# Two Stone Setup for SG2 and Carbon



## tward369 (Jan 14, 2016)

I have SG2 and carbon knives and plan to put a lot of work into learning how to sharpen correctly. I am seeking a two stone setup bring my knives to a toothy edge with great cutting ability and was thinking of purchasing the Gesshin 2K and 4K set. Is the Gesshin 2K an appropriate first stone for the sharpening progression? Any advice would be appreciated!

LOCATION
What country are you in? - USA

STONE TYPE
What type of stone are you interested in:
Synthetic

Splash and go or soaker?
Leaning towards soaker, but flexible.

What grit range are you looking for?
1-2K, 4-5K

What stone are you replacing if any?
None

What stones do you currently use in your lineup?
None

Any previous experience with water stones? beginner, novice, skilled? Or other sharpening systems? (Jig type, Oil Stones, Diamond Plates, etc?)
None

What is your absolute maximum budget for your stone?
None (but obviously less expensive is better)

STONE USE
Do you primarily intend to use this stone at home or a professional environment?
Home

What type of knives will you be sharpening? (Traditional Japanese: yanagi, usuba, deba or Western style gyuto, petty etc)
Gyuto, Petty, Paring

What type of steel will you be sharpening? Stainless and Carbon Steel. 
SG2 and Carbon

STONE MAINTENANCE
Do you use or have a flattening plate (Yes or no.)
Planning on purchasing Atoma 140

If not, are you interested in learning how to flatten your stone? (Yes or no.)
Yes

SPECIAL REQUESTS/COMMENTS


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## Pensacola Tiger (Jan 14, 2016)

How dull are your knives? Unless you are planning to just freshen your edge, a 2000/4000 stone set will not be optimal for resetting a bevel.

If you are just starting out, the oft recommended set is three stones - a coarse (400-500), medium (1000-2000) and a fine (5000-6000).


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## ThEoRy (Jan 14, 2016)

Maybe consider the massive 1k/6k combo stone from JKI? It's what I use at work for everyone and the myriad of knives it sees. From German to Japanese, carbon to stainless and PM, it's worked well on everything.


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## _PixelNinja (Jan 14, 2016)

If you are looking into the Gesshin stones, the best person to advise you would be Jon; shoot him a mail and he will do his best to help you find something that will work for you.


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## Matus (Jan 14, 2016)

Ditto on calling Jon. But you may want to check out his youtube videos beforehand (they are linked directly to the JKI webpage when you browse the products).

I have use and like Gesshin stones. Still - I would advice you to get a 3 stone setup. You may not need a coarse (grit 300 - 600) stone every time you sharpen, but often enough, You do not want to me removing a small chip on 1k or 2k stone, let alone thin a knife on 1k or 2k stone.


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## tward369 (Jan 14, 2016)

Thanks for the advice guys. My knives are currently sharp. I'll begin researching a coarse grit stone to purchase alongside the other two. I plan to give Jon a call soon. Does anyone have recommendations for other stones of similar quality that can give a toothy edge to SG2 and carbon? I like to research fully before purchasing.


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## Mucho Bocho (Jan 14, 2016)

There are a lot of stones out there, I'm partial to the splash-n-go style. For my low grit stone I went with a Sharpton X-Thick 500 glass stone. It treats my SG2 Kramer very well. Also really nice on other hard stainless.


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## Marcelo Amaral (Jan 14, 2016)

Hi tward, another option would be the JNS stones: the Matukusuyama 1k is fast and splash and go. The JNS 300 is a good option for a lower grit stone. I use it to sharpen cheaper stainless steel. As you are requesting a toothy edge, the Takenoko 8k would be a great option for a higher grit stone.

http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/jns-1000-matukusuyama/

http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/jns-300-matukusuyama/

http://www.buttermilksupply.com/shop/sharpening/takenoko-8000-arashiyama-6k-stone-with-nagura/


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## chinacats (Jan 14, 2016)

I've enjoyed all the JKI stones I've used. Agreed about finding what will work best for you and for that, I too would call and ask. My opinion is that either of the stones mentioned would make a great one stone solution for some. As stated, you will want to add a coarse stone eventually and Jon offers a nice selection of these as well.


