# Show Your Newest Sharpening Gear



## HumbleHomeCook

We have a thread for our newest knives and our newest kitchen gear, but I don't see one for our newest sharpening gear. Let's change that!

I can't offer any pics just now but I do have a new lapping stone coming from @SolidSnake03 and a new strop inbound. Both of which should be here Friday or Saturday.

That said, what's your latest sharpening related gear? Please share.


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## HumbleHomeCook

Alright, alright, I'll go first.  

This just in and I'm stoked! NanoHone NL4 "course" lapping plate. Forum friend @SolidSnake03 is well established as a crazy man who is afflicted with a low-pricing syndrome and this time I was able to take advantage of him...er... the situation. 

I'd already done some work earlier and knowing this was out for delivery I left my stuff setup just waiting for it to get here. And when it did, I was flattening a Shapton Glass 500 fifteen minutes later. Wow! Soooooo nice! I've been using an 80grit diamond plate and I think this is supposed to be around 200-240 so it's a little slower but no big deal and it works so much better. Smooth, no sticking, and very even surface.

No, it is not 3" but I'm not sure I see that being an issue at all.







I've wanted one of these for a long time but the retail price always kept me away. At the price I got this, it's a no-brainer but at retail? I'll need to use it a bit more but it sure is nice.


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## SolidSnake03

After cycling through so many stones, soakers, splash and go, diamonds, Vitrified diamonds etc… I came back to these and bought this set again. After using a unknown amount (it’s a lot….a lot a lot) of soakers, splash and go, Diamond plates, Vitrified Diamond and more I wanted to try Chosera’s again. Could have just stopped with these a long time ago, probably should have but I’d have learned a lot less. That said my Vitrified Diamond stuff isn’t going anywhere anytime soon either


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## dafox

SolidSnake03 said:


> View attachment 137111
> 
> After cycling through so many stones, soakers, splash and go, diamonds, Vitrified diamonds etc… I came back to these and bought this set again. After using a unknown amount (it’s a lot….a lot a lot) of soakers, splash and go, Diamond plates, Vitrified Diamond and more I wanted to try Chosera’s again. Could have just stopped with these a long time ago, probably should have but I’d have learned a lot less. That said my Vitrified Diamond stuff isn’t going anywhere anytime soon either


1K, 3K, 8 K?


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## SolidSnake03

You got it! 1k, 3k and 8k Snow White. Don’t know if the 8k is technically a Chosera (don’t think it is) but I count it as one since it goes along so well with them


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## Bart.s

My most recent buys:








Shapton Pro 220, needed a solid rough stone. King Deluxe 800 Wider, well, at some point you have to try a King Deluxe, right? JNS red aoto and kiita fingerstones during the last JNS sale.

Basically bought as a kasumi progression, pretty quickly found out that I suck at it and need a lot more time practicing. Hope to get there eventually =).


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## cotedupy

I got a new stone-table-cupboard thing for ‘my end of the kitchen’ the other day .


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## adam92

SolidSnake03 said:


> You got it! 1k, 3k and 8k Snow White. Don’t know if the 8k is technically a Chosera (don’t think it is) but I count it as one since it goes along so well with them


Do you feel the edge 8k chosera better or snow white


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## childermass

After using a small handheld Finnish Wästikivi natural stone for quick touchups in my kitchen for many years now I decided to try one of their long sharpening sticks.
Not quite sure which one to get I decided to take two different ones and give them a try side by side.










Being Phyllite these are basically dual grit depending on the side you use.
I am planning to keep them around for a few weeks to decide which one suits me better and then send the other one on a passaround for others to try this little known but very pleasant natural stone if there is enough interest.


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## coxhaus

I just recieved my new Blade Grinding Attachment for my Worksharp Ken Onion sharpener. This will allow me to sharpen angles down to 10 degrees which I think will work for my sushi knife. I also hope it will work better stropping as I am still working the process out for me.


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## rickbern

coxhaus said:


> I just recieved my new Blade Grinding Attachment for my Worksharp Ken Onion sharpener. This will allow me to sharpen angles down to 10 degrees which I think will work for my sushi knife. I also hope it will work better stropping as I am still working the process out for me.
> 
> View attachment 137233


Love to hear what you think of it


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## SolidSnake03

adam92 said:


> Do you feel the edge 8k chosera better or snow white



Feels like a Chosera to me haha! But really, it’s got similar branding to the Chosera line but it isn’t listed as a Chosera so to speak. I like it a lot better than the Chosera 5k and the 10k. To me the ideal Chosera set is 400, 1k, 3k than Snow White 8k. Or if you want less stones 800 and 3k is an excellent set as well. The 800 is a bit slow depending how much metal you want to remove compared to the 400 but none of the Chosera stones are really metal eaters anyhow.


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## adam92

SolidSnake03 said:


> Feels like a Chosera to me haha! But really, it’s got similar branding to the Chosera line but it isn’t listed as a Chosera so to speak. I like it a lot better than the Chosera 5k and the 10k. To me the ideal Chosera set is 400, 1k, 3k than Snow White 8k. Or if you want less stones 800 and 3k is an excellent set as well. The 800 is a bit slow depending how much metal you want to remove compared to the 400 but none of the Chosera stones are really metal eaters anyhow.


I thought chosera cutting speed is good. My currently 1k whetstone is SG, cerax & king hyper. The reason I brought hyper standard version because I follow your old thread, heard very nice review. & I love it so much


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## SolidSnake03

adam92 said:


> I thought chosera cutting speed is good. My currently 1k whetstone is SG, cerax & king hyper. The reason I brought hyper standard version because I follow your old thread, heard very nice review. & I love it so much


So glad you love the Hyper! They are still my favorite soakers by far (The Hyper 1k and 2k). To clarify a bit further, I think the Chosera are fairly fast but not a metal eating stone like the Sigma Power ii stuff or the lower grit Shaptons. That said you are right that they are fast just not “oh man this is eating my knife” fast. Admittedly my perspective is also skewed by Vitrified Diamond stuff.


