# Naniwa akamon 1k extra large



## K-Fed (Feb 5, 2012)

I'm in the market for a new coarse and med stones as my beston 500 and bester 1.2k are nearing the end of their lives and was wondering how this naniwa compares to the bester. I do a considerable amount of sharpening ( between my knives, co-workers knives, and other chefs, cooks in the area ) and feel the extra thickness/ size of the stone may be benifical.


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## ptolemy (Feb 5, 2012)

Naniwa line is nice overall. I have not heard anything negative about it. I use a similar one before moving on to 'green brick'


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## Benuser (Feb 6, 2012)

If you have to deal with very different steels the Chosera 800 may be another option. The real grit is about J1200. Interesting because of its versatility. You may use it as a one-and-only with some stainless steels, fix little repairs, even set a bevel. All by varying pressure, mud and soaking. It's quite a hard stone though, and some will complain about what they call feedback - or lack of it. I don't.


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## heirkb (Feb 6, 2012)

I can't comment on a lot of the other stones out there, but I really like my Gesshin 2k. It cuts fast, doesn't dish very much, leaves a good edge.


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## aser (Feb 9, 2012)

I think of all the 1k's I've used (Chosera, Bester 1200, Masahiro), this is my favourite. With bester 1200 being hardest, chosera slightly softer and then this red brick slightly softer than the Chosera.

It creates a great slurry very quickly, and will stay pretty flat. Big fan, alas, I don't have one anymore, currently with a Bester 1200.


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## K-Fed (Feb 9, 2012)

I ended up picking one of these from from jon, along with one of the new lapping plates he's now carrying. I'm going to bring the dmt to work and leave it there. There are a couple guys with stones at work and nothing to flatten them with so I'm sure it will be appreciated. Super excited about the stone though. I love getting a feel for a new stone with different steels. It's like a familiar, yet new experience every time I pick up a new stone.


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## K-Fed (Feb 14, 2012)

Well. I've had a bit of time to play with this stone on several different stainless and carbon steels so here goes a quick review. 

Naniwa Akamon 1000 extra large:

*Hardness*- The hardness of this stone seems to be about on par with other 1000 grit stones that I've used. It has that nice ceramic like ring to it if you flick it when it's dry. Very similar to the bester 1200 if not a touch softer as stated before. It doesn't dish very quickly, also fairly similar to the bester in this respect.

*Cutting speed*- It cuts quickly enough, removing the scratches from my beston very well.

*Scratch pattern*- This is something that I really really like here. The scratch pattern off this stone seems to me to be just as fine as my bester 1200, yet far more consistent. I'm not sure if it's simply a matter of more consistent sized abrasive particles ( my first guess ), or the shape, or some combination of the two. I love the edge this stone leaves for my softer steel knives. I just sharpened two miyabi 5000 gyutos that are going to be gifted to a couple of dishwashers that have begun to work their way out of the pit into the kitchen and have expressed a desire to learn some new skills. They easily shaved after the Akamon and a little stropping on leather with an assortment of abrasive sprays.

*Color*- Well, it's not the big red brick for nothing. ;-), but similarly to dave when he reviewed this stone I do like the greater contrast of the white bester. Gives me a better visual que to how much metal is being removed, though not a huge deal to me as I like to stop and check my work often.

*Size*- Oooooh the size of this thing. This thing is a beast. before seeing it first hand I knew it would be big, but [email protected]*n. Awesome. I love having the surface area this offers to sharpen on. I wish naniwa would make a full range of stones this size, or do they? The akamon is large enough you could easily sharpen on all sides of this stone. I've included a couple pictures to give everyone a better reference as to just how big this thing is.

Big daddy akamon with what's left of my beston 500:











*Overall*- It's a big work horse of a stone that simply put gets the job done and does it well. I've got no real complaints about this stone except it's going to make my sharpening tool box/ kit, waaaaay more heavy ;-). I would expect this thing to last far into my future, and will enjoy using it for years to come. 

P.S.- the stone came beautifully wrapped in black tissue paper sealed off with an awesome JKI sticker along with a hand written leter from Sara. I've loved this little personal touch and have saved every letter I've gotten. Sometimes Jon will write one too ;-).


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## mainaman (Feb 14, 2012)

Can you comment how similar is this stone to King 1k in performance?
Thanks


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## K-Fed (Feb 14, 2012)

The only king 1k that I've used was the one on the cheapish combo stone. It's pretty much the same in color but it the naniwa feels a little softer and cuts considerably more quickly.


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## Ontravelling (Feb 15, 2012)

That thing is huge! Thanks for the review.


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