# The "Green Brick", is it really "all that"?



## Paradox (Aug 23, 2013)

The "Green Brick", is it really "all that"? Seeing many raves about this stone. I have a Gesshin 2k and a Shapton Pro 2k already, is there still room for one of these guys in my line up?


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## bahamaroot (Aug 23, 2013)

I sold my Pro 2k to buy this stone because of all the rave. I was not disappointed.


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## Brad Gibson (Aug 23, 2013)

i think its awesome. it leaves a really toothy edge that I enjoy on my gyutos.


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## chinacats (Aug 23, 2013)

I hated mine. It seemed to work better on cheap stainless and soft (European) carbon. I guess it just depends on what you like. I get better bite from a 5k Gesshin.


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## Dave Martell (Aug 23, 2013)

chinacats said:


> I hated mine. It seemed to work better on cheap stainless and soft (European) carbon. I guess it just depends on what you like.




That is exactly how I felt about it. Lots of people seem to like it a lot though so I guess we all have different tastes.


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## labor of love (Aug 23, 2013)

its a good stone if youre on a budget. i didnt like mine but like brad said it does leave a nice toothy edge. and it makes quick work of sharpening stainless.


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## mhlee (Aug 23, 2013)

chinacats said:


> I hated mine. It seemed to work better on cheap stainless and soft (European) carbon. I guess it just depends on what you like. I get better bite from a 5k Gesshin.



+2 I've really only used this on softer stainless, for which it works well. However, it has a strange feel, gouges SUPER easy, dishes quickly and has strange feedback.


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## Ruso (Aug 23, 2013)

It's okay stone. I do not like that it very easy to gouge as mhlee points out, if you got a little wobble you got a gouge. On a bright side it polish pretty well and leaves nice shiny finish.
I am actually thinking in getting Gesshin or Shapton as a substitute.


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## convis (Aug 23, 2013)

I use it jumping from a low grit on soft stainless. Sometimes use it to clean up scratches after thinning on soft stainless.
I don't like anything else about it.


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## NO ChoP! (Aug 23, 2013)

Although I sold mine to move on to a splash and go set up, I would say it's a great touch up stone, as it has a great balance of light cutting ability and polish.


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## labor of love (Aug 24, 2013)

if green bricks are still $50 new i think its a good value. definitely a good stone for community use at work, its thick and will have a long life. but seriously, it gouges so easily. you really have to be careful when using it.


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## ecchef (Aug 24, 2013)

mhlee said:


> .... However, it has a strange feel, gouges SUPER easy, dishes quickly and has strange feedback.



That's a deal breaker for me.


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## Noodle Soup (Aug 24, 2013)

I agree with the gouges very easy comment. I have to do major reflattening on mine fairly often to correct that. I like the stone so that isn't the end of the world for me but you better have a stone flattener handy if you are going to use one.


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## mhlee (Aug 25, 2013)

I just spent about 45 minutes using the Green Brick this morning on two carbon steel knives that I have: a carbon steel Dexter Chinese Cleaver and my Kanehisa carbon steel 240 yanagiba. I then used it again on my Global G-2 and Sakai Takayuki Inox 120 petty.

I can't recommend this stone _*unless*_ you're primarily sharpening softer stainless steels. All of the feel that I like with carbon steel knives is lost on this stone. It feels less like a stone and more like putty. The feedback and feel are worse than I remembered. 

It provides a decent edge, a relatively nice polish on carbon steel knives, but it dishes and gouges super easy, and for that reason, it's very difficult to sharpen the tip of a knife without gouging the stone. If you sharpen sectionally with perpendicular strokes with the knife nearly horizontal and the stone vertical, it's ok; if you use any kind of sweeping motion, or angle your knife in any manner, you will probably gouge the stone. You'll have to be very careful if you sharpen a heavier knife on this, IMHO, because of the weight of larger knives. In addition, it loads up my Atoma 140 like crazy when flattening. 

But, for softer stainless, it provides a good edge, and decent polish more than other stones that I've used, bad feel and feedback aside.


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## Mrmnms (Aug 25, 2013)

The stone is not for folks with heavy hands and will punish you for not paying attention. Not for a casual user but is a great "stepping" stone


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## Sam Cro (Aug 25, 2013)

I used mine one time and sold it IMHO there are much better grit stones for the money and vets that use stones all the time .

Sam


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## bahamaroot (Aug 25, 2013)

It's obviously a personal preference thing but I love mine for stainless and carbons. I have no trouble at all with gouging, I must hold a pretty good angle.


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## toddnmd (Aug 26, 2013)

Okay, so I'm hearing some folks recommend it for softer stainless knives, while others don't.

Is there another more widely supported recommendation for softer stainless knives or softer carbons (like Sabatier or CCK cleaver)?


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## franzb69 (Aug 26, 2013)

i don't really like soft stones, they cut too long. just got used to fast cutting stones.


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