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## childermass

The next thing arrived today 

Big natural combo Coticule/Rouge du Salm.













Munetoshi 210mm Gyuto for scale…



The Coticule side is very hard and it will take a while to get it flat towards all corners. I tried it quickly and to my great pleasure black slurry appeared almost instantly only touching the edge of a test knife.
The Rouge side is quite soft and very creamy and a little slower.
Looking forward to properly try it on a knife I actually use in the kitchen.


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## adam92

SolidSnake03 said:


> So glad you love the Hyper! They are still my favorite soakers by far (The Hyper 1k and 2k). To clarify a bit further, I think the Chosera are fairly fast but not a metal eating stone like the Sigma Power ii stuff or the lower grit Shaptons. That said you are right that they are fast just not “oh man this is eating my knife” fast. Admittedly my perspective is also skewed by Vitrified Diamond stuff.


After reading this, I gonna try sigma IK one day for sharpen crappy stainless knife.


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## M1k3

adam92 said:


> After reading this, I gonna try sigma IK one day for sharpen crappy stainless knife.


Venev diamond stones work wonders on cheap stainless.


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## Qapla'

adam92 said:


> Do you feel the edge 8k chosera better or snow white


_Is_ there in fact a Chosera 8k?


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## HumbleHomeCook

I should be showing off my new strop but once again, FedEx sucks and my package has been sitting for days, literally just a few miles from my door. Customer No-help couldn't even figure out if I could go pick it up.


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## Dominick Maone

4 and 6k ice bears, Cerax 3k, kitayama 8k, arashiyama 6k.


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## Rangen

SolidSnake03 said:


> So glad you love the Hyper! They are still my favorite soakers by far (The Hyper 1k and 2k). To clarify a bit further, I think the Chosera are fairly fast but not a metal eating stone like the Sigma Power ii stuff or the lower grit Shaptons. That said you are right that they are fast just not “oh man this is eating my knife” fast. Admittedly my perspective is also skewed by Vitrified Diamond stuff.



I am curious whether, in making that comparison, you have tried the Naniwa Hibiki stones.


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## Steampunk

childermass said:


> After using a small handheld Finnish Wästikivi natural stone for quick touchups in my kitchen for many years now I decided to try one of their long sharpening sticks.
> Not quite sure which one to get I decided to take two different ones and give them a try side by side.
> View attachment 137230
> View attachment 137231
> View attachment 137232
> 
> Being Phyllite these are basically dual grit depending on the side you use.
> I am planning to keep them around for a few weeks to decide which one suits me better and then send the other one on a passaround for others to try this little known but very pleasant natural stone if there is enough interest.



I'm very interested in your experience with these... Picked up a small Wastikivi awhile ago that I've kept playing with, and it reminded me of a coarser but lower-abrasive-content version of the La Pyrennes stones. However, the Wastikivi seems to be able to release some usable abrasive when worked, unlike the La Pyrennes.

Both seem to rely on lapping a great deal for their cut, more like files. Once that texture wears down, or you make the mistake to lap them to try to make them straighter, they seem to lose their 'magic'. Pity, as I got some fun, hella-toothy on these, but even F60 SiC isn't bringing it back. Atoma 140 turned a side of mine into something really boring.

How are you maintaining or prepping yours? The Wastikivi's don't seem as badly wonky as the La Pyrennes in terms of straightness, but they certainly aren't perfect. Also, are you using them wet or dry?


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## HumbleHomeCook

_Oh wow, you've got a giant strop!

Ha! Well, thank you. I mean hey...Hey now...Listen buddy, listennnnnn...You know what they say right? It's not about the size of your strop it's about how you use it. Right?! Huh? That's it, cheer up. Your strop will be fine. Yeah...






_

Okay, okay...

This guy finally showed up and it does seem like quite a beast after so many years of using homemade strops, cardboard, and the bench model shown.

I've had that 8"x3" for years now and it carries a few scars of my stropping stupidity. But it is still perfectly functional. I wanted a new strop for a couple reasons, one of which is I'm considering switching to diamond spray. I have some large 1um and 0.5um lapping films that might actually last me my lifetime so that's my only hesitation. Diamonds be expensive! I also like the paddle strop concept as I use my strop for routine edge maintenance before use.

And lastly, my grand nephew's fiancé has been bugging me about knives and sharpening and cooking for over a year now! I've done a couple pocket knife sharpening lessons with my grand nephew and we had a date planned for them to cover and spend the day talking knives, making food, and enjoying the company. But then COVID happened and a bunch of life happened and anyway, we're just getting back to those plans. So they're coming over this weekend.

She has a full-bolstered Henkel's 8" chef knife that from the pictures I've seen, looks pretty rough. So they have that and what my nephew described as a "POS little ceramic thing."

So I'm gonna give them a Wusthof utility and pairing knife and my old bench strop. I think we'll talk more knife nomenclature and such and less sharpening this go-around and plan out a round two for that. I'll work on her chef's knife and they can use the strop for maintenance and come back here for the sharpening.

I'm actually really excited! She was showing me knives she liked and she's really been doing research.


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## childermass

Steampunk said:


> I'm very interested in your experience with these... Picked up a small Wastikivi awhile ago that I've kept playing with, and it reminded me of a coarser but lower-abrasive-content version of the La Pyrennes stones. However, the Wastikivi seems to be able to release some usable abrasive when worked, unlike the La Pyrennes.
> 
> Both seem to rely on lapping a great deal for their cut, more like files. Once that texture wears down, or you make the mistake to lap them to try to make them straighter, they seem to lose their 'magic'. Pity, as I got some fun, hella-toothy on these, but even F60 SiC isn't bringing it back. Atoma 140 turned a side of mine into something really boring.
> 
> How are you maintaining or prepping yours? The Wastikivi's don't seem as badly wonky as the La Pyrennes in terms of straightness, but they certainly aren't perfect. Also, are you using them wet or dry?


