# One stone?



## Michi (Jan 4, 2021)

I was expecting to find that there is a thread for this already, but my search came up empty.

If you could have only one sharpening stone for the remainder of your days (exactly one, the Philosopher's Stone, if you will), what would it be?

My thinking is something like the Chosera 800 would probably be it. Coarse enough to do minor repairs (with a lot of effort), and fine enough to get a knife seriously sharp.

Any other suggestions?


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## Nemo (Jan 4, 2021)

_Ash gund durbatulûk, ash gund gimbatul,_ _ash gund thrakatulûk agh balt-ishi krimpatul._

S_orry, couldn't resist 

I reckon I could use Chosera 1K for most things except serious thinning. Maybe 800 would be even better?_


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## TB_London (Jan 4, 2021)

1k and loaded strop

Or something natural like a coticule that will both cut quickly and refine an edge depending on pressure, slurry etc


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## DHunter86 (Jan 4, 2021)

My vote would be on the Chosera 800 , with proper pressure and slurry, the kasumi it gives ain't bad either. 

Note sure how dull my brothers' knives get as compared to "friends and family" knives typically discussed here on KKF, but this stone is sufficient to make quick work of them...


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## inferno (Jan 4, 2021)

i made a similar thread some time back




__





if you were allowed to only have 1 stone...


imagine this: you wake up one day and see the sink is full of mud. during the night the evil stone fairy was there and ground up all your stones on an atoma. and from now on you are only allowed to have 1 singe stone. otherwise the stone fairy comes back (and grinds away all your knives this...




www.kitchenknifeforums.com


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## Dhoff (Jan 4, 2021)

It is only natural to have two stones.


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## Konig9402 (Jan 4, 2021)

A Shapton 1000


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## Michi (Jan 4, 2021)

inferno said:


> i made a similar thread some time back
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Indeed you did, and I even responded in that thread. (Not that I had any memory of that when I started this thread…)

My apologies to everyone for the wasted bandwidth 

_One Stone to hone them all, One Stone to find them,
One Stone to polish them all, and in sharpness grind them,
In the land of Flatstones, where the edges lie._


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## Michi (Jan 4, 2021)

Nemo said:


> _Ash gund durbatulûk, ash gund gimbatul,_ _ash gund thrakatulûk agh balt-ishi krimpatul._


My Google searches came up empty. Care to explain? Klingon, or some such?


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## Dhoff (Jan 4, 2021)

Michi said:


> My Google searches came up empty. Care to explain? Klingon, or some such?



My google-fu said.

"One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them; One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them." 

Lord of the rings, not sure as to what language in it.


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## Nemo (Jan 4, 2021)

Michi said:


> My Google searches came up empty. Care to explain? Klingon, or some such?


It's still in the Black Speech of Mordor:

_One stone to rule them all, one stone to find them.
One stone to bring them all and in the mud, bind them._

I didn't realise there was an online Black Speech dictionary until I looked.


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## Michi (Jan 4, 2021)

Dhoff said:


> My google-fu said.
> 
> "One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them; One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them."
> 
> Lord of the rings, not sure as to what language in it.


Wow, how did you get that? And what a coincidence. When I put Nemo's phrase into Google, I got "It looks like there aren't many great matches for your search", plus a bunch of irrelevant links.


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## Michi (Jan 4, 2021)

Dhoff said:


> Lord of the rings, not sure as to what language in it.


The language of Mordor. Still weird that Google didn't point me straight at it.


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## KingShapton (Jan 4, 2021)

One stone for the rest of my life?!

King 1200, or Shapton Pro 1500 or Shapton Glass 1000

I tend towards the King 1200


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## Bolek (Jan 4, 2021)

I like having many stones but if I shall keep only one it'll be the 2k vitrified diamond from practical sharpening.


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## lemeneid (Jan 4, 2021)

King 1k/6k. So you can sharpen AND polish with one stone


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## ModRQC (Jan 4, 2021)

Cheater! 

I might have answered NP800 last time around. I could be tempted to answer Cerax #700 today. But as good as a med-coarse can be brought to finish, I'd miss the next step... and if going SP2K, I'd sorely miss thinning power, and speed and easiness of setting a primary on say thick fatigued soft SS, or any knife in a really dull state.


