time for some serious rambling...
you mean the JKI 1k diamond right? from the 1k+6k set?
i used my jki 1k+6k diamond set once so far. didn't have a great experience with it, but i kind of suck at sharpening, and i was very tired. sharpening doesn't go well for me when i'm tired. i think i get too impatient.
take everything i say here with a grain of salt. these are just initial impressions.
what i received actually appeared to be the 1k and the 6k stones rather than the set. guessing they were out of the sets or something. this means i received an extra stone holder (2 instead of 1), which is nice.
i wrote 1k and 6k with a sharpie on the respective naguras that were included because they felt a little different and didn't want to mix them up.
the 1k and 6k stones are labeled on their sides, but i can't easily tell them apart from above which is kind of annoying. i think i'm going to wrap one of the stone holders with blue masking tape. i actually got 1k and 6k mixed up in the middle of sharpening which was very frustrating. haha. i mentioned i was tired, right?
ok so moving on to actual performance...
jki 1k diamond:
i thought the feedback was actually pretty good. i was expecting a lot worse, but this was fine. i probably would not have felt that i was missing anything in terms of feel had i not used my jki 2k ceramic soaker the next day. the 2k soaker feels superior.
cutting speed on the 1k diamond seemed fine, but surprisingly not really different than the 2k soaker? i was expecting it to be faster.
i enjoyed what i would term "convenience features". no flattening, no soaking, and less mess due to minimal amount of "mud" generated.
i got a usable edge out of it, but maybe not refined enough to end on. the jki 2k soaker on the other hand seems fine to end on.
jki 6k diamond:
in my original post, i said i didn't know how to effectively use my 6k ceramic soaker. same with this so far. i tried finishing on it (to the point of removing most visible 1k scratches), but it either refined it too much, or i suck at sharpening and just rolled the edge over or something. it cut vegetables (tomatoes in particular) noticeably worse than 1k diamond edge. also, i noticed loading on it, but that's because i thought it was the 1k stone for a while (i mixed them up because they look so similar). the nagura refreshed the surface easily though.
my current jki ceramic soaker workflow is:
what i really need to do now is patiently try 1k -> 6k diamond again when i'm rested. i'll try a 'hybrid edge' with the 6k and see how that performs. if it works well, then i'll try more strokes to polish the primary bevel. people say that this 6k stone has enough bite, so i want to see if that's the case. but if it no longer cuts tomatoes after that, then i'll try tests on paper. if it no longer cleanly cuts paper, i can probably assume i just suck at sharpening (rolled the edge).
I'm doing something wrong. I dulled a Wusthof and put it on the JKI 1K until burrs etc. and then the 8K. Couldn't get it sharp. Took it to the SGs and sharp in minutes. I'll try again soon. Obviously pilot error, but any tips/quirks working with these stones?
you mean the JKI 1k diamond right? from the 1k+6k set?
i used my jki 1k+6k diamond set once so far. didn't have a great experience with it, but i kind of suck at sharpening, and i was very tired. sharpening doesn't go well for me when i'm tired. i think i get too impatient.
take everything i say here with a grain of salt. these are just initial impressions.
what i received actually appeared to be the 1k and the 6k stones rather than the set. guessing they were out of the sets or something. this means i received an extra stone holder (2 instead of 1), which is nice.
i wrote 1k and 6k with a sharpie on the respective naguras that were included because they felt a little different and didn't want to mix them up.
the 1k and 6k stones are labeled on their sides, but i can't easily tell them apart from above which is kind of annoying. i think i'm going to wrap one of the stone holders with blue masking tape. i actually got 1k and 6k mixed up in the middle of sharpening which was very frustrating. haha. i mentioned i was tired, right?
ok so moving on to actual performance...
jki 1k diamond:
i thought the feedback was actually pretty good. i was expecting a lot worse, but this was fine. i probably would not have felt that i was missing anything in terms of feel had i not used my jki 2k ceramic soaker the next day. the 2k soaker feels superior.
cutting speed on the 1k diamond seemed fine, but surprisingly not really different than the 2k soaker? i was expecting it to be faster.
i enjoyed what i would term "convenience features". no flattening, no soaking, and less mess due to minimal amount of "mud" generated.
i got a usable edge out of it, but maybe not refined enough to end on. the jki 2k soaker on the other hand seems fine to end on.
jki 6k diamond:
in my original post, i said i didn't know how to effectively use my 6k ceramic soaker. same with this so far. i tried finishing on it (to the point of removing most visible 1k scratches), but it either refined it too much, or i suck at sharpening and just rolled the edge over or something. it cut vegetables (tomatoes in particular) noticeably worse than 1k diamond edge. also, i noticed loading on it, but that's because i thought it was the 1k stone for a while (i mixed them up because they look so similar). the nagura refreshed the surface easily though.
my current jki ceramic soaker workflow is:
- sharpen on my 2k (or start with 400 if there are major issues). mostly edge-trailing. decreasing pressure as i go back and forth as taught in the Peter Nowlan's Knife Planet page. and after several rounds of that, i deburr by drawing across a rubber wine cork.
- after cork deburr, i only do gentle edge-leading 'stropping' motions. i do this on the 2k.
- as for the jki 6k (6000S) ceramic soaker.. i think i'm finally understanding a way to use it that works for me. like i said, i didn't find any use whatsoever for it before because i was either rolling the edge (my fault), or the edge was too refined. dunno.
- even though it comes with a nagura, i don't like the rough texture it leaves on the stone. similarly, i don't like how it is fresh off the stone fixer (flattener). so i get it flat and then rub my jki 2k ceramic soaker on there to smooth it out some.
- once smooth and flat, i just do a few gentle, edge-leading strop strokes on there. not removing all the previous scratches and bite. not totally polishing the primary (edge) bevel. i've read some people refer to this lightly refined edge as a "hybrid edge" (but hybrid edge can refer to other things too).
what i really need to do now is patiently try 1k -> 6k diamond again when i'm rested. i'll try a 'hybrid edge' with the 6k and see how that performs. if it works well, then i'll try more strokes to polish the primary bevel. people say that this 6k stone has enough bite, so i want to see if that's the case. but if it no longer cuts tomatoes after that, then i'll try tests on paper. if it no longer cleanly cuts paper, i can probably assume i just suck at sharpening (rolled the edge).