I didn’t really find time to use them extensively as I haven’t cooked much in the past few weeks as my wife and kid are out of town at the moment. What I can say is that the small handheld I already had works easier for real sharpening because it’s over a centimeter wider and chances of slipping over the knife tip when applying pressure and using circular motions to release abrasive is more straight forward.
These seem to be better used like you would use a steel but it’s too early for a final verdict.

As for maintenance, I have never lapped or done anything with my handheld stone as it was fine for use out of the box. I also got an extra big bench stone that I treat as I would any other rock. I lapped it flat with an Atoma 140/400 when it arrived and didn’t experience any impact on cutting. Maybe it’s mainly a factor of hardness, my bench stone is on the softer side for a Wästikivi and releases plenty of abrasive. It is also a very quick stone.

The two sticks had to be treated on all sides upon arrival because they were showing deep saw marks, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable using them as they were. The big one seems to be harder and is pretty smooth now, it was also more difficult to determine the coarser side. All in all they still seem fit for doing touchups on a tired edge but they definitely will be gentler on the blade than my other two.


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## Steampunk

childermass said:


> I didn’t really find time to use them extensively as I haven’t cooked much in the past few weeks as my wife and kid are out of town at the moment. What I can say is that the small handheld I already had works easier for real sharpening because it’s over a centimeter wider and chances of slipping over the knife tip when applying pressure and using circular motions to release abrasive is more straight forward.
> These seem to be better used like you would use a steel but it’s too early for a final verdict.
> 
> As for maintenance, I have never lapped or done anything with my handheld stone as it was fine for use out of the box. I also got an extra big bench stone that I treat as I would any other rock. I lapped it flat with an Atoma 140/400 when it arrived and didn’t experience any impact on cutting. Maybe it’s mainly a factor of hardness, my bench stone is on the softer side for a Wästikivi and releases plenty of abrasive. It is also a very quick stone.
> 
> The two sticks had to be treated on all sides upon arrival because they were showing deep saw marks, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable using them as they were. The big one seems to be harder and is pretty smooth now, it was also more difficult to determine the coarser side. All in all they still seem fit for doing touchups on a tired edge but they definitely will be gentler on the blade than my other two.



Ah [Lightbulb moment]... Sample variation is a very plausible explanation for my experience... I'm guessing mine's a harder sample based on your post, as lapping with the 140 Atoma made mine pretty smooth and slow. It still sorta works, but not like with the coarse factory lapping. Like you said, I'm not feeling the difference between the sides much, either. Was starting to think this feature was a myth. Now I know it probably isn't. 

Thank you so much for your explanation. Cheers! 

P.S. Nice snag with the natural Coti combo, BTW.


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## PineWood

BBW (Belgian Blue Whetstone) and a small coticule nagura. The stone isn't blue at all, it is purple and the slurry is red. It's still very early but I like the results so far, I think it will be a great combo for touch-ups. The BBW should be about 4000 grit.


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## cotedupy

childermass said:


> The next thing arrived today
> 
> Big natural combo Coticule/Rouge du Salm.
> View attachment 137321
> View attachment 137322
> View attachment 137323
> View attachment 137324
> 
> Munetoshi 210mm Gyuto for scale…View attachment 137325
> 
> The Coticule side is very hard and it will take a while to get it flat towards all corners. I tried it quickly and to my great pleasure black slurry appeared almost instantly only touching the edge of a test knife.
> The Rouge side is quite soft and very creamy and a little slower.
> Looking forward to properly try it on a knife I actually use in the kitchen.



Very swish . Serious chunk of rock!

Is there a definitive verdict on what counts as RdS v BBW...? They seem to _look _relatively similar often...


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## childermass

cotedupy said:


> Is there a definitive verdict on what counts as RdS v BBW...? They seem to _look _relatively similar often...


I‘m honestly not sure. From what I read I think it’s just a reddish and softer variety of the Belgian blue that cuts a little faster.
In all honesty I’m not quite sure the back of my stone qualifies as Rouge du salm, the slurry is quite purplish like the blue I once had, maybe with a slight tint of red:




I made my first post before trying the stone and just wrote what it was marketed as


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## childermass

There’s some info on the Rouge/Lorraine stone varieties can be found from page 47 onwards here: https://bosq.home.xs4all.nl/info 20m/grinding_and_honing_part_4_belgian_whetstones.pdf


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## Tapio

Today I got more Morihei stones: 500, 1000 and Karasu 9000. Morihei 4000 I have had for some time already. There's also a new strop.


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## Grayswandir

Dominick Maone said:


> View attachment 137424
> 
> 4 and 6k ice bears, Cerax 3k, kitayama 8k, arashiyama 6k.


How are those King Ice Bears? Aren't they supposed to be a synthetic that acts like a Jnat?


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## Pisau

Fresh Atoma 140 macro...


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## Alwayzbakin

Just got a (relatively cheaper) mikawa nagura from a frames. I haven’t done much polishing and don’t really know what I’m doing so I just played around with different pressures/wetnesses. It’ll take me some more time to get an even finish but I’m really liking the results so far. Really rocked my socks when I used it for the edge; this will definitely become my new go to.


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## patek5146

Tapio said:


> Today I got more Morihei stones: 500, 1000 and Karasu 9000. Morihei 4000 I have had for some time already. There's also a new strop.
> 
> View attachment 138304


have the 1k 4k & 9k arriving next week


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## patek5146

got this Kasfly sink bridge and sand paper holder a couple days ago, so far an absolute joy to use.


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## HumbleHomeCook

patek5146 said:


> got this Kasfly sink bridge and sand paper holder a couple days ago, so far an absolute joy to use.View attachment 138775



Those Kasfly's are no joke! I've drooled over them many times.


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## Rangen

patek5146 said:


> got this Kasfly sink bridge and sand paper holder a couple days ago, so far an absolute joy to use.View attachment 138775



That Kasfly sink bridge is by far the best one I've ever used. So well-designed, so solid. Your picture reminds me that mine was once pretty. Now it looks like this:


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## Dominick Maone

Grayswandir said:


> How are those King Ice Bears? Aren't they supposed to be a synthetic that acts like a Jnat?