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## KingShapton (Jan 4, 2021)

ModRQC said:


> I could be tempted to answer Cerax #700 today


Great stone


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## Lars (Jan 4, 2021)

Bester 1200, but it would only be realistic if I could keep an Atoma 140 as well..


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## Kitchen-Samurai (Jan 4, 2021)

Hi Michi, 

tough choice. Since Inferno started the original thread in March 2020, I have been thinking about this (no, not constantly...). And I still can't decide. I guess my answer depends on the day you ask me and on whether a strop or stropping on something other than the stone is allowed in this hypothetical scenario (in his stone-fairy scenario, it wasn't). If stropping is ok, I could get by with a lower grit stone that enables repairs and thinning, maybe a Gesshin 400 XL? It finishes finer, can work up some mud, but still cuts well enough for thinning and smaller repairs. I could flatten it on the sidewalk (and would hope that the stone is replaced when used up!). Or a Shapton Glass 500?
If no strop was allowed, I'd need something a bit more refined. Chosera 800 is a certainly a good choice, but I think I'd opt for the Suehiro Cerax 1k or the Gesshin 2k. I like the feel of the Cerax a tiny bit more, but the Gesshin might be a better choice since its a 2k finish but cuts as quickly as any 1k stone I know.


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## riba (Jan 4, 2021)

Coticule for me


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## ian (Jan 4, 2021)

Gesshin 4k, and I’d just throw my knives away when they needed a coarser stone.


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## Benuser (Jan 4, 2021)

I would hesitate between the Chosera 800 and 2k. The last one starts quite aggressively and ends at some 3k.
Another option is a Belgian Coticule — not the Blue Brocken. Heavily charged in abrasives, it offers a huge reach. Thick slurry with saliva, diluted little by little with water. From say 1500 to far above 6k if you want.


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## Ruso (Jan 4, 2021)

ian said:


> Gesshin 4k, and I’d just throw my knives away when they needed a coarser stone.


Just ship them to me. I will dispose of them for free!


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## ModRQC (Jan 4, 2021)

ian said:


> Gesshin 4k, and I’d just throw my knives away when they needed a coarser stone.



Order 4 Denkas at once, and pray for the best, seems a good idea...


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## Jovidah (Jan 4, 2021)

Suggesting a coticule is almost cheating, considering they cost pretty much as much as a full set of sharpening stones nowadays. 
I wished I had bought a Coticule when I first got started with knives and sharpening stones. They were quite affordable when I first got my setup, but nowadays the prices are just insane. Not that I really need one but it would be a fun option to play around with.


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## cotedupy (Jan 4, 2021)

Another vote for King 1.2k.

Someone here recommended permasoaking it recently and has completely transformed my experience with it. Since then I've barely touched any of my others. A brilliant stone.

Though I've also been playing around local Aussie slates I've found, and tbh I could probably get away with just one of those. Similar to what @Benuser said above regarding coticules - it seems to be able to do the work of a few stones, though it's hard af, and takes a while.


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## Matus (Jan 5, 2021)

2k Gesshin, or 3-4k diamond stone (e.g. Practical Sharpening, but I understand that there are others).


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## spaceconvoy (Jan 5, 2021)

Are we allowed to have sandpaper? And what about flattening? Maybe a cursed diamond plate that works normally on stones but corrodes steel instantly, to prevent us from using it for sharpening. 

Either way my answer is the SP1500


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## TB_London (Jan 5, 2021)

Jovidah said:


> Suggesting a coticule is almost cheating, considering they cost pretty much as much as a full set of sharpening stones nowadays.
> I wished I had bought a Coticule when I first got started with knives and sharpening stones. They were quite affordable when I first got my setup, but nowadays the prices are just insane. Not that I really need one but it would be a fun option to play around with.




I gave mine away as found I preferred j stones for speed and ease. For gentle work on a razor I can see them being useful, for quickly putting a good edge on a kitchen knife other options are better IMO


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## KO88 (Jan 5, 2021)

Chosera 1k or Practical Sharpening Vitriefied Diamond 3k (need to work with it to see)....

Would anyone suggest other than coticule natural stone (what could be fast enough starts like below 1k and finishes around +3k?) ?


