# Looking for a splash and go for touchups



## rickbern (Apr 24, 2019)

I'd like to ask for a little advice...

I have a "complete" Gesshin soaking progression (400-2000-6000) but lately I've been thinking it might be nice to be able to just yank a stone out of the drawer and splash a little water on it for touch ups during meal prep. This kind of moved front and center when I tried to dice a piece of horseradish root (I use a fair bit of horseradish, this was a tough one) and my thin blades didn't love that.

Generally I use a Gesshin Ginga stainless, a Kochi carbon and a Munetoshi petty.

My knee jerk reaction was to get a Gesshin 6000 splash and go but they look a little on the sold out side now. The synthetic natural says it's best to soak, but that stone looks pretty interesting.

I thought about the shapton 5000 because I could pull the stone out and just spritz some water on it and place it on it's case. That actually sounds pretty appealing to me.

I don't <<think>> I'll use this as a main finishing stone, I like the 6000 I have, really just for during meal touch ups.

Any help would be appreciated.


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## JBroida (Apr 24, 2019)

6000 will be back in next week FYI

That being said, it works best when it is permanently soaked, despite being a splash and go stone


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## Michi (Apr 24, 2019)

Chosera 3000 might be a good option? I'm thinking that 5000 or 6000 might be a bit too fine. You could use a 3000 like a strop and still leave a little bit of a toothy edge.


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## Fred in PA (Apr 24, 2019)

I'm stropping on the Chosera 3000 for this purpose, and finishing with a few strokes on a compressed buffalo hide strop *lightly* loaded with green compound. I'm not sure the stone is even necessary - the strop may be enough by itself, but haven't really tested this yet. I got the strop from Burrfection, who has his detractors on this forum. But the strop is really nice. Or you could go with just the 3000 as Michi suggests.


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## slickmamba (Apr 25, 2019)

I'd also say get a chosera 3000


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## labor of love (Apr 25, 2019)

Strategically when I’m doing touch ups I’m just putting a quick fresh edge back on until I do my full progression again.
If I was in your shoes I’d grab something around 4k.


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## Benuser (Apr 25, 2019)

The Chosera / Naniwa Pro would be an excellent choice. With a Belgian Blue as a cheaper alternative.


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## DisconnectedAG (Apr 25, 2019)

Check our Cleancut.eu they have a 4k splasher that's super nice. Bought it recently and it's lovely to use. Can either be splashed (per their website) or quick-soaked for a couple of minutes (according to the Cleancut guys).


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## Matus (Apr 25, 2019)

My suggestion would be to permasoak all of these stones - then you will have them always ready to be used and would not need to buy another stone(s).


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## rickbern (Apr 25, 2019)

Matus, thanks for the suggestion. That’s what I’ve been doing, I was thinking a splash and go would be a little neater, less water around. I’ll probably just keep doing that, although the chosera seems interesting


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## Matus (Apr 25, 2019)

In that case the Chosera 3000 is definitely a good choice. Also have a look at Shapton Pro 5000 and Shapton Glass.


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## Nife (Apr 25, 2019)

Gesshin 6K diamond plate (diamond 6000 stone kit). In my opinion more convenient than Shapton, and excellent for stropping.


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## Ryndunk (Apr 25, 2019)

Shapton pro 5000 does work for what you are looking for. Feels odd, but convenient and works well.


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## rickbern (Apr 25, 2019)

Nife, that's a great idea. Frees up my existing 6000 to travel across town to my gf's house. The shapton does have the appeal of costing 1/3 but what kind of a knife nut thinks of that?


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## inferno (Apr 26, 2019)

well you can 3 stones instead of 1


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## Keith Sinclair (Apr 26, 2019)

Shapton Pro 2k puts a nice toothy edge for prepping meals.


