# Sharpening stone for SLD steel?



## nexus1935 (Feb 24, 2021)

I have Konosuke Sumiiro and Masashi knives in SLD steel. Given the high hardness of SLD (HRC 65), are there certain stones that work better than others? I'll just be doing maintenance sharpening, no major work/repairs needed. Thanks!


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## M1k3 (Feb 24, 2021)

Nothing fancy needed. Shapton, Naniwa, suehiro, etc. will work.


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## Kitchen-Samurai (Feb 24, 2021)

I second that. Nothing special needed, I actually quite like SLD so far.


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## branwell (Feb 24, 2021)

I like SLD a lot. Reading the documentation from its manufacture Hitachi, it's basically a refined version of D2 and utilizes Chromium Carbide to give it wear resistance. While it does have small amounts of Vanadium, the steel is setup for the Vanadium to refine the grin structure increasing toughness as opposed to creating Vanadium Carbide. Bottom line, as M1K3 and Kitchen-Samurai have said, it doesn't have any special needs re sharpening.


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## nexus1935 (Feb 24, 2021)

Great, thank you all for the responses!


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## WiriWiri (Feb 24, 2021)

Would agree all round, albeit with the general proviso to upgrade from the basic ranges if possible, particularly if you‘re starting out or are tempted by harder steels in future,

It‘s much easier for experienced sharpeners to cope with slow-cutting and terrible feeling stones imo. I’m not proud to admit that I was entirely disheartened by my apparent lack of progress when I started sharpening many, many years ago. With hindsight I know I wasn‘t doing much generally wrong, but needed the confidence to keep going - it really was the stones (mostly).

How do you find the Sumiiro btw? I’ve almost justified myself into buying yet another Gyuto and this ticks most of the boxes (240, low maintenance, midweight, good grind), but doesn’t quite clear all of the torturous imaginary hurdles I keep putting up in the vain hope of preventing more purchases. Interested to find out more


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## nexus1935 (Feb 24, 2021)

WiriWiri said:


> Would agree all round, albeit with the general proviso to upgrade from the basic ranges if possible, particularly if you‘re starting out or are tempted by harder steels in future,
> 
> It‘s much easier for experienced sharpeners to cope with slow-cutting and terrible feeling stones imo. I’m not proud to admit that I was entirely disheartened by my apparent lack of progress when I started sharpening many, many years ago. With hindsight I know I wasn‘t doing much generally wrong, but needed the confidence to keep going - it really was the stones (mostly).
> 
> How do you find the Sumiiro btw? I’ve almost justified myself into buying yet another Gyuto and this ticks most of the boxes (240, low maintenance, midweight, good grind), but doesn’t quite clear all of the torturous imaginary hurdles I keep putting up in the vain hope of preventing more purchases. Interested to find out more



I'm by no means experienced, but have been able to sharpen my other stainless (R2, ginsan, etc) to satisfactory levels of sharpness. I certainly want more practice, and the advice here gives me confidence that the stones I have are good enough for SLD too, just a matter of building my skills now.

I quite like the Sumiiro - the mirror polish near the edge creates a very smooth cutting feel that just glides through, and yet the grind and kurouchi nashiji texture avoid most of the stiction problem of mirror-finish knives. The SLD behaves just like stainless as well. Overall it's a great combination (and looks fantastic in my opinion). No idea on how it sharpens though, which I'll soon try with the advice here on stones.


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## WiriWiri (Feb 24, 2021)

Thanks for taking the time to pen a few thoughts on the Sumiiro - very much appreciated. Not sure I can truly convince myself that a slightly larger Sanjo blade is the justified priority, but all my other 240s are carbon and it sure is pretty. And it’s temptingly available over here for a change, and I’m impatient and weak

Reckon you‘ll be absolutely fine with SLD given your success with R2. SLD’s probably easier than Ginsan if anything, albeit a different feel. My initial sharpening fails were in a very different and primitive era, when people honestly believed that the badly translated bit of A4 (with a couple of mysteriously useless line drawings) included with the stone was enough to get started. I was impatient back then too


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## zizirex (Feb 25, 2021)

Don't expect too much of those steel. I have both of those knives. I found Shapton 2K with finer Nagura slurry gives the best edge overall. I tried on Naniwa Pro 3k, Aizu, Suehiro Ouka 3k and Morihei 6k. It works but it doesn't hold the toothiness long enough. once the toothiness is gone, you might need to strop it in plain leather to give it back. The Shapton Pro 2k gives the longest toothiness yet a pretty refined edge.


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## big D (Feb 25, 2021)

I own r2, yoshikanes sld (whichever flavor of sld that is), both of supposed HRC 63-64. I am inclined to say off the top of my head the R2 takes a bit more time on the stones to get an edge. I own shapton glass 1K(700/800g) and 4K and kitiyama 8K. Used them all but my preferences are less than 4K for myself. I am not a stropper but I know a number of people (verbally), which enjoy a much finer edge 6-8K then stropped with spray/goop of a substantially higher grit/grits strop/strops, on a very regular and often basis. Claim they keep an extremely sharp edge going for an very long time.
D.
(PS- My daughter very much likes her Masashi Nakiri...thank you)


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## madmotts (Feb 25, 2021)

Yep. Pile on here. I have a couple of Masashi SLD and a Nihei SLD and use synthetics. It takes a little more effort than carbon (for me). Haven’t done anything requiring below my chosera 1k tho.

