Knife2meatu
Senior Member
The 400 seems like a very seldom mentioned stone. https://www.fine-tools.com/bester.html
I think what attention the 400 Bester would have gotten normally, fell on the latte Imanishi 400 and the Beston 500 -- At least, that's what it feels like after searching for information on the Bester.
I do find it curious that the 400 seems oddly expensive within the Bester line-up. This is just Fine-Tools' prices -- but I've seen a similar pattern elsewhere --: #220 brick €52; #400 €57; #700 €43; #1000 €45; #1200 €48; #2000 €67. Stones within a line-up usually go up in price with increasing grit rating, supposing consistent sizing; here the 400 is considerably more expensive than both the much larger 220, and also the next 3 stones which share the 400's size. Any ideas why the odd-ball pricing?
Because I like the other vitrified Bester stones, and could use another 400 grit stone, this one interests me. But I'd like be curious to have some better understanding of the pricing vagary, if anyone has any notions.
General comments on performance would also be very welcome, as would comparisons to any other popular 400 grit stones. I found some footage from @Badgertooth using one on Youtube -- I think this is only the second user of the stone I've come across after years of lurking sharpening videos and reviews...
edit: I noticed something interesting in the Fine-Tools description of the stones: "The 400, 4000 and 8000 grit stones are somewhat harder than the 700, 1000, 1200, and 2000 grit stones." I find this a little odd; I would expect the 4000 & 8000 to be different from the rest of the stones, due to their being resin instead of vitrified, but the 400 getting lumped in with the 4k & 8k, and set apart from the 700, 1k, 1.2k, & 2k is just another weird detail.
It all makes me wonder if I'd be wrong to expect the 400 Bester to be quite similar to the vitrified Besters (700 to 2k) which I know and like.
I think what attention the 400 Bester would have gotten normally, fell on the latte Imanishi 400 and the Beston 500 -- At least, that's what it feels like after searching for information on the Bester.
I do find it curious that the 400 seems oddly expensive within the Bester line-up. This is just Fine-Tools' prices -- but I've seen a similar pattern elsewhere --: #220 brick €52; #400 €57; #700 €43; #1000 €45; #1200 €48; #2000 €67. Stones within a line-up usually go up in price with increasing grit rating, supposing consistent sizing; here the 400 is considerably more expensive than both the much larger 220, and also the next 3 stones which share the 400's size. Any ideas why the odd-ball pricing?
Because I like the other vitrified Bester stones, and could use another 400 grit stone, this one interests me. But I'd like be curious to have some better understanding of the pricing vagary, if anyone has any notions.
General comments on performance would also be very welcome, as would comparisons to any other popular 400 grit stones. I found some footage from @Badgertooth using one on Youtube -- I think this is only the second user of the stone I've come across after years of lurking sharpening videos and reviews...
edit: I noticed something interesting in the Fine-Tools description of the stones: "The 400, 4000 and 8000 grit stones are somewhat harder than the 700, 1000, 1200, and 2000 grit stones." I find this a little odd; I would expect the 4000 & 8000 to be different from the rest of the stones, due to their being resin instead of vitrified, but the 400 getting lumped in with the 4k & 8k, and set apart from the 700, 1k, 1.2k, & 2k is just another weird detail.
It all makes me wonder if I'd be wrong to expect the 400 Bester to be quite similar to the vitrified Besters (700 to 2k) which I know and like.
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