Really good water stones for beginning to learn knife sharping.

[Ivan Hersh]

Naniwa 400 Grit Super Ceramic Water Stone and Naniwa Chosera 800 Grit Stone

These two water stones will get you off to learning how to sharpen your knives.

I started off with a King combo 1000/6000 stone set but found the 1000 side was to soft and took a lot of work to get a hard type steel even slightly sharp.

After doing some better researching of stones, and watching them being used in videos, i found these Naniwa stones.

I have found that first using the Naniwa 400 Grit Super Ceramic, and then using the Naniwa Chosera 800 Grit Stone i am getting quicker results in sharping my hard steel blade knives.

Then i can use my King 6000 grit side of their Combo set, and finish my sharping.

I understand there are many other great water stones, but for their low prices these are a good choice.

 

[Benuser]

That 400 with code SS-400 is no SuperStone, it's the Chosera.

 

[Matus]

Both stones you mention are well known and liked by many. However they appear to be discontinued and to my knowledge can only be ordered from Japan and have been replaced with Naniwa Professional stones which (based on what I have heard) are somewhat different (not only thinner and without the base).

 

[Benuser]

I've used both from the Chosera series and the Pro. Thinner, no base, indeed. Less likely to crack. More charged with abrasives, as denser. Slightly faster. Even less dishing. A bit harder. Some tendency to glazing.
But the differences are small.

 

[Ivan Hersh]

That 400 with code SS-400 is no SuperStone, it's the Chosera.

400 Grit Super Ceramic Water Stone

 

[Ivan Hersh]

Both stones you mention are well known and liked by many. However they appear to be discontinued and to my knowledge can only be ordered from Japan and have been replaced with Naniwa Professional stones which (based on what I have heard) are somewhat different (not only thinner and without the base).

Thinner and no base??????

 

[Matus]

Thinner and no base??????

Seems we have a misunderstanding here. The Naniwa Professional which is a replacement of the Naniwa Chosera is thinner, has no base and is a little different formulated. Similar (save for the thickness) is true for Naniwa Sharpening Stones that replaced Naniwa Super Stones.

 

[Ivan Hersh]

I've used both from the Chosera series and the Pro. Thinner, no base, indeed. Less likely to crack. More charged with abrasives, as denser. Slightly faster. Even less dishing. A bit harder. Some tendency to glazing.
But the differences are small.

Both the #400& the #800 seem to work very well have noticed no dishing or surface damage from sharping, the both the #400& and the #800 work better then the King Combo 1000/6000 i have.
And for their prices both stones are IMHO good for starting your sharping learning.

 

[Benuser]

They're great stones, fast, offering a lot of tactile feed back. The 400 leaves a JIS 600 finish, the 800 something around the JIS 1200. But both are quite close to each other. If you want to perform some thinning to start your sharpening with, I would rather suggest a Shapton Glass 320.

 

[Ivan Hersh]

They're great stones, fast, offering a lot of tactile feed back. The 400 leaves a JIS 600 finish, the 800 something around the JIS 1200. But both are quite close to each other. If you want to perform some thinning to start your sharpening with, I would rather suggest a Shapton Glass 320.

Thanks for your suggesting the Shapton Glass 320 i am not into thinning at this time but i do have a Fallkniven Diamond for use on really extra hard Axe blades.

 

[Ivan Hersh]

I have the Naniwa Chosera #400&#800 and will also have the #1000.
After watching this

Of a man using the Japanese style of using the sharping stone.

I changed the way i was using my #400 stone to the Japanese style of sharping, i quickly noticed i was getting a lot more metal in the water and also was getting much better results getting my test knives with really hard stainless steel blades.

I just was not getting enough action across my stone and it would have taken a lot longer to obtain the results i got using the Japanese style of sharping.

Since i have had such good results using the Naniwa Chosera stones i have bought, i will replace my King # 1000/6000 with a Naniwa Chosera #2000 stone.