Reminds me to do a touch up on them. For whatever reason they don’t get the love my carbons do.


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## HumbleHomeCook (Feb 25, 2021)

A little off topic, but how is the chippiness of SLD at 64-65Rc? I realize geometry plays a key role here so just asking for "in generals"?

My only SLD blade is at 60Rc and is fine so curious about the higher hardness.


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## big D (Feb 25, 2021)

@HumbleHomeCo My yoshikane is a petty which is very thin. Primarily my wife uses it and it chipped out, but she is a bit hard on knives. I ended up going as a guess around 25dps with it for her. The R2 seems to be chippier to me than the 63-64 hrc sld. It is a nice steel.
D


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## TSF415 (Feb 25, 2021)

I have a massed produced knife in SLD and its easy to sharpen. A sp2k edge on it is scary scarp in a different way than other steels, at a high grit, are scary sharp. It just tears thru human flesh (my cook got stitches) and keeps a work edge for a long time.

I momentarily had a chef working with me who had one of the Konosuke, which I think are the same. He didn't know what the hell he was doing with his knives and behind the edge was rippled from him slamming the thing against a honing rod. Surprising the actual edge was in decent shape for how poorly it was treated, so I assume its fairly tough.


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## nexus1935 (Feb 26, 2021)

zizirex said:


> Don't expect too much of those steel. I have both of those knives. I found Shapton 2K with finer Nagura slurry gives the best edge overall. I tried on Naniwa Pro 3k, Aizu, Suehiro Ouka 3k and Morihei 6k. It works but it doesn't hold the toothiness long enough. once the toothiness is gone, you might need to strop it in plain leather to give it back. The Shapton Pro 2k gives the longest toothiness yet a pretty refined edge.





TSF415 said:


> I have a massed produced knife in SLD and its easy to sharpen. A sp2k edge on it is scary scarp in a different way than other steels, at a high grit, are scary sharp. It just tears thru human flesh (my cook got stitches) and keeps a work edge for a long time.


Thanks for the feedback on the variety of stones - this sounds like enough reason for me (or I've just been needing an excuse?) to pick up a Shapton Pro 2K and try it out on the SLD's!


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## nexus1935 (Feb 26, 2021)

big D said:


> I own r2, yoshikanes sld (whichever flavor of sld that is), both of supposed HRC 63-64. I am inclined to say off the top of my head the R2 takes a bit more time on the stones to get an edge. I own shapton glass 1K(700/800g) and 4K and kitiyama 8K. Used them all but my preferences are less than 4K for myself. I am not a stropper but I know a number of people (verbally), which enjoy a much finer edge 6-8K then stropped with spray/goop of a substantially higher grit/grits strop/strops, on a very regular and often basis. Claim they keep an extremely sharp edge going for an very long time.
> D.
> (PS- My daughter very much likes her Masashi Nakiri...thank you)


Awesome to hear the nakiri worked out @big D !


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## nexus1935 (Feb 26, 2021)

HumbleHomeCook said:


> A little off topic, but how is the chippiness of SLD at 64-65Rc? I realize geometry plays a key role here so just asking for "in generals"?
> 
> My only SLD blade is at 60Rc and is fine so curious about the higher hardness.


I've never chipped any of my knives before, sorry can't be of much help here to compare between the steels. Hopefully some others can chime in!


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## rmrf (Feb 26, 2021)

nexus1935 said:


> I've never chipped any of my knives before, sorry can't be of much help here to compare between the steels. Hopefully some others can chime in!


The closest I've ever gotten is micro chipping on my cheap stainless beater that I use to cut pizza and turkey bones. Either I need to start sharpening at more acute angles or I need to start harder cutting bones 

Oh wait! I'm wrong! I did put micro chips into my yoshikane skd! I was slicing jamon with my gyuto because I don't have a suji. I was an idiot and couldn't tell I was getting close to the bone so I started shaving off slices with bone. I was very confused why the jamon got slightly harder all of a sudden and why my knife was skipping.  The little chips were clear when drying the knife and came out on a 2k without a problem.


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## TSF415 (Feb 26, 2021)

Sp2k is cheap on Amazon. For some reason it’s sold for cheaper than the rest


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## zizirex (Feb 26, 2021)

nexus1935 said:


> Thanks for the feedback on the variety of stones - this sounds like enough reason for me (or I've just been needing an excuse?) to pick up a Shapton Pro 2K and try it out on the SLD's!


Yeah, it does not hold its toothiness that well, unlike SG2/R2 or SKD-12. It's still sharp but lacks "je ne sai quoi".


