# Naniwa Chosera 10,000



## ipq7 (Mar 1, 2016)

Hi all,

Who has experience with Chosera 10,000 finishing stone? I would be interested in some details. Thanks. 

Cheers, ipq7


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## Jovidah (Mar 1, 2016)

I guess you're thinking about the one on sale at K&T? Personally I wouldn't do it; it already has the hairline cracks all over one side... looks like it has been soaked too long. It's a bit of a gamble but it might break into pieces.


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## ipq7 (Mar 1, 2016)

I saw it as well at K&T but actually don't want to buy it for the same reason unless it costs 50 euros and I cannot resist 
I have some Choseras and Imanishis here and an another Chosera/Professional finishing stone would be a nice addition, so my question was more general.


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## rick_english (Mar 1, 2016)

Those cracks happen on most choseras. People say they can be avoided with proper care, but they're pretty inevitable in my opinion. Choseras tend to be too hard for my liking. I've kept a couple for chisels, but sold the rest. I did have a 10k, but have replaced it with naturals that feel better.


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## Steampunk (Mar 2, 2016)

I have a couple of Choseras (Well, the new 'Pro' versions; supposedly very slightly different than the older stones.), including the 10K... It's one of the harder stones I've tried in the series, and is an extremely fast cutter for the grit rating. You can actually touch-up on this stone, and jumping from a Chosera 3K/Shapton 4K GS isn't too difficult (Although I prefer 5-6K to save some wear on the 10K). 

You can use it as a splash & go, but I prefer to give it a short, ~ 5-10 minute soak, which helps to minimize loading (I let my Choseras dry on their side, and rotate them periodically, which supposedly helps them to dry evenly and prevent cracking.). So far no problems [knock on wood]...

Tactile feedback is muted due to the fine grit, but at the same time it doesn't feel like sharpening on glass; there is some sensation of abrasion, albeit smooth. 

Surprisingly, it doesn't leave the flawless mirror polish on the bevel that you would expect, even when making smaller grit jumps and taking pains to fully erase the traces of previous stones. The edge is very bright, but it does leave a visible, but fine, and very consistent scratch pattern. I actually get a better polish off of my Gesshin 6K Splash & Go... You can get a better polish if you work up a little bit of slurry, but this isn't easy on knife edge bevels due to the hardness of the stone. Working up slurry to help polish the bevel is a little bit easier with chisels, or thick plane irons where you can use more pressure and have more metal in contact with the stone. 

Despite the imperfect polish, the edge is definitely 10K. Pulling the burr on the stone is pretty easy, and even without stropping you can pass some pretty silly edge tests, like tree-topping arm hair, etc. Most of my experience with stones at this grit range are with naturals (Which maintain their 'teeth', even at higher grits.), and supposedly the 10K Chosera has a surprisingly high amount of 'bite' for a high-grit man-made stone, but in my experience you do lose quite a bit of toothiness on this stone. It does leave a very good push cutting edge for cutting carrots, or other hard, woody vegetables, but it doesn't quite have the bite that I have come to like in a kitchen knife edge. The edge also sits in that bizarre hinterland where it's starting to become too smooth for kitchen use, but isn't yet quite light-saber sharp enough for that not to matter (Like you can sometimes get when you go extreme with diamond pastes.). 

However, if you like chasing crazy-refined edges, the hardness of the stone does help it to set very 'crisp' bevels and micro-bevels, and it's also a good starting place if you want to jump to a 0.5-micron/30K grit pasted strop. 

After trying the stone, I can see why most people buy the Snow White 8K at 1/2-1/3 the price. It's a good stone, but for this much money you can buy a good sized Coticule or J-Nat, which create far more complex edges. If you have a full set of Choseras, and want to scratch the itch to try it, go for it, but otherwise I would skip it.

Hopefully this helps...

- Steampunk


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## ipq7 (Mar 3, 2016)

this is helping very much, thanks a lot!! :doublethumbsup:


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