Eh. I bought them because they are inexpensive and I read on this forum the 4K produces an outstanding edge. Now, I did only use the 4K once and the 6k once as a hybrid edge, so inconclusive for now. The 4K dished a little, but produced a nice edge. But I am used to using Shapton Pros and I have the Shapton Glass 4K that makes an outstanding edge. I bought them from woodcraft with a 10% off coupon. So they were 66 bucks for both of them shipped, that is a pretty good deal to try out two stones.


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## rocketman

I hope you guys do not take this as an insult... Several months ago there was a posting on this site about a fellow in the Netherlands who had apparently spent most of his life researching sharpening stones. He published four pamphlets, which if read, go to the most extreme examination of stones I have ever seen or heard of. 
Many of the stones were just various grades of sandstone... At a landscaping supply in my area I noticed that they had sandstone in all kinds of sizes and shapes, and more importantly in all kinds of grits.. Many cut on a saw with a good flat side..
On a lark, I bought one ($3), took it to the shop, and though what the hell, try it out on the home made (5160) machete... Enclosed picture of the result..
Pretty "toothy".. 
Welcome to medieval times.


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## zizirex

Got my new 320

tanaka michibiki


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## Pie

New candidates for first and last step in the progression. I’ve read a lot of good things about SP120, eager to accidentally remove too much steel.




Second stone is an old barber stone courtesy of @refcast, complete with leather and tobacco smell. Smooth, fine, and quick. Like quite fine.


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## friz

I bought these from ProTooling the other day. Such a nice service as usual, and the friend who recommended he is awesome. 
I am going to enjoy these with my polishing projects, alongside other synthetics I have already.


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## Pie

Update: this thing is a beast. Original vertical scratches gone in >5 minutes. Scary. Scary good! Thank you kkf hype machine, and Lee valley tools


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## memorael

Wow, so many new stones and sharpening toys. That KEN onion thingamajig, how tough is it? can you like shape a piece of steel into knife using just that? Might jump into the knife making thing if it in fact works.

I have been using and promoting the use of belgians for a longaaaaash while and up to this day I still don't fully understand a couple of things about them, one is the myth about the 4k 8k on the purple, blue or whatever vs the cream colored side. As I understand it, the garnets are far bigger than what the grit size polish they achieve is due to the shape of the garnets. Supposedly they form 135 degree edges and thus leave a very shallow groove or cut in the knife. If this is true, than how the heck does the blue side work differently? are the garnets bigger? wouldn't that make the cuts even shallower? do UFOS really exist? Anyone who can better explain or point me in the direction of a documented study on the behavior of coticules and BBW on steel I would greatly appreciate. Thanks.


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## memorael

Pie said:


> View attachment 139901
> Update: this thing is a beast. Original vertical scratches gone in >5 minutes. Scary. Scary good! Thank you kkf hype machine, and Lee valley tools


What stone is it?


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## Pie

memorael said:


> What stone is it?


Shapton kuromaku 120 grit. I believe they’re also called shapton pro. Fastest (but also lowest grit) stone I’ve tried.

Most excellent thread btw, op.


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## memorael

Pie said:


> Shapton kuromaku 120 grit. I believe they’re also called shapton pro. Fastest (but also lowest grit) stone I’ve tried.
> 
> Most excellent thread btw, op.


seems like your knife has a low spot in the center. Pretty common.


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## Pie

memorael said:


> seems like your knife has a low spot in the center. Pretty common.


Definitely a low spot there. A couple of them, in fact. Happy to have a project knife tho


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## stringer

memorael said:


> Wow, so many new stones and sharpening toys. That KEN onion thingamajig, how tough is it? can you like shape a piece of steel into knife using just that? Might jump into the knife making thing if it in fact works.
> 
> I have been using and promoting the use of belgians for a longaaaaash while and up to this day I still don't fully understand a couple of things about them, one is the myth about the 4k 8k on the purple, blue or whatever vs the cream colored side. As I understand it, the garnets are far bigger than what the grit size polish they achieve is due to the shape of the garnets. Supposedly they form 135 degree edges and thus leave a very shallow groove or cut in the knife. If this is true, than how the heck does the blue side work differently? are the garnets bigger? wouldn't that make the cuts even shallower? do UFOS really exist? Anyone who can better explain or point me in the direction of a documented study on the behavior of coticules and BBW on steel I would greatly appreciate. Thanks.








How does a Belgian Blue Whetstone compare to a Coticule? (a story about garnets) - home of the famous Belgian Coticule Whetstone


How does a Belgian Blue Whetstone compare to a Coticule? (a story about garnets)




www.coticule.be





TLDR; The garnets in coticules are smaller and in a greater concentration than in Belgian blues. Both stones have the garnets suspended in a soft matrix of phyllosilicates. Raising a slurry makes the garnets more aggressive. Due to the size of the garnets and their concentration coticules are both generally faster and finish finer than blues. But a ton of this depends on your particular stone, slurry management, and sharpening technique.


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## memorael

stringer said:


> How does a Belgian Blue Whetstone compare to a Coticule? (a story about garnets) - home of the famous Belgian Coticule Whetstone
> 
> 
> How does a Belgian Blue Whetstone compare to a Coticule? (a story about garnets)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.coticule.be
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TLDR; The garnets in coticules are smaller and in a greater concentration than in Belgian blues. Both stones have the garnets suspended in a soft matrix of phyllosilicates. Raising a slurry makes the garnets more aggressive. Due to the size of the garnets and their concentration coticules are both generally faster and finish finer than blues. But a ton of this depends on your particular stone, slurry management, and sharpening technique.


I've read this before, i my mind I still have a hard time imagining what goes on. The higher concentration part makes sense, but then why... So it just occurred to me that when the stones formed the blue matrix basically was less capable at forming the garnets? or more capable hence the larger ones?


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## Barashka

Some "seconds" strops .. not sure what's second about them, they look pretty great to me.
I already have two others, but wanted to try different stuff. From a really quick try, Balsa and Angus talk to me.
These are Balsa, Profiled Buffalo, Angus steer, Buffalo top, Cordovan bottom.


