Time for new stones - recommendations?

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agp

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Hi all, I've been using a King 1k/6k combo set for the past few years, but had lots of trouble sharpening my Yamashin white 1, but did great with my stainless steel knives and cleavers from China. I'm looking for recommendations on a set stone set up. I recently got some VG10 damascus knives, so hoping to get something that can sharpen those easily.

Any recommendations?
 
Shapton. Pro or glass either one.

Kohetsu 800 and 2K. VERY good stones.
 
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Maybe get a rougher stone to get it started like the Naniwa professional 400
 
Naniwa professional 400 would work great. But you do not need to go so low. For me for non thinning purposes Naniwa professional is enough.

Great stones.
 
King Hyper 1000 (much faster than the standard 1000) or Shapton Pro 1000. Both are fast stones but the King is a little softer.
 
I wanted to say:
Naniwa professional 400 would work great. But you do not need to go so low. For me for non thinning purposes Naniwa professional 1000 is enough.

Great stones.
 
krx927 said:
I wanted to say:
Naniwa professional 400 would work great. But you do not need to go so low. For me for non thinning purposes Naniwa professional 1000 is enough.

Great stones.
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How different is Naniwa 1k from King 1k? Can't imagine 1k being that different? Maybe I'm not applying enough pressure.
 
agp said:
How different is Naniwa 1k from King 1k? Can't imagine 1k being that different? Maybe I'm not applying enough pressure.
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If you want a way much better 1k then either the King 1k or the Chosera 1k get the Chosera 800.Between that and my Shapton Pro 1k that I bought some time ago,that's all I use.My King 1k/6k was my very first stone in the sharpening world of things and it is collecting dust.
 
If i would get new Stones:
I have chosera 400, its good (but i still dont like it). Iwould try JNS 300.
King Hyper 1k (prefer IT to chosera 1k)
Chosera 3k (Amazing Stone)

And If u need to go higher, (for gyutos theres really no need) JNS 6k

And after that some natural...
 
The next generation of stones after King, think Hyper 1k, Cho 800, SP1k, etc.
(most of which have been noted already)
 
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I plan to get a Chosera 400. Want one more, don't want a three piece set up. so 400+1k? or 400+2k? or 600+2k or 600 + 3k?
 
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I am not quite sure about the coarse stone - for my taste the Gesshin 400 dishes a bit too fast (grinds fast and but lovely finish though).

JNS300 is bit too slow (but thanks to relatively slow dishing good for more accurate work, also finishes finer than 300). I use JNS300 to check bevels on the knives I am making and on repair work on wide bevels.

I recently got a Sakai Takauki 400 stone, but have not tested it sufficiently yet. It looks promising though.

Medium grit - the Gesshin 2000 is really great- really fast for 2k, nice feel & feedback, dishing on the slow side.

I also have the Watanabe #1000 (== Shapton Pro 1000) - it is more of an 800 stone with the decent feedback and is very fast. - basically it negates the need for a 300-400 stone - at least on the edge. Going from 220 (I have Bester) to Shapton Pro 1k is no problem. If used on wide bevels than it may take a while to take out scratches with 4k+ stones.

Then there is Sigma Pro 1k - probably the fastest 1k stone, but the feedback are fingernails on a blackboard. It tends towards tearout on soft stainless steels. I will be getting one for purely knifemaking purposes.

Finisher - Gesshin 4000 is basically a finer version of the 2000 - gives a very nice toothy edge. A fast stone for 4k grit.

My favourite synthetic finisher is however Gesshin Synthetic Natural. Not quite as fast as the 4k, but the edge is very well balanced - fine and toothy at the same time. It is currently my only synthetic finisher. I go to natural stones if I want to play with the edge properties more.

I have briefly used Shapton Pro 5k and Sakai Takayuki 4k - both are very nice stones (but also very different in feel). Shapton feels very smooth, while the ST has the more 'gritty' feel like Gesshin 2k and 4k.
 
You can Jump from chosera 400 straight to chosera 3k (which will leave perfect edge for gyutos).
 
Oh yes,plus one on the King Hyper 1k. If feel is important to you,I like my Hyper way more then my Shapton Pro 1k but both are very good and fast 1k stones.
 
if you want some kind of kit i would suggest a diamond stone as the low grit one. Atoma 400 or DMT coarse.
And if you want a coarse stone the shapton glass 500 double thick is good and fast. The best thing about it is that its almost as fast as the 220ies but wears much much slower. However a good 220 is actually faster than diamonds i have noticed.

then above that you can basically go 2 different routes, you either stop at a 3-4k or so. or lower like 2k.
you could use a 500 and a 2k. 500 and 3k, or a 1k and a 2k. or 1k and 3/4k.