I would like to get into a three stone system for much of my everyday sharping needs and feel i am moving in the right direction.
=====
This Japanese sharping style of pushing the blade forward and backward, really makes for a much faster sharping then my old style of slowly drawing the blade across the stone.

 

[Knife2meatu]

If you already have the 800 Chosera, the 1k stone is rather unnecessary. The 3k is highly thought of and often recommended as the third stone in a 400-800-3k Chosera progression. I would also think the 2k would be a far preferable addition than having both the 800 and 1000; the 2k is usually priced much closer to the 1k than the 3k. I'm honestly not sure why so many people seem so fond of the 3k while the 2k barely gets mentioned.

Also, a word of warning just on the off chance you're not aware: Choseras have a well-earned reputation for cracking. Just yesterday I was using a few of them and had several shallow, spiderweb cracks materialize on the 800 -- and I have not abused or neglected this stone, I can assure you. They seem very particular about how they react to wet/dry cycles and the intervening drying.

 

[Ivan Hersh]

If you already have the 800 Chosera, the 1k stone is rather unnecessary. The 3k is highly thought of and often recommended as the third stone in a 400-800-3k Chosera progression. I would also think the 2k would be a far preferable addition than having both the 800 and 1000; the 2k is usually priced much closer to the 1k than the 3k. I'm honestly not sure why so many people seem so fond of the 3k while the 2k barely gets mentioned.

Also, a word of warning just on the off chance you're not aware: Choseras have a well-earned reputation for cracking. Just yesterday I was using a few of them and had several shallow, spiderweb cracks materialize on the 800 -- and I have not abused or neglected this stone, I can assure you. They seem very particular about how they react to wet/dry cycles and the intervening drying.

Knife2meatu getting the #2000 makes sense your correct since i have the #800 and already have a King 1000/6000 the #2000 is a better idea and i thank you for the recommendation.
I will be watching for cracks and hope i don't get them, also will be more careful in the drying cycles.
=====
I am looking forward to using the new Choseras#2000 stone, it will be arriving tomorrow it will be my finishing stone.

 

[Benuser]

The Chosera 2k is a fantastic stone, but very different from the 3k. Quite aggressive. Leaves a 3k pattern. Won't work as a final one, though. You will have to deburr on another one.
I use it for getting a very fast result, and deburr on a piece of Belgian Blue afterwards.

 

[Ivan Hersh]

The Chosera 2k is a fantastic stone, but very different from the 3k. Quite aggressive. Leaves a 3k pattern. Won't work as a final one, though. You will have to deburr on another one.
I use it for getting a very fast result, and deburr on a piece of Belgian Blue afterwards.

I have my King 6000 also a King gold 8000, when needed.

 

[Ivan Hersh]

I just received the new Choseras #2000 stone, and after i had used the Choseras #800 the other day, i was waiting to see if the Choseras #2000 would improve my cheap hard stainless knife blades, bought for testing using the Japanese water stones and the Japanese style of using the stones.

First the Choseras #800 had really made a big difference, from just using my King 1000/6000 stone as i was working with first as i was really getting no where with the King 1000 side.

But today after using the new Choseras #2000 stone, i noticed it did improve the notable sharpness of their blades.

So both Knife2meatu and Benuser were correct in the Choseras #2000 stone being a really great stone, but for my needs i feel can just leave it with the Choseras #2000 stone and get the cutting results from my hard stainless steel test knives.

If later i want to do more refining i will use my King 6000, and see if i gain anything.

 

[HRC_64]

Chosera #3000 is the perhaps the most valuable stone once you're knives are
setup and working for you (geometry suites you, don't need any thinning, etc)

Seems to follow the #800 as a proven sequence if you have that already

 

[Ivan Hersh]

I think it really depends on what type of knife your using, and what your cutting/slicing with it.
Many Chef's doing a lot of very thin slicing need a level of sharpness beyond my simple cutting needs.
At the point i am today using my three Choseras #400 #800 and #2000, i am getting the sharpness i require, later i might invest in the Choseras #3000 just to see what it brings.