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## JBroida (Apr 26, 2019)

Nife said:


> Gesshin 6K diamond plate (diamond 6000 stone kit). In my opinion more convenient than Shapton, and excellent for stropping.


its not exactly a diamond plate in the sense that a DMT or atoma is... more like a resinoid based diamond stone


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## Fynbo (Jul 13, 2019)

I find that stropping on leather glued to a piece of wood with diamond paste or similar compound, is enough most of the time. Its a very cheap solution, which is very fast and simple for daily use. 5- 10 strokes on each side and you are good to go.
When a stone is needed I use a JNS 6000 Matukusuyama synthetic, its splash and go.


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## mack (Jul 13, 2019)

Take the dick micro (sounds funny, I know), the best honing rod ever. Ten times better than stropping on leather and a lot easier to use than a stone.

My 2 cents.


Mack.


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## rickbern (Jul 13, 2019)

Didn’t realize I left this thread hanging. I answered this in another thread at the time, but I ended up getting a Shapton pro 5000. Here’s what I said:


I have a full set of stones that I permasoak and I just bought a shapton Kuromaku 5000 to use as a convenient touch up stone.

It’s really easy to live with. It comes in a ventilated plastic case that doubles as a stone holder. I pull it out, put one side of the case on a silicone pot holder so it doesn’t slide around, squirt some water on it, give it a minute to moisten and then give my knives a few strokes to refine the edge. It dries mostly in a few minutes and then goes back in its case where it lives a thoroughly unobtrusive life on an open shelf.


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## mack (Jul 13, 2019)

This is a very good choice! To me it only seems to be too much work to do this during a cooking session. And I would never strop one of my knives, it only gives you a rounded edge. That's why I voted for the dick micro. 

Mack.


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## Ivan Hersh (Jul 13, 2019)

I have been using my 2000 grit when just wishing to do a quick touch up.


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## inferno (Jul 18, 2019)

rickbern said:


> Didn’t realize I left this thread hanging. I answered this in another thread at the time, but I ended up getting a Shapton pro 5000. Here’s what I said:
> 
> 
> I have a full set of stones that I permasoak and I just bought a shapton Kuromaku 5000 to use as a convenient touch up stone.
> ...




Cool!

I think my fav stones for quick and easy touchups is the glass series. because they completely dry in like 5 minutes. and you can get them in almost any grit you want. the 3k is a fav and also the 6k gray "hc".


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## Stratguy (Sep 9, 2019)

@inferno, how would you characterize the difference between the Glass and Pro stones?


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## inferno (Sep 10, 2019)

i think the glass is slower dishing and feel better in general, and are faster. but its quite marginal anyway. you can get any grit you want with glass but not with pro. all of them are good imo.


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## Stratguy (Sep 10, 2019)

Thanks inferno. Was thinking about Pro 1K and 5K for a starter set.


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## inferno (Sep 10, 2019)

sounds good.

are you planning on doing mostly ss or carbon or even powder/hss?

I think for regular ingot ss a 2-3k is a suitable finishing point. 3 will be sharper and 2 be faster. (you can get a 500 for these instead of a 1k to pair with)

powder ss (like r2) and hss can take a 4k edge or so.

carbon can handle up to 12-15k but diminishing returns after 5-6k or so imo.

I think that deciedes what stones to get.


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## M1k3 (Sep 10, 2019)

inferno said:


> sounds good.
> 
> are you planning on doing mostly ss or carbon or even powder/hss?
> 
> ...



I'd personally say SG 500 (preferably the double thick), Pro 2k (SS finisher) and SG 4k HC or Pro 5k (carbon finisher).


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## inferno (Sep 10, 2019)

thats a good kit!


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## Stratguy (Sep 10, 2019)

Thanks. I will be mostly sharpening carbon with some SS, but not powder. I don't really abuse my knives at all and thought I didn't need to go as low as 500. Perhaps I'm wrong?


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## Stratguy (Sep 10, 2019)

M1k3 said:


> I'd personally say SG 500 (preferably the double thick), Pro 2k (SS finisher) and SG 4k HC or Pro 5k (carbon finisher).



