Watanabe AI synthetic stones

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Hmm, hard to say as he has a very different white balance on every of his photos. The 220 really looks like the Bester, but the rest I have no idea.
 
If you mouse over "Shin's comment" you get a description (you've probably seen it). They do sound quite impressive.
 
The AI 1000 is a beast. Extremely quick and agressive but clean.

The Kitayama 8000 is also very fast, much more than on Naniwa Superstones for exemple. good feeling and makes a mice mirror blade.

To be honest, I love Natural stone, own more than 20 of them and use the most of the time at home of for some special knives but at work I don't have much time to sharpen.
That's why I only use these 2 Stones at work. The 8000, 30 seconds every 3 days on my workhorses and it is clean enough to do all the kind of prep I would need in a 2 Michelin stars restaurant.
I use the AI 1000 when it's needed like to remove microchips or to give a healthy basis before the 8000.

I see these stones as good friends for professionnals.
(The AI Diamond being the best friend and the most faithful one. A bit costly but an absolute must-have. I 'll make videos of this one soon)
 
Hmm, hard to say as he has a very different white balance on every of his photos. The 220 really looks like the Bester, but the rest I have no idea.

He wrote me that it’s harder than the Bester.
 
I would even think the AI1000 could be my favourite stone.
Ok a $1200 shiro suita or a good uchigumori do miracles on steel...but can they do a sharp edge in say.. 25 seconds?
 
no unfortunately not. But I 'm not sure I would "need" it in this configuration, the 1000 being so clean..
If you are looking for a stone in the 2000 grit, it could worth a try.
 
allright!

@nutmeg
okk now you have done it! i have to get the ai1000... i am swarming around this stone for more than half a year since watanabe has them in his shop and was always curious how good it is.. if watanabe says "this stone is super awesome" than i can thrust him. ok ill order it soon ;)
 
allright!

@nutmeg
okk now you have done it! i have to get the ai1000... i am swarming around this stone for more than half a year since watanabe has them in his shop and was always curious how good it is.. if watanabe says "this stone is super awesome" than i can thrust him. ok ill order it soon ;)


Yes, definitely.
Shinichi Watanabe is one of the best knife designer. He knows how to give great material a comfortable shape and the best sharpness.
I have now many types of kitchen knives and stones from him and every time I feel the same as the comments he writes.
His knowledge about stones is incredible.
 
I remeber him writing about the AI#1000:

"ai#1000 and Chosera 1000 are similar making process. But ai#1000 is stronger shaping power, keep flat surface more and sharpened surface is finer.
JNS 1000 is same power as Chosera or weaker shaping power than Chosera 1000.
JNS say it doesn't need soak, but I think the stone needs 5 min in water. You can think AI #1000 has Chosera #400 of shaping power. But the sharpened surface is #1000."
 
nutmeg, was that information you have just shared been posted online, or in private communication between you and Schinichi. I am asking as it makes difference in how it sounds and what people may think about him. Please clarify if possible.
 
I have done some playing around with the AI 1000 and its really nice and really fast. Its fully splash & go and not thirsty at all. Sharpening feeling and feedback is nice. It seems that the stone is very hard and that it wont dish much.

Here is a little video:

[video]https://vid.me/WAJL[/video]
 
Btw, sorry if my sharpening looks a little weird (position wise), another person (with no time to reshoot it) was holding the camera and was a little in the way which made it a little awkward for me. That and the Vorführeffekt (demonstration effect)... :whistling:
 
I dont have the bester to compare it but it feels much coarser / scratchier than the JNS 300.
I can also make a video if you like. Its very fast and hard it seemed to me.
 
what about the 220?

I would be curios too. It probably is not the same as Bester 220 (which is a good stone IMO) as it has different dimensions.

I would not be surprised that it would feel coarser than JNS300 - that stone feels surprisingly smooth for its grit.
 
JNS say it doesn't need soak, but I think the stone needs 5 min in water. You can think AI #1000 has Chosera #400 of shaping power. But the sharpened surface is #1000."

That's disappointing - I had hoped it could be the start for 1000 -> finisher progression of purely S&G. Maybe I'll just bite the bullet and get Jon's diamond stones...
 
benny, watching the 1k video, it sounds really scratchy (much rougher than a 1k normally is) is that the case in person or is that just the capturing process adding digital artifacts? could you describe the feedback as well in comparison to other 1k stones? as crappy stone king 1k is, i still think it is a reference for feedback during use.
 
the ai#1000 is currently on sale and i couldn't pass it up, with the current exchange rate it was $72 shipped to the US (shipping was more than half what the stone cost :D). this will be going into a new setup for work (chosera 400, ai1000, aizu) to replace current setup of just cho600+3k

judging from the posted impressions my expectations for this stone is rather high (feels like chosera 1k, but cuts much faster?), hope i'm not disappointed!
 
Folks, the kanji means "love", so it should be Love #1000 stone. AI #1000 kinda sounds robotic and makes me feel "terminated". :laugh:

Anyway, I am also very interested in this new line of stones.
 

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