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## HumbleHomeCook

Barashka said:


> Some "seconds" strops .. not sure what's second about them, they look pretty great to me.
> I already have two others, but wanted to try different stuff. From a really quick try, Balsa and Angus talk to me.
> These are Balsa, Profiled Buffalo, Angus steer, Buffalo top, Cordovan bottom.
> 
> View attachment 140932



Nice! Seconds from where?


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## Barashka

HumbleHomeCook said:


> Nice! Seconds from where?


Got it on one of the classifieds, angus steer was marked as used but the rest were 'seconds' (from someone who used to make strops). To be honest, leather isn't perfect, but I'd never expect leather to be absolutely perfect anyway, nor would it be shortly after I use it, it's more than enough for me to play with.


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## Deadboxhero

Super Vitrified Diamond Waterstone, 400 grit


Edge of stone 270x

Diamonds are the Translucent yellow grains, very high concentration.

Diamonds held in place despite heavy use.





Atoma 120 grit 









DMT Coarse


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## Deadboxhero

DMT Extra Extra fine.

Where the diamonds at?


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## TSF415

1 knife in and I’m all about the #diamondgang. Don’t think I’m going vitrified any time soon but man these are a game changer for me.


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## M1k3

TSF415 said:


> View attachment 141733
> 
> 
> 1 knife in and I’m all about the #diamondgang. Don’t think I’m going vitrified any time soon but man these are a game changer for me.


Aren't they? Getting super keen edges straight off the stone? The kind that make you think a strop probably isn't worth the hassle?


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## HumbleHomeCook

M1k3 said:


> Aren't they? Getting super keen edges straight off the stone? The kind that make you think a strop probably isn't worth the hassle?



There are a lot of folks out there, especially in the EDC/Sporting knife world who are "anti" strop because of appropriate stones and excellent technique.


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## Rangen

HumbleHomeCook said:


> There are a lot of folks out there, especially in the EDC/Sporting knife world who are "anti" strop because of appropriate stones and excellent technique.



If you can sharpen a stainless steel knife on stones, to the point where a strop cannot improve it by getting those persistent burrs completely out of the picture, my hat is off to you.

If you can do it with good carbon steel, well, so can I, sometimes. But more than half the time, the strop (and I'm talking here about basswood pasted with 8 micron diamond paste, or 4 micron for the good knives) still significantly improves the situation.

If you can use your excellent technique to hone a straight razor, and shave with it, and disdain that leather or cordovan strop that is hanging nearby, well, that's too many for me.


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## spaceconvoy

Rangen said:


> If you can sharpen a stainless steel knife on stones, to the point where a strop cannot improve it by getting those persistent burrs completely out of the picture, my hat is off to you.


I don't think this is difficult with a decent stainless (ginsan) and more crucially, a natural finishing stone. I used to struggle with burrs on synthetic stones, but I think the slowness of naturals is a big advantage here. For burr reduction I use them relatively dry with very light pressure


----------



## TSF415

M1k3 said:


> Aren't they? Getting super keen edges straight off the stone? The kind that make you think a strop probably isn't worth the hassle?



ZACKLY! I have a BD1N CKTG knife I let the guys have and it's a PITA to sharpen. I was able to thin the knife and then have it shaving papertowel with very little effort sharpening.


----------



## coxhaus

How high of grit are you using to not require a strop? I can go pretty high but the strop always polishes the edge shinier. I am using a Worksharp so maybe power stropping is different.

You now have me stropping all my kitchen knives.


----------



## Rangen

spaceconvoy said:


> I don't think this is difficult with a decent stainless (ginsan) and more crucially, a natural finishing stone. I used to struggle with burrs on synthetic stones, but I think the slowness of naturals is a big advantage here. For burr reduction I use them relatively dry with very light pressure



Huh. Haven't tried that. I will.


----------



## M1k3

coxhaus said:


> How high of grit are you using to not require a strop? I can go pretty high but the strop always polishes the edge shinier. I am using a Worksharp so maybe power stropping is different.
> 
> You now have me stropping all my kitchen knives.


I'm using 800 FEPA-P (2Kish)


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

TSF415 said:


> ZACKLY! I have a BD1N CKTG knife I let the guys have and it's a PITA to sharpen. I was able to thin the knife and then have it shaving papertowel with very little effort sharpening.



What made the BD1N difficult for you? I have one knife in it and find it very nice to sharpen.


----------



## coxhaus

I now since I have been on this forum, sharpen to 6000 and then I strop with leather and white polishing compound every kitchen knife I own which is around 30 knives give or take a few. The stopping makes the edge shiner.


----------



## TSF415

HumbleHomeCook said:


> What made the BD1N difficult for you? I have one knife in it and find it very nice to sharpen.



I have a king 1k and sp2k at work. I usually try not to let any of the house knives go too far past what the 1k could bring back to life but that BD1N was a pain. It was easy to sharpen of a sp500 but other than that it was just hard to get a clean edge. I would still get it sharp but never hot knife thru butter feeling.


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

coxhaus said:


> I now since I have been on this forum, sharpen to 6000 and then I strop with leather and white polishing compound every kitchen knife I own which is around 30 knives give or take a few. The stopping makes the edge shiner.



Stropping is just a tool or a technique to achieve an end. Stropping (in the context of off the stones) in the larger knife world is actually quite controversial. Many believe it to be a crutch to overcome shortcomings in sharpening technique. And some, depending on the medium, steel, and intended use, believe it is a short term solution.

"Shinier" isn't necessarily relevant to performance. It depends on what you want from the edge. Sharpening-focused stropping should, in my opinion, always be about final burr removal and micro-refinement. If you can achieve that off the stone of your choice, great, if not, use whatever medium you want to do so, just don't re-establish a burr (which I personally believe is over concerned).

I strop off away from stones (meaning with something else). I've tried to move away from it but I just come back to it as it is what I know. There's no right or wrong approach so long as you are applying the approach with the understanding of what you want to achieve.