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## ThEoRy (Jan 14, 2016)

You could always go with the tried and true Beston 500, Bester 1200 and Suehiro Rika 5K.


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## rick alen (Jan 17, 2016)

From my experience you do not want to have a real toothy edge on SG2 steel, not unless you intend to cut in-hand as opposed to on the board. SG2 microchips, and greatly benefits from a relatively fine finish and a microbevel to 15deg+/side, much better edge retention that way. A 6K stone will leave a relatively refined finish on SG2 given light pressure and a few stropping strokes to finish. It's a very fine-grained steel and will fall through anything coming off a 6K. The same stone will work fine on your carbons also.

I think the Geshin 3 stone set (400, 2K, 6K) a great choice here. Myself I have just a cheap mud-binder 1/6k combi (which I actually paid $100 for in the days of my complete ignorance) and it works just fine on a Takamura Migaki (SG2 steel). One of these days it just might crack, with or without a little help, or I'll just grow tired of the red die on the 1K side getting on my fingers, and then I'll probably get the Geshin set.



Rick


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## JDA_NC (Jan 18, 2016)

To give a differing opinion, I have found SG2 to work perfectly fine with a 1k/toothy edge. I do agree heavily that a microbevel helps with edge retention. I personally believe that chippiness comes down to how acute of an angle you decide to sharpen at and how thin the knife is at the edge.

I do like toothy edges though. But I feel like it helps the SG2 edge retention. I've cut crusty bread, took out avocado pits etc with a 1k edge and never had any real issues. Microchipping only occured when I decided to thin heavily and put an extremely acute angle (which the steel can hold) without a microbevel.

I like harder, fast cutting stones with my PM steel knives. I use the 1k/6k JKI diamond stones but before that I really liked my Shapton GS 1k. I'm sure a Gesshin 2k would work great as well as any of the other offerings out there (JNS, Shapton Pro etc - no experience with Bester stones so I can't speak on them).

I used to be a big fan of coarse stones for resetting bevels, taking some of the work load off 1k stones, but I don't really use them these days. Unless you're thinning your knives, and especially if you are still a novice at sharpening knives, I feel that they can do more harm than good. You can put a fresh bevel on your knives relatively easily with fast 1k stones.


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## rick alen (Jan 18, 2016)

Of course a microbevel is used where the initial edge is relatively acute, the thinness behind that edge being irrelevent here. A 10deg/side edge in SG2 with no microbevel is going to microchip even if that edge extends to the spine.

I've never use any knife off a 1K stone, and I don't use the Takamura for heavy board work. Crusty bread and lightly bumping up against an avacado pit is not much of a challenge for an edge, and again I have to believe that a knife like that with such a rough edge will dull quicker if you are doing any serious whacking on the board. And I think that is actually pretty true, relatively speaking, for any knife.

Course stones, 500 and under, are meant for thinning and removing a lot of metal in general, like when opening up a new knife, but not for general sharpening. Of course you can do a modest amount of thinning with a 1K, more so if it is diamond.


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## Dardeau (Jan 18, 2016)

I can back Rick on the JKI 1/6k. It wasthe house stone at work for almost three years before it wore so thin it broke. I let someone else but the next one and we ended up with a 1k/6k King, which is perfectly functional, but much less pleasant to use.


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## Tall Dark and Swarfy (Jan 18, 2016)

I can't argue the recommendations for JKI. 

An alternative would be to initially buy the Shapton Pro 1K and 5K, and then buy the Shapton Pro 500 extra thick as the condition of your edge warrants.

You will also need a flattening stone such as the Atoma 140 (preferred) or a DMT XXC. 

Cheers,

Rick


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