for stainless. One of my favorite splash and go stones and really cheap too. It’s like $45 on Amazon
 
Yeh didn't even know about Shapton. My friend that works at Cherry Imports told me Sushi chefs like the shaptons for quick touchups just a splash of water few strokes to refresh edges.
Very dish resistant.

Told me student discount applied. So I got the green 2K for gyuto. It worked so well for quick touchup wish I knew about them before I retired. Some students bought them good investment in the trenches.
 
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