# Trouble with Naniwa Super Stone 8.000



## Grunde (Dec 16, 2013)

Hi everybody. 
My first post here ever, so please redirect me if this same question is answered elsewhere.

For the last couple of years I've been trying to dive into the field of japanese knife sharpening, aquiring three Shapton stones 140, 1000 and 3000 grit, and a Naniwa Super Stone 8000 (yeah the setup is not ideal, I know).

This has worked pretty well, exept for the Naniwa stone. I'm seriously starting to have doubts about how good it is in the first place.

It's almost impossible to create any slurry on it. More often the surface of the stone just gets a black shiny layer from the carbon steel which seem to just seal the surface permanently. 
I thought maybe the stone had some layer of resin or something which needed to be removed, but the same thing ocurred after taking the original surface off with a flattening stone. 
It was aquired to give my deba a mirror finish. Now it looks like it's smeared in vaseline instead.

Any ideas?


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## NO ChoP! (Dec 16, 2013)

Nothing wrong with that line-up. I use GS and SS stones for the ease of splash and go, price and effectiveness. I have a 10k SS, and it does clog much like the Shapton 8k and 16k GS. Just use your 1k or 3k to work up a good mud, and to keep it clean. The SS line is great at polishing, kinda slow for burr formation. The 8k should do an OK job with your deba, bit I haven't used that stone in particular, and even within a brand line, stones can act very different.


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## Grunde (Dec 17, 2013)

Thanks NoChop. 
Say, what exactly do you mean by splash and go? Aren't all waterstones supposed to be soaked first? In that case, this concept is new to me. 

The only thing wrong with the setup, according to me, is that I should ideally have a stone between 140 and 1k. Often I can see lines from the coarsest stone in the final finish, which confirms my suspicions that it's eating away too much metal too fast.I'd also like a 5k stone to ease the polishing process.

Anyway. Do you mean I should use the 1k or 3k as a nagura stone to make slurry. I would think that would only deposit coarser grains on the 8k which would spoil the polishing effect. I'm guessing here, but have you tried this?

Im still curious if anybody else have the same problem on similar stones. It seems like rust and metal particles just cake up the surface with a black layer rendering the stone useless. As far as I'm able to tell at least.
I'll see if I can upload a picture.

Grunde


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## Dusty (Dec 17, 2013)

The SS 8k definitely benefits from a brief soak. As far as the clogging goes, working up a slurry like Chris said can help (I use a small diamond plate for this) also with that particular stone, I've found using very light pressure can help as well.


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## ChuckTheButcher (Dec 17, 2013)

The naniwa's both super stone and chosera claim to be splash and go but benifit from a brief soaking. Shapton on the other hand are splash and go. You should not soak them. Whetstones are broken into two caragories, slash n go and stones that need to be soaked. Though you could break it down more in these caragories. Slash n go's tend to be ceramic. They don't need to be soaked. In fact shaptons can be ruined from soaking they will get soft then eventually dissolve. That is if you are using the pro or glass lines. I don't know about their old lines like the m15. I personally am not a big fan of the SS line with the exception of the 10k. I really like the chosera line but they are expensive.


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## tripleq (Dec 17, 2013)

I don't have that problem with the 8k but for mirror polishing I usually go to it after a 6k stone. Try keeping a nagura close by and give the stone a quick going over when you notice this happening. It will likely improve as you work the bigger scratches out.


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## Grunde (Dec 18, 2013)

Thanks a bunch guys!
That's really good information.
That's exactly what I needed to hear. 

Eager to learn more. Do you know any good resources on the net? Japanese sharpening, waterstone guide, good places to buy etc.? 
I bought mine from BestTools so far, but word is they are kinda pricey. Lots of cool stuff though.

Grunde


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## ChuckTheButcher (Dec 18, 2013)

Some of the venders on the forum sell stones. Dave Martell at jks has a wide selection and he only sells stones he uses which is nice. Also maxim from JNS and Jon from JKI both have their own lines of stones that I hear are awesome.


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## Grunde (Jan 2, 2014)

Hi, and thanks, bit I think I'll stick with the japanese brands for now for consistency while I get familiar with the art of proper knife sharpening. When I go pro maybe I'll check out some other product lines.

Besides, I guess most of the vendors are US-based, and i know from experience the shipping costs can be a bit steep.

But thanks anyway.


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## WildBoar (Jan 2, 2014)

Where do you live? Maxim is in Europe; Jon and Dave M are in the US. Maxim also gets a great selection of natural stones.


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## Grunde (Jan 16, 2014)

Hi. I'm in Norway actually.
Seems like there's a lot of intriguing producers out there. I'll make sure to check them out at some point. I just thought I'd destroy a couple of generic stones first, before I move on to the next level. These I don't have to worry about too much.
Besides, everybody hates to see an amateur with expensive equipment he doesn't know how to use.


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## erikz (Jan 17, 2014)

Maksim is the way to go for Europe based knife addicts. I'm preparing to buy some of his JNS synthetic stones myself, you can't beat that price when importing quality stuff from the US or Japan to be hones; EU customs tend to screw you over with lots of taxes and there's nothing you can do about it really.


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## Grunde (Mar 30, 2014)

Thanks a bunch for pointers and advices everybody. 
I bought my stones from Dieter Schmidts Fine-tools, but he's gotten a bad rap from several people I've tlked to afterwards. Didn't quite catch what they were unhappy about thoug. Looks like a decent store from what I can see, albeit maybe a bit pricey.
G


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