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## henkle (Feb 26, 2021)

Related question (I think). When I touch up strop my Wakui shirogami gyuto I can detect a noticeable return in sharpness. But I'm wondering if stropping my Kurosaki R2 bunka is actually doing much given the higher HRC of R2? Because the feel of cutting with the bunka is different anyway (very cool but more of a glide than a slice like the shiorgami) I'm wondering if anything is really happening to the edge of the harder steel.


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## applepieforbreakfast (Feb 26, 2021)

henkle said:


> Related question (I think). When I touch up strop my Wakui shirogami gyuto I can detect a noticeable return in sharpness. But I'm wondering if stropping my Kurosaki R2 bunka is actually doing much given the higher HRC of R2? Because the feel of cutting with the bunka is different anyway (very cool but more of a glide than a slice like the shiorgami) I'm wondering if anything is really happening to the edge of the harder steel.



Bare strop or pasted with diamond compound?


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## inferno (Feb 26, 2021)

TSF415 said:


> Sp2k is cheap on Amazon. For some reason it’s sold for cheaper than the rest



its the gateway drug.


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## nexus1935 (Feb 26, 2021)

TSF415 said:


> Sp2k is cheap on Amazon. For some reason it’s sold for cheaper than the rest


Thanks for the tip! Just had to pick one up at that price!


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## inferno (Feb 26, 2021)

its a really really good stone


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## big D (Feb 26, 2021)

What are the differences between the Shapton pro and the glass 2000?
Cutting edge sharpness.
Cutting speed.
Which has more consistent scratch pattern.
Difference in contrast.
Ease to feel on when on angle.
Release of abrasive.
Would appreciate anything you would care to divulge.
Thanks 
D


inferno said:


> its a really really good stone


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## inferno (Feb 26, 2021)

short answer: almost nothing. and both seems to be true 2k stones.

speed is almost the same. on all steels.

glass is high density resinoid stone, pro is magnesia. both splash and go.

none of them release any noticable amount of abrasive. 

you can get a completely scratch free kasumi finish with high contrast of the 2k pro. tried this like 2 days ago. super awesome. 
the glass stones can either remove all contrast or make it good. the pro is better for this. easier to use, same result over and over.

the glass 2k is the creamiest best feeling shapton imo. the pro 2k is also creamy but in a totally other way. the pro is not really creamy at all, but in the pro series it is. it just cuts and feels good while doing it. you feel that you are getting work done. and it feels good while doing it. the glass is maybe a bit more slippery. yet its still grabby and aggressive. i have both the glass and the pro 2k and also the naniwa pro2k and the pink bester 2k and have owned the juuma 2k for a while

juuma and bester feels almost the same. soakers that dont release any abrasive, these are also similar to the naniwa hibiki line. rock hard. no contrast.

pro and glass, true splash and go, dries fast, less than 1h. feels good enough. very fast cutters. 2k finish. 

naniwa pro starts at 2k then gets finer to maybe 3k finish. takes a few h to dry completely. some say the naniwas feel better, i'd say its about what you like. easy as that. the naniwa 2k is also very good. and its also happens to produce a totally scratch free kasumi finish. basically its different. but just as good. these ones can crack though. 

out of the glass 2k, pro2k and pro 2k.  you cant go wrong.

best for polishing and kasumi imo is the naniwa pro 2k, then shapton pro 2k. glass can completely remove all contrast so.
otherwise i feel they are very equal. 

all stones are equal. but some are more equal than others.


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## inferno (Feb 26, 2021)

out of all shapton stones. i think the pro 2k and the glass 3k and 4k is the best ones. generally. the rest is very good but these are exceptional.


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## henkle (Feb 26, 2021)

applepieforbreakfast said:


> Bare strop or pasted with diamond compound?


Bare


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## big D (Feb 26, 2021)

@inferno Thank you very much for the details.
D


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## daveb (Feb 26, 2021)

Most significant difference between the 2K pro and the glass is tha glass will fit into the Field Holder.


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## M1k3 (Feb 27, 2021)

daveb said:


> Most significant difference between the 2K pro and the glass is tha glass will fit into the Field Holder.


Alternatively, 2 glass stones fit in a pro holder.


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## ModRQC (Feb 27, 2021)

zizirex said:


> "je ne sai*s* quoi".



FTFY. Sorry - unprofessional deformation.


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## ModRQC (Feb 27, 2021)

BTW, have we reached a second page on a stone to sharpen SLD?


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## zizirex (Feb 27, 2021)

ModRQC said:


> FTFY. Sorry - unprofessional deformation.


Ah, thanks.. I should've asked my mom to teach me some French or maybe move to the Right (Better) side of a country I guess.


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## ModRQC (Feb 27, 2021)

zizirex said:


> Ah, thanks.. I should've asked my mom to teach me some French or maybe move to the Right (Better) side of a country I guess.



Lol don’t take it harsh... french is basically useless but with some « cuisine » specifics and poetry no one reads. As I said unprofessional deformation - I’m a student of French literature. Basically I’m useless too but can add an « s » where it fits.


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