“At large” comparison:
- SG320: true S&G, fast, tidy, precise, slow dishing for grits, good overall feedback, deburrs well with some care. Downside is that it is quite lean, feels a bit blunt, with limited versatility.
- SP320: bit slower and quite softer, feels nicer, correct feedback but would do better being a lighter shade. Downside: likes a short soak, not so precise, loads and dishes a fair deal, messier.
- NP400: quite slower, a bit softer, feels very nice, good feedback and precision, great versatility. Downside: likes a short soak, loads and dishes some more than SGs so not as tidy neither.
- SG500: true S&G, quite slower, slow dishing, tidy and precise, nice tactility and excellent feedback, good versatility. Downside: the usual critic that even the DT is not much stone.
Aogami #2 dulled from thinning and refinishing...
A bit more about SG320...
Came glazed OOTB as all SPs and SGs I ever encountered so far. A little rubbing it together with Atoma 140 under running water made it pool it normally in no time.
For those who like SG500, but sometimes wish it would be a whole deal faster, SG320 is not only the logical step down to it, but it keeps right in its lane while giving you exactly that kind of speed.
Not that SG320 is such a likeable and versatile stone as SG500. I look at it more as an “expansion pack” of SG500 – keeping SG500’s tidy, simple, straightforward and true S&G demeanor… therefore very possibly the cleanest, most polite similarly fast stone I ever used.
After cutting edge bevel, getting primary, and some initial deburring motion... See how little water in the pan, some if it from the wet rag I use to stabilize. One splash (I use a squeeze bottle) and most of the work done. Then another splash came to clean and perform some final deburring.
It sacrifices very little of what is expected to be sacrificed going lower grits: it’s blunter feeling and won’t have anybody proclaim it around like many of us do SG500, but it does its much speedier job in a similar fashion, won’t dish nor load any much, still provides excellent feedback if less of a pleasing one. It’s what I call nicely coarse – something you can also get with SP320 and Cerax 320 for that matter, perhaps even more nicely so, but in a messier, less precise, more demanding kind of way.
A remark I could make in differential appreciative attributes of both SG320 and SG500 is: just use the latter right after the former. You’d be surprise to find that going 320 to 500 in a same lineup of stones is feeling more like 500 grits apart. SG500 feels no coarser than a Cerax 700 at worse, more often like a speedy 1K stone. SG320 feels thrice as coarse if only about twice as fast. Twice SG500 speed is pretty fast for tidiness but the gist of it is SG500 is the wonder child, feeling so greatly behaved and clean for how fast it is. Yet… more a 600-700K stone, easily disputed in speed by the likes of Cerax 1K and SP1K.
SG320 to me is worth its price if you’re equipped enough, not relying on one stone doing it all, but seeking nicely speedy sharpening in monk settings. Like the home user I am, sharing kitchen counter space between preps and sharpening or refinishing knives. Less is more to me indeed – an axiom befitting Shapton Glass stones indeed.
Otherwise my usual suggestion is Cerax stones. A permasoaked Cerax 320, and short soaked Cerax 1K and Cerax 3K/Ouka (you’ll possibly want to perma these also in drier/hotter climates than… aaah… Canada…) are a ridiculous bang for bucks covering all fronts quite well. Say 150$ USD is probably common for full sized units out of any better deal. They all feel nice in use and get the work done on most steel.
God is this post about Cerax at all?
I could expand for hours about it all but... What can I say but that different stones are worth their dime where applicable... Just need to try thrice as more as you need to keep being the least to make sure, as is with knives. And then you're never really sure so just keep buying stuff.
Ok… Anything else I could add would probably be a waste of your time if this hasn’t been already. So… farewell!