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## Jovidah (Jan 5, 2021)

TB_London said:


> I gave mine away as found I preferred j stones for speed and ease. For gentle work on a razor I can see them being useful, for quickly putting a good edge on a kitchen knife other options are better IMO


Interesting... you're not just saying to make me feel better? 
Your point probably explains why they have such varying prominence in different communities. You hardly hear mention of them on knife forums. But razor communities have gone nuts over them for years, driving up demand and prices. But at the current prices even for shaving I would think there must be better and more economical options.


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## KingShapton (Jan 5, 2021)

Another natural stone option would be a Cretan oil stone.

With / without slurry (if it is a good specimen) it could cover the gritrange from # 1000 to # 4000. However, this only applies to sharpening, not to thinning.


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## pgugger (Jan 5, 2021)

I'd probably choose my Naniwa Pro 800 as a versatile choice. I just got it, along with several other stones, so don't have a lot of experience but I was happily surprised with this one even the first time I used it.


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## Ruso (Jan 5, 2021)

Chosera (Pro) 800 as one stone to rule em all.
However. if we are talking about all type of steels, a bonded diamond stone should be it.


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## M1k3 (Jan 6, 2021)

Shapton Glass 500 Double thick and a box of cereal.


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## Luftmensch (Jan 6, 2021)

Dhoff said:


> It is only natural to have two stones.



"In the land of the blunt, the one stone man is king"


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## spaceconvoy (Jan 6, 2021)

M1k3 said:


> Shapton Glass 500 Double thick and a box of cereal.


If you buy Total Raisin Bran or something else ultra-fortified with iron and minerals you might be able to use the dust at the bottom of the bag as a stropping compound.


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## M1k3 (Jan 6, 2021)

spaceconvoy said:


> If you buy Total Raisin Bran or something else ultra-fortified with iron and minerals you might be able to use the dust at the bottom of the bag as a stropping compound.


Just flip it over. The printing is finer


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## spaceconvoy (Jan 6, 2021)

That's very practical but my method will make you feel more like McGyver


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## Ruso (Jan 6, 2021)

spaceconvoy said:


> If you buy Total Raisin Bran or something else ultra-fortified with iron and minerals you might be able to use the dust at the bottom of the bag as a stropping compound.





M1k3 said:


> Just flip it over. The printing is finer


By this point, just ditch the stone.


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## jwthaparc (Jan 6, 2021)

Michi said:


> I was expecting to find that there is a thread for this already, but my search came up empty.
> 
> If you could have only one sharpening stone for the remainder of your days (exactly one, the Philosopher's Stone, if you will), what would it be?
> 
> ...


Yeah +1 for the old chosera 800. As long as I'm just using it for kitchen knives, then especially so.


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## daveb (Jan 6, 2021)

SG500. Sharpen 10 knives, $5/each. Buy SP1000. Sharpen 10 more knives. Buy SP2000....

I don't do rules well......


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## jwthaparc (Jan 6, 2021)

Ruso said:


> Chosera (Pro) 800 as one stone to rule em all.
> However. if we are talking about all type of steels, a bonded diamond stone should be it.


Pretty much exactly how I feel


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## MowgFace (Jan 7, 2021)

Gesshin 2K. I absolutely love that stone.


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## panda (Jan 7, 2021)

cho400


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## ian (Jan 7, 2021)

panda said:


> cho400



Badass stone. That’s what I’m using as my daily driver now on client knives, followed by Cho 800 and sometimes preceded by SG 220 or 120.


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## tostadas (Jan 7, 2021)

ian said:


> Badass stone. That’s what I’m using as my daily driver now on client knives, followed by Cho 800 and sometimes preceded by SG 220 or 120.



Is the benefit of the 400 mainly the speed?


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## ian (Jan 7, 2021)

tostadas said:


> Is the benefit of the 400 mainly the speed?



Vs what, the 800? If so, then yes. Fast but finishes a bit higher than 400, doesn't dish too bad. Attractive green color.


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## tri.ngm (Jan 8, 2021)

It's off topic but guide me to the right place. Is there any method to deburr on one single medium stone?


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## DHunter86 (Jan 8, 2021)

It's similar to deburring on a finer stone, just got to be more mindful of the pressure applied. Stropping motions edge leading (Kippington's method works great), then trailing.


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## tri.ngm (Jan 8, 2021)

DHunter86 said:


> It's similar to deburring on a finer stone, just got to be more mindful of the pressure applied. Stropping motions edge leading (Kippington's method works great), then trailing.



Perfect. I just read through that Fiesta thread.


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