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

TSF415 said:


> I have a king 1k and sp2k at work. I usually try to let any of the house knives go too far past what the 1k could bring back to life but that BD1N was a pain. It was easy to sharpen of a sp500 but other than that it was just hard to get a clean edge. I would still get it sharp but never hot knife thru butter feeling.



Cool and thank you. I always sharpened mine on a low grit and found it quite responsive but I was shooting for general purpose use and not in a pro kitchen.


----------



## coxhaus

I was happy with lower grits before I was on this forum. Since then, I noticed after I strop the edge it is shiner and it cuts through an onion smoother and easier. I attribute this all to this forum. I really hate sharpening but now my standard is stropping.


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

coxhaus said:


> I was happy with lower grits before I was on this forum. Since then, I noticed after I strop the edge it is shiner and cuts through an onion smoother and easier. I attribute this all to this forum. I really hate sharpening but now my standard is stropping.



There is only one absolute rule to sharpening: If your edges work for you then they are the right edges.


----------



## kpham12

Picked up a King 8000 to compare to my beloved and well worn Kitayama. It came glued to a plastic base. The King is very hard, nice to deburr on and leaves a more aggressive feeling edge, but maybe a little less keen “scary” sharpness/refinement that the Kitayama brings out, although I’ve only touched up a couple knives. A lot of knives/steels can’t hold a Kitayama edge very long, but the King 8000 edge feels like it may be a bit longer lasting, although I’ll need to test this more. So far, I like it a lot.


----------



## coxhaus

HumbleHomeCook said:


> There is only one absolute rule to sharpening: If your edges work for you then they are the right edges.



Stropping works for me but I have to be careful. Right at first, I raised the tip up too high and the first inch was not as sharp. So, if I don't strop correctly, it does not make my knife sharper. I power strop using a Worksharp Ken Onion with polishing compound.


----------



## jinji

Lost my other stones, but at least I get to try something new.


----------



## Bart.s

My recent buys:




Both of BST, left: Aiiwatani Koppa for polishing, right: Tomae + Nagura's for Sharpening. Very happy with them, my first Jnats.




150gr. of Uchigumori powder


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

Bart.s said:


> My recent buys:
> View attachment 143920
> 
> Both of BST, left: Aiiwatani Koppa for polishing, right: Tomae + Nagura's for Sharpening. Very happy with them, my first Jnats.
> View attachment 143921
> 
> 150gr. of Uchigumori powder



Sweet!


----------



## inferno

kpham12 said:


> Picked up a King 8000 to compare to my beloved and well worn Kitayama. It came glued to a plastic base. The King is very hard, nice to deburr on and leaves a more aggressive feeling edge, but maybe a little less keen “scary” sharpness/refinement that the Kitayama brings out, although I’ve only touched up a couple knives. A lot of knives/steels can’t hold a Kitayama edge very long, but the King 8000 edge feels like it may be a bit longer lasting, although I’ll need to test this more. So far, I like it a lot.
> 
> View attachment 142494
> 
> 
> View attachment 142495



imo the less muddy the stone, talking high grits, the cleaner the edge and the more agressive its gonna be when done. my fav is the 8k and 12k shaptons.


----------



## kpham12

inferno said:


> imo the less muddy the stone, talking high grits, the cleaner the edge and the more agressive its gonna be when done. my fav is the 8k and 12k shaptons.


Yeah, in use so far, the King 8K is much less muddy and leaves a more bitey/aggressive edge while the Kitayama adds more push cutting refinement. Shapton 12k is on my to try list. Have you used the Suehiro green 8K for edges? Wondering about that one too.


----------



## inferno

yes. the white and the green 8k suehiros feels almost identical. the edges off the white one i remember feels ultra aggressive.
but the white one creates a finish with lots of silver streaks in it. so i prefer the green over the white one.
the green one is silicon carbide.

the 8k edges are probably more practical than the 12k shapton to be honest. they are also much faster stones. and they clog a lot less.


----------



## cawilson6072

There are several new acquisitions in these photos, so figured that I would post my sharpening setup. Gesshin 2k/6k, Aiiwatani slab, Mizukihara Namazu.


----------



## kpham12

inferno said:


> yes. the white and the green 8k suehiros feels almost identical. the edges off the white one i remember feels ultra aggressive.
> but the white one creates a finish with lots of silver streaks in it. so i prefer the green over the white one.
> the green one is silicon carbide.
> 
> the 8k edges are probably more practical than the 12k shapton to be honest. they are also much faster stones. and they clog a lot less.


Agreed on the practicality. I just wanted to try the 12k for some light stropping or maybe a 1k-12k hybrid edge.


----------



## inferno

could probably be fun. the 12k is quite cheap for its grit rating. i think i got mine for 80€, local too.


----------



## mrmoves92

Nanohone 200 and Shapton Glass 2000. I am happy with them so far after sharpening some Wustofs for my aunt, and I am excited to use them more in the future.


----------



## nakiriknaifuwaifu

A fine equine leather strop from @Not Dull!


----------



## Pie

nakiriknaifuwaifu said:


> A fine equine leather strop from @Not Dull!
> 
> View attachment 149150


What is that crazy looking stone on the left??











This guy showed up today. Shoubudani namazu suita - soft, muddy, autoslurrying monster. One single renge dot. Bigger than Naniwa bench stone, and almost twice as thick. Chipped up and kind of sketchy on the sides, but hey if anything breaks off I’d love to have a nagura piece or some fingerstones. Had mild regrets not picking the marouyama shiro, but this thing was wayyyy bigger for the same price. Just not shaped/cut super nice. Now where’s my polish mule..


----------



## nakiriknaifuwaifu

@Pie
takashima


----------



## valdim

My new gear. Nothing special, but I am glad I finally got it.
The only thing I did not like, is the text "Designed in JAPAN. Made in China.".
Well, I know what one would say: That reflects the price.
I hope the metal bolts won't rust, yet Naniwa says "Long exposure to water may cause parts to rust."