At work i have a dmt coarse, shapton pro 1k and a pro 2k. thats all i really need to sharpen any knife fast and efficient.

I gave my cousin a glass 500 and a glass 3k. those can handle anything. and its fast and dish resistant.

Usually I'd say the 1k stone is the base stone. so you would need a 1k and then something finer and then something coarser.
but if you have a 500 then you wont need a 1k.

glass 500/3k very good combo, the 500 and shapton pro/glass 2k also good.
I could probably get by with only a coarse diamond stone and a 2-3k if I really wanted.
But why have only 2 stones when you can have 15?? :) wheres the fun in that?
 
Matus said:
I am not quite sure about the coarse stone - for my taste the Gesshin 400 dishes a bit too fast (grinds fast and but lovely finish though).

JNS300 is bit too slow (but thanks to relatively slow dishing good for more accurate work, also finishes finer than 300). I use JNS300 to check bevels on the knives I am making and on repair work on wide bevels.

I recently got a Sakai Takauki 400 stone, but have not tested it sufficiently yet. It looks promising though.

Medium grit - the Gesshin 2000 is really great- really fast for 2k, nice feel & feedback, dishing on the slow side.

I also have the Watanabe #1000 (== Shapton Pro 1000) - it is more of an 800 stone with the decent feedback and is very fast. - basically it negates the need for a 300-400 stone - at least on the edge. Going from 220 (I have Bester) to Shapton Pro 1k is no problem. If used on wide bevels than it may take a while to take out scratches with 4k+ stones.

Then there is Sigma Pro 1k - probably the fastest 1k stone, but the feedback are fingernails on a blackboard. It tends towards tearout on soft stainless steels. I will be getting one for purely knifemaking purposes.

Finisher - Gesshin 4000 is basically a finer version of the 2000 - gives a very nice toothy edge. A fast stone for 4k grit.

My favourite synthetic finisher is however Gesshin Synthetic Natural. Not quite as fast as the 4k, but the edge is very well balanced - fine and toothy at the same time. It is currently my only synthetic finisher. I go to natural stones if I want to play with the edge properties more.

I have briefly used Shapton Pro 5k and Sakai Takayuki 4k - both are very nice stones (but also very different in feel). Shapton feels very smooth, while the ST has the more 'gritty' feel like Gesshin 2k and 4k.
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The thing is the OP has vg10 knives. I’d recommend the gesh 400 for sharpening them. Or king 300, cerax 320 or something like that. I understand your dishing concerns though.
Matus, I want you to try the gesh 1200 one day.
 
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agp said:
I plan to get a Chosera 400. Want one more, don't want a three piece set up. so 400+1k? or 400+2k? or 600+2k or 600 + 3k?
Click to expand...

Classic kit is 400, 800, 3k

Once you get the mid-grits figured out,
the cho 3k will do alot of work for you.

The shapton sequence is possibe
with SP1k, SP2K or SG 500, SG 2k
(or sp2k).

Could probably substitute Cho 400
to Cho2k pretty easily if you don't
want to skip to 3k, but the 3k
is a useful stone to own.

(no matter how you get there,
can go also sp1k to cho3k, etc).
 
If you are in conus, get Gesshin 2K for your mid grit stone.
 
I see no reason to start a regular sharpening of a VG-10 blade on a 400 stone. I have sharpened vg10 Kai Shun knives on a combination Bester 1k/6k stone (a surprisingly good stone, btw) several times and did not have any issues.
 
I fully agree with matus. no need for anything coarser than a 1k for blades that are just dull or microscopically chipped (not major chipped).
And if you dont let your blades go totally dull you wont need anything coarser than a 2k.

stones under 1k are used for fixing chips and other damages and to start sharpening blades that have been put through "pull through" sharpeners and "steels" for years.

if you intend to fix friends and coworkers knives some low grit stones are needed.
 
agp said:
How different is Naniwa 1k from King 1k? Can't imagine 1k being that different? Maybe I'm not applying enough pressure.
Click to expand...

I do nt have experience with King...

Matus said:
I see no reason to start a regular sharpening of a VG-10 blade on a 400 stone. I have sharpened vg10 Kai Shun knives on a combination Bester 1k/6k stone (a surprisingly good stone, btw) several times and did not have any issues.
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Indeed 1000 is all you need for sharpening. 400 is needed only for thinning.
 
Okay. I guess I'll try sharpening with my King 1k more before buying anything new... Thanks!
 
labor of love said:
Check amazon.
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:) hidden in plain sight. Just got the supposed last Chosera 1k and one of the last five 3k!

Any recommendations for Amazon diamond flattening plates? I currently have one of those $25 dollar stone fixers with the deep grooves on the back. Not sure if that'll do, but it does not cover the entire surface of the sharpening stone. Or is JKI's $55 the way to go?
 
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