Stone progression - did I make a mistake

[Kobus]

First post. I know one day I will look back at this post and think, silly question you.
But I am new to this and would like some affirmation.
Initially I will be sharpening only German knifes. I do have two new Japanese knives that will need sharpening some day.
I just got a set of Suehiro Cerax stones and am now unsure if I got the progression right. Problem is that all over this site and elsewhere there is always mention of the 1000 being the perfect stone.

What I got is: (still sealed)
320
800
1500
3000
5000 (might return this)

1. So missing the 1000, is this a problem?
2. Does the progression look fine?
3. Should I rather keep the 5000 and return the 3000?
4. Is the 1500 ok for regular maintenance?

 

[NickMinton]

1. The progression is fine, a 1000 won’t do anything that the 800 and 1500 don’t do.

2. You probably don’t need anything past 3000 at this point in your journey but just for learning purposes, I’d say keep the 5000 if you’ve already got it
3. A 1500 stone will be fine for regular maintenance. I might even suggest that when your knife loses its “edge”, give several light strokes on the 3000 and you’ll probably be back in action

Have fun!

 

[Benuser]

In addition only: with soft Germans you probably best stop at 800 — deburring only. They don't hold any refinement. Otherwise a fantastic set.
I like touching-up my simplest carbons with the finest available stone, and go only one step coarser if I don't get immediately a smooth result. All to avoid unnecessary full-progression sharpening.

 

[ethompson]

What I've found for sharpening is that so long as you're not more than tripling the grit rating (within a respective line) typically things will work just fine.

 

[NickMinton]

In addition only: with soft Germans you probably best stop at 800 — deburring only. They don't hold any refinement. Otherwise a fantastic set.
I like touching-up my simplest carbons with the finest available stone, and go only one step coarser if I don't get immediately a smooth result. All to avoid unnecessary full-progression sharpening.

Definitely a good point about the German knives

 

[Matt Jacobs]

You did just fine. If your knives are dull go 320 then 800. Going forward you could probably use just the 800. I won't go higher than that on softer German steel. Once your comfortable give the 1500 a try it won't hurt anything. When you get into sharpening carbon steels you can go higher in your progression.

 

[1315]

Assuming you're a home cook, your new Japanese knives shouldn't see the 320 or 800 for along time! And I'd agree the 3000 will be most popular. In my opinion, many of us are over-enthuiastic about sharpening and therefore waste good metal, especially with coarse grits. The 1500, 3000, and 5000 are already a tight progression and you have a great set of premium stones! Many rate the 1k cerax at 1400, so if you swap that one out, my guess is you'll sleep better, but using the 1500 and the stones you have will give you everything you need. Don't forget to practice with using different pressure on the stone, and you'll find you already have the 1000.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

As said, you're fine. 1k stones are over-hyped.

 

[Heckel7302]

IMO you could return the 5000 and the 1500. Going from 800 to 3000 is perfectly fine. 5000 isn’t going to gain you much in further refinement than the 3000 and in the end totally not necessary to go beyond 3000 for kitchen knives.

That said, as a guy with a couple dozen stones in my arsenal, you can also keep them. Variety is the spice of life.

If you don’t have a diamond plate for flattening and raising slurry, that would be a lot more useful than the 1500 and the 5000.

 

[Delat]

Seems like a lot of stones up front, personally. I’d keep the 320 and 800 for the German knives, and the 3000 for the j-knives. Return the 1500 and 5000 and put the money towards an Atoma 140 or other diamond plate for flattening, and a stone holder.

Progression for the German steels would be 320 to set your initial bevel then refine and maintain on the 800. For the j-knives I’d set the bevel on the 800 then refine and maintain on the 3000.

More stones = worse result = more frustration for raw beginners, imho. Work on getting a sharp edge off the first stone, the finer stones just add refinement.

 

[Rangen]

Beginners always want to move on to a higher grit stone too early. I don't know why that is, even though I did that myself. I think it's because I could not imagine that a low-grit stone could deliver proper sharpness. The 800 should produce an edge that cleanly cuts paper, all along its length, and makes you wonder why anyone would bother with higher grit stones. That's the sign that the knife is actually ready for the high grit stone, if you want to do that at all. You could have a happy kitchen life with nothing higher than 800 grit.

 

[Kobus]

Thanks a lot for all the replies.
So would a 320 1000 3000 have been better than 320 800 3000?

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Thanks a lot for all the replies.
So would a 320 1000 3000 have been better than 320 800 3000?

No.

 

[Delat]

Thanks a lot for all the replies.
So would a 320 1000 3000 have been better than 320 800 3000?

There’s not much daylight between an 800 and 1000. Even if the grading was dead-on accurate, it wouldn’t be enough difference to matter. However grading isn’t dead-on accurate, so an 800 from one maker might be like a 1k from another, and vice-versa.

Differences of 2x - 4x are more meaningful, with smaller differences with lower grits generally being more impactful.

As a beginner, I would recommend just working with your current stones, getting a feel for them, and experience with how you like them. Later on, much later on, you’ll have a more specific idea of where you want to fill a gap or address a shortcoming. I used the same 3 stones for 2 years when I started, and just recently started picking up more for specific tasks.

Anyway, don’t let tool envy overshadow skill development - you have good stones to learn on already and they could last you a lifetime all by themselves.

 

[daveb]

Most of your success (or lack thereof) with the above stones will be attributable to the user and not the stones. At first the stones may suck. As you develop proficiency the stones will get better. Stick with them as you progress and they will become great. Like so much else it's the carpenter, not the hammer.

Look for the first milestone: When the knives are sharper when you finish than they were when you started, you are getting proficient.

And for the softer German steel? Play with the higher grit if you like but anything beyond the 3K will be sharpening above the capability of the knife. (When I started, I took the knife from a waiters corkscrew to 10,000 grit on the reguar)

 

[cotedupy]

Some thoughts from someone who's owned/used all* of those stones quite a lot...

Use the 320 for apex-ing your knives initially, make sure you've raised a burr all the way along both sides, and hopefully you won't need this stone for a regular sharpening progression again. It will come in handy for periodic thinning.

The 800 would be a good place to start otherwise, especially if your knives are quite blunt. If you touch them up regularly then you probably won't need this stone either.

The 1.5k and 3k are glorious stones. These should be your go-to for regular sharpening touchups. Though the grit difference between them isn't as large as the ratings suggest.

The 5k is a lovely stone too, though again - it's not that much finer than the 3k. If I absolutely had to drop one from the line-up it'd be this. If I didn't have to drop one then I'd keep them all because...

CERAXES RULE!!!

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* With the exception of the 800. In fact I didn't even know there was a Cerax 800 untill now. I do have the 700 though.

 

[Benuser]

Most of your success (or lack thereof) with the above stones will be attributable to the user and not the stones.

One exception though. Some individual stones come with an inactive outher layer, a crust, that first has to be removed before the stone is able to free its abrasive particles. Seems to depend on which part of the greater stone it has been cut of. Therefore the advice to first dress the stone before its first use. Nothing more than a short passage with a diamond flattener and a good occasion to chamfer the edges.