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

valdim said:


> My new gear. Nothing special, but I am glad I finally got it.
> The only thing I did not like, is the text "Designed in JAPAN. Made in China.".
> Well, I know what one would say: That reflects the price.
> I hope the metal bolts won't rust, yet Naniwa says "Long exposure to water may cause parts to rust."



I don't have that one but my experience with others is they will develop some surface rust. You can give the rods a quick spray with WD40 or the like and you'll be good. Remember to move the rubber pieces once in a while.

I think stone holders are big improvement to the sharpening regiment.


----------



## mrmoves92

One of my best purchases: 1 micron diamond spray from Sharpening Depot. This is a huge improvement over the green bar of compound that I had been using. When stropping with the green compound, I would get a sharp result, but as I stropped more, I would round the edge (regardless of angle and pressure), and it would make cutting tomato and pepper skin difficult. With the diamond spray and the same technique from me, stropping now gives me even sharper results that have no issues with easily cutting tomato or pepper skins. When touching up my knives with a strop loaded with the diamond spray, it restores the ability of my knives to cleanly or somewhat cleanly cut paper towel (probably better/cleaner than straight off of my Rika 5k). This might mean that I have subpar technique with my stones, but I am getting results that I am really happy with, which is what matters to me. It feels like I am on easy mode when polishing edges and touching up knives.


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

This little guy just landed:











This is the 6"x2". Preferring the versatility of larger stones, I don't normally buy the smaller ones but this guy is for some of my higher alloy pocket knives so it will be fine. Especially at the price point.


----------



## AT5760

Gesshin 400 and 220. The 220 is a freaking brick!

I will probably pick up an under sink bin tomorrow for these, my King 800/1200, and Rika so they can all permaksoak.


----------



## Pisau

(the slurry kanji says "ookii" or big)

Yeah fellas, that's what she said...


----------



## Grayswandir

Pisau said:


> View attachment 163607
> 
> 
> (the slurry kanji says "ookii" or big)
> 
> Yeah fellas, that's what she said...


Is that a nagura (botan-tenjyou-mejiro-koma), or just the dressing stone that camewith the stone?


----------



## Pisau

Nagura mate. It costs almost the same as the stone!

Edit: The kanji on mine says 極細目 = superfine grain so probably was meant to emulate koma. There's another fine grit (細目 = hosome) hishiboshi which idk, a mejiro?


----------



## Grayswandir

I've never seen a nagura like that before, it looks interesting. Is it mejiro?


----------



## coxhaus

I finally bought some stropping belts. These are not leather like before that I broke running it too fast. I think they are 12,000 sanding belts that you put green stuff on and use as stropping belts. I will see how they work as soon as it warms up.


----------



## tag98

1000 shapton 6000 imanshi 320 and 3000 cerex and a couple naguras, also picked up a atoma 140 and stone holder


----------



## Pie

tag98 said:


> 1000 shapton 6000 imanshi 320 and 3000 cerex and a couple naguras, also picked up a atoma 140 and stone holderView attachment 164759


That atoma will become your cerax 320’s best friend


----------



## AT5760

Ouka 3k, soaked it for a couple days and tried it on my testing knife. Amazing feedback, great edge for general kitchen work.


----------



## branwell

AT5760 said:


> Ouka 3k, soaked it for a couple days and tried it on my testing knife. Amazing feedback, great edge for general kitchen work.


Best stone ever!!


----------



## mrmoves92

Morihei Hishiboshi 9k karasu from CKC. I will probably post a quick polish to the synth kasumi thread soon.


----------



## branwell

mrmoves92 said:


> Morihei Hishiboshi 9k karasu from CKC. I will probably post a quick polish to the synth kasumi thread soon.



Love google translate. Looking forward to hearing about that stone.


----------



## Pie

Apparently this was what dental tools were sharpened with at some point in time. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it, but it would probably involve wrapping various grits of sandpaper around something on there. 

It oscillates in 2 planes, which kind of makes it less useful for precision work but I kinda want to use it just for the hell of it.


----------



## inferno

i got these 2 in 125x50x20 coarse/fine SiC. really handy flatteners. 
the green fine side is much more aggressive than the black fine one. they come dry.
brands: lapport and atorn. cost: 10€ or so. these will outlast all my d-plates most likely. 
also good for hand held sharpening.


----------



## Greasylake

Such a useful little thing. I wish I had bought one of these years ago


----------



## tag98

Work trip to vancouver this week and last, dropped into ai and om and picked up a 500 grit morihei and knifewear and grabbed a sink bridge along with some other goodies!


----------



## Pie

tag98 said:


> Work trip to vancouver this week and last, dropped into ai and om and picked up a 500 grit morihei and knifewear and grabbed a sink bridge along with some other goodies!View attachment 172095


I’ve never been there personally but I don’t know if I could leave without a new knife. Looks pretty nice in there.


----------



## tag98

Pie said:


> I’ve never been there personally but I don’t know if I could leave without a new knife. Looks pretty nice in there.


It was definetely a challenge, the takeda yanagibas have been calling to me online and seeing them in person wasnt helping, i may end up going back before i leave town


----------



## deltaplex

Small Koppa and a Big Coti; now I just need to carve out some time to play around with them.


----------



## Pie

tag98 said:


> It was definetely a challenge, the takeda yanagibas have been calling to me online and seeing them in person wasnt helping, i may end up going back before i leave town



The vintage single bevels or the suji? They seem like the only place with 270mm double bevels in stock.


----------



## tag98

Pie said:


> The vintage single bevels or the suji? They seem like the only place with 270mm double bevels in stock.


The vintage single bevels, i want to try out some single bevels but 1400$ is a pretty big place to start


----------



## Pie

tag98 said:


> The vintage single bevels, i want to try out some single bevels but 1400$ is a pretty big place to start


Ohhh man that’s one hell of an intro. Such a collectors piece I’d be hesitant to use it tho. Yanagiba is a lot of fun, if you can swing it and a Takeda fan, I really think those are going to be unfindable status once they’re out of retail.


