# Introducing the Gesshin Synthetic Natural Finishing Stone



## JBroida (Aug 12, 2015)

Introducing our newest stone, after 2 years of R&D... The Gesshin Synthetic Natural:
http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/gesshin/gesshin-toishi/gesshin-synthetic-natural.html







From the product description:
The Gesshin Synthetic Natural is a splash and go stone. However, it works best after a quick 1-2 minute soak. This stone is a medium hardness, relatively fast cutting, and leaves white-ish polished finish with very light and fine, but slightly visible scratches. Because the stone is on the softer side, we increased the thickness. It doesn't dish fast by any means, but it does dish faster than some other finishing stones we have (like the Gesshin 6000 Splash-and-Go Stone). We designed this stone to mimic the edge feel from natural finishing stones (like our takashima awasedo). While it does an excellent job at this, it does not leave the same kind of aesthetic finish as natural stones, nor does it feel like a natural stone in use. It has a creamy feel, though it provides very nice tactile feedback. The stone can achieve some contrast on clad knives, depending on the type of cladding and core steel, but that is not its main strength. The goal of this stone, which it achieves very well, is to provide an edge that offers a refined cut, but the tactile feedback of something like a 3000 grit stone (though the level of refinement is clearly higher overall in feel and use). Because of the kind of edge it leaves, it tends to have a bit of impact on edge retention as well. The stone combines different grits in a specific way to help for edges with different sized microscopic "teeth". This is the result of quite a bit of testing and development over the course of about 2 years. This stone easily cleans up scratches from medium grit stones (1k-2k), and some higher girt coarse stones (in the 600-800 grit range depending on the stone). It can easily be used as a final finishing stone for a variety of applications from meat to veggies to fish.

This stone can be soaked and stored in water for extended periods of time, but if you want to use it as a splash and go, between use, it should be allowed to dry in cool, well ventilated area away from direct sunlight. Drying this stone too quickly can cause hairline cracks to form. If you do want to dry out the stone, wrapping it with a damp cloth to slow the drying process works well.

It measures 210mm x 75mm x 40mm and weighs in at about 1240 grams.

Get 'em while they last.


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## 420layersofdank (Aug 12, 2015)

Hey Jon, how does this compare to sigma 2 synthetic natural 5k?


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## JBroida (Aug 12, 2015)

are you talking about the sigma jinzo renge, which is a 6000 grit stone? If so, this is faster cutting, creamier feeling, much larger, and leaves a toothier edge, but doesnt leave as nice of a polish. Its also softer, and feels softer.


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## gic (Aug 12, 2015)

How does it compare to the (amazing) gesshin splash and go 3k - the one with the little footprints - that I really really like


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## JBroida (Aug 12, 2015)

its much larger, in both width and height... it has a bit grippier feel and feels noticeably softer in sharpening. It dishes faster, but not by a crazy amount. The cutting speed is the same-ish (but that 3k is fast), and the finish is less bright, but more smooth and even. The edge feel is slightly more refined, an the edge seems to last a bit longer. Its a more enjoyable feeling in sharpening in my opinion. But the 3k is very fast and really convenient in terms of its true splash and go nature, and the 3k leaves a mirror-like finish.


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## ThEoRy (Aug 12, 2015)

What range of grit does this stone provide. Am I thinking Kitiyama replacement?


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## JBroida (Aug 12, 2015)

not quite that high... more like a replacement for a finishing stone in the 3-6k range (with the results a bit closer to the higher end of that range). Sadly, i'm probably not going to share the specific grit levels, grit types, or ratios, since i spent so long developing it and it could be easily copied with that kind of info. Really sorry about that.


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## kohtachi (Aug 12, 2015)

My wallets getting thinner... drool. Could this be a better stone then the gesshin 4k...


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## JBroida (Aug 12, 2015)

very different stones.. this is much softer than the 4k, and not as fast... the 4k is something special. But this will leave a much smoother looking finish and feel creamier.


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## gic (Aug 12, 2015)

So a perfect progression is a 800-1500, this one and then the natural awasedo??


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## JBroida (Aug 12, 2015)

i like finishing on this one to be honest... its one of my favorite finishing stones to use on customers' knives, but you could do that.

You want to know my near perfect progression... my 800 grit vitrified diamond stone plus whatever finishing stone i want in the 3-8k range (in reality, i probably use a custom 6000 grit diamond stone most, but the two stones cost near $1k together)


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## JDA_NC (Aug 13, 2015)

From my experiences, natural stones do not tend to perform well with stainless steel knives. But some of the synthetic "aotos"/naturals have a reputation for being great with stainless (green brick for example). What are your experiences with this and stainless/PM steel knives?


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## JBroida (Aug 13, 2015)

no prob with those steels... the abrasives in here are harder than those in natural stones (ergo the different aesthetic finish)


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## Matus (Aug 14, 2015)

I am watching this thread very closely. I will be at some point buying a stone that would give me more bite than Gesshin 6000 and it will not be an easy choice


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## fimbulvetr (Sep 2, 2015)

Just got mine today (thanks, Jon, holy crap that was fast!). My thoughts so far are that its a fun stone to use, feels even better than my Suehiro Rika, and I think I like the edge better for my gyuto and sujihiki. Overcome by new toy madness, I even used it to touch up my Tojiro honesuki, which I usually finish on a 2000 grit Shapton Pro. I think I like that too, but it's early days yet. 

Really, I'm by no means a super proficient sharpener, though I keep my knives pretty sharp, so I bought this stone mostly to satisfy my own curiosity and to try to put a toothier, but still fairly smooth, edge on my slicer. So far, it's a total blast.


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## panda (Sep 3, 2015)

jda - ikarashi is the best stainless stone i've come across, period. it's a hard stone (but firm smooth feedback) starts at 1k and finishes at 2k. would love to find a natural or synthetic 'natural' that was just a little finer finish but same traits and still cuts fast with no loading. other naturals, yeah not so good on stainless cause it takes FOREVER.


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## mcritchlow (Sep 30, 2016)

I'm a big fan of this stone, and thought others thinking about getting one might enjoy watching Jon use it in a video https://youtu.be/Aytbv06h7B8?t=6362

I've linked to the time in the~2.5hr livestream where he uses it on a few knives.


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## Matus (Sep 30, 2016)

Since this thread popped up - I would only add that the Gesshin Synthetic Natural Stone is my favourite finisher and it replaced the Gesshin 6000 for me (which I still have). I just love the edge I get from this stone. It has a bite while giving you a smooth feel. I guess that has something to do with the mix of different grits in the stone. One way or another - Jon nailed it with this stone.


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