Which do you prefer - the SG 4K HC or the Pro 5K?

Also, for this setup, what do you recommend for a flattening plate?


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## M1k3 (Sep 10, 2019)

Stratguy said:


> Which do you prefer - the SG 4K HC or the Pro 5K?
> 
> Also, for this setup, what do you recommend for a flattening plate?


The SG 4k HC gives a better polish. Edge wise, they are really similar.

Atoma or Dia-flat.


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## M1k3 (Sep 10, 2019)

Stratguy said:


> Thanks. I will be mostly sharpening carbon with some SS, but not powder. I don't really abuse my knives at all and thought I didn't need to go as low as 500. Perhaps I'm wrong?



Edge repair or pretty dull. Otherwise just start at the 2k.


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## Stratguy (Sep 10, 2019)

Either one feel better than the other regarding 4K or 5K?


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## M1k3 (Sep 10, 2019)

Stratguy said:


> Either one feel better than the other?


the 4k HC is slightly softer feeling.


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## Stratguy (Sep 10, 2019)

Thank you!


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## Ryndunk (Sep 10, 2019)

I prefer the 4k glass over the 5k pro. 4k glass feels better, leaves a slightly more aggressive edge. 5k pro works well but just feels weird IMO.


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## inferno (Sep 11, 2019)

Stratguy said:


> Thanks. I will be mostly sharpening carbon with some SS, but not powder. I don't really abuse my knives at all and thought I didn't need to go as low as 500. Perhaps I'm wrong?



if you gonna do other peoples knives and also thinning/flattening grinds and chips thats when you want the 500 imo. its much faster than any 1k.

Personally i use coarse diamonds, 220, 500, 1k, 2k, 3k, 4k, 6k, even 12k sometimes depending on what i'm doing. Many people concentrate on the high grit stones. I like to concentrate on the more practical stones. since they get used much more. 

think i'm gonna get a shapton pro 120 and a juuma 800 next. and maybe some coarse silicon carbide ones.


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## Qapla' (Sep 11, 2019)

inferno said:


> if you gonna do other peoples knives and also thinning/flattening grinds and chips thats when you want the 500 imo. its much faster than any 1k.
> 
> Personally i use coarse diamonds, 220, 500, 1k, 2k, 3k, 4k, 6k, even 12k sometimes depending on what i'm doing. Many people concentrate on the high grit stones. I like to concentrate on the more practical stones. since they get used much more.
> 
> think i'm gonna get a shapton pro 120 and a juuma 800 next. and maybe some coarse silicon carbide ones.



I have the Shapton Pro 120. I used it to replace my Atoma for cases of all-out grinding. It's not quite as extreme in cut-depth as an Atoma, though, but abrasive dulling isn't going to be a permanent problem with a stone the way it would be with a diamond-plate. It abrades metal very quickly, but also (clogs? loads? not sure what the jargon word is) up with metal quickly, so I've had to resurface mine (using the Atoma 140) several times over the course of honbazuke'ing single-bevel knives. It dries quickly enough, even when repeatedly rinsed during the course of a longer sharpening session.

I don't have much to compare it to, though, as I only have that one stone of that type and grit. Thus I can't really say if it's a "good" choice or "poor" choice in its class. I'm glad I have it, as I've found it useful for its purpose. I now reserve my Atoma 140 only for stone-flattening.

Disclosure: I am a home-user of no especial skill.


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## kayman67 (Sep 11, 2019)

Stratguy said:


> Thanks. I will be mostly sharpening carbon with some SS, but not powder. I don't really abuse my knives at all and thought I didn't need to go as low as 500. Perhaps I'm wrong?



The better you develop your edges and understand how they evolve, the lesser the need for maintenance on coarser stones and even for stones if you have a good stropping routine. You need a bit of trial and error just to find out what works best for you.
Keep in mind that stropping is a pro active approach.


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