----------



## M1k3

Mini Tormek T-0.08


The New Mini Tormek T-0.08 is the perfect portable sharpener. The April 1st launch date shouldn't surprise you.



www.sharpeningsupplies.com


----------



## M1k3

M1k3 said:


> Mini Tormek T-0.08
> 
> 
> The New Mini Tormek T-0.08 is the perfect portable sharpener. The April 1st launch date shouldn't surprise you.
> 
> 
> 
> www.sharpeningsupplies.com











Extra Extra Medium Stone


The Extra Extra Medium Stone is the most medium stone available.



www.sharpeningsupplies.com


----------



## Krouton

Thanks to the MTC welcome coupon, I was able to make some solid upgrades to my sharpening setup


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

So I've never owned a Dan's Arkansas stone. Mine have all been from other suppliers. So many folks tout Dan's as the best, and hype or not, it just seems like I should try one out.

It's all that talk from @cotedupy, @Desert Rat, and @Skylar303 that did it.

Anyway, placed my order for a soft Ark last week. Got a confirmation email but after several days still no shipping notice. So I decided to give them a call just to make sure all was well. A very nice Southern lady answered and explained that they didn't have any available inventory so they had to go out to the quarry and break off a chunk of stone and then bring it back and cut it up and grind it and so on. She was so relaxed and matter of fact in explaining that sometimes they have one on the shelf and sometimes they don't and when they don't it might take a week or two to get the stone done.

How cool is that? Place an order and thousands of miles away, a person/people go out to the mountains, harvest a rock, bring it back to the shop and make your stone!

I got a shipping notice today and hopefully will have it middle of next week.


----------



## M1k3

30% off Sigma stones. They no longer carry the 240 though 





Sharpening Stones - Brand - Sigma - MTC Kitchen







mtckitchen.com


----------



## Deadboxhero

M1k3 said:


> 30% off Sigma stones. They no longer carry the 240 though
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sharpening Stones - Brand - Sigma - MTC Kitchen
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mtckitchen.com


Dishes too fast anyways


----------



## HumbleHomeCook




----------



## BillHanna

Prepare yourself, @captaincaed


----------



## BillHanna




----------



## captaincaed

RECTANGLES ON TOP RECTANGLES!
Bill‘s doing it corRect
Llyn idwal? What’s the baby two-tone?


----------



## BillHanna

captaincaed said:


> What’s the baby two-tone?


@cotedupy ?


----------



## Sicknote

A red Aoto


----------



## KingShapton

HumbleHomeCook said:


>


Congratulations, what are your impressions of the stone? Do you like him?


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

KingShapton said:


> Congratulations, what are your impressions of the stone? Do you like him?



Just used it once with water to sharpen my my MAC petty and yes I like it. It's a bit softer than the ones I currently have but that could be partially contributed to their years of use as well.

These days, if someone were looking for a new Arkansas stone, Dan's is where I'd send them.


----------



## KingShapton

HumbleHomeCook said:


> Just used it once with water to sharpen my my MAC petty and yes I like it. It's a bit softer than the ones I currently have but that could be partially contributed to their years of use as well.
> 
> These days, if someone were looking for a new Arkansas stone, Dan's is where I'd send them.


Sooner or later I'm also due to buy something from Dan's. Currently, unfortunately, rather later.... other things are much more important at the moment!


----------



## stringer

KingShapton said:


> Sooner or later I'm also due to buy something from Dan's. Currently, unfortunately, rather later.... other things are much more important at the moment!


I still feel guilty about it. But times are tough and I want to build a garage. I bought a Dan's surgical black from their Amazon store for about $140. The very next day someone was selling a barely used one for $75 on eBay. So I bought that one too and returned the new once I received it. It's a great razor stone. You gotta be patient and let it do it's thing. And I'm not always a patient person so I'm pretty sure I haven't even seen all it can do. But it's very impressive. Slower than my vintage translucents but capable of a keener finish. Not as easy to work with as my slates or jaspers, but equivalent kind of finish. Very easy to give yourself a little pore scalping weeper without noticing with a fresh edge until it mellows after a couple of shaves.


----------



## Skylar303

stringer said:


> I still feel guilty about it. But times are tough and I want to build a garage. I bought a Dan's surgical black from their Amazon store for about $140. The very next day someone was selling a barely used one for $75 on eBay. So I bought that one too and returned the new once I received it. It's a great razor stone. You gotta be patient and let it do it's thing. And I'm not always a patient person so I'm pretty sure I haven't even seen all it can do. But it's very impressive. Slower than my vintage translucents but capable of a keener finish. Not as easy to work with as my slates or jaspers, but equivalent kind of finish. Very easy to give yourself a little pore scalping weeper without noticing with a fresh edge until it mellows after a couple of shaves.


Anyone try woodcraft brand black? I saw a set soft/washita/black and wasn't sure if the black was actually a surgical black or just a true hard black. So I held off on that one, tried for the washita and got sniped at the last second. 

And unless labeled as a surgical black would it just be a Hard black? And not a higher fineness stone? If that makes sense...


----------



## stringer

Skylar303 said:


> Anyone try woodcraft brand black? I saw a set soft/washita/black and wasn't sure if the black was actually a surgical black or just a true hard black. So I held off on that one, tried for the washita and got sniped at the last second.
> 
> And unless labeled as a surgical black would it just be a Hard black? And not a higher fineness stone? If that makes sense...



I don't know about the other ones. Preyda and Best and Pinnacle don't look like the same caliber of stones. I have several Norton branded translucents. They are similar but different to the Dan's surgical black. The other "black" Arks in my collection don't hold a candle to the Dan's SB or the old translucents. Lee Valley says they have Dan's SB coming into stock on May 5th for 92.50. That's what I would buy. They are rarely in stock anywhere (looking at you sharpeningsupplies.com) except direct and direct they are much more expensive.


----------



## cotedupy

captaincaed said:


> RECTANGLES ON TOP RECTANGLES!
> Bill‘s doing it corRect
> Llyn idwal? What’s the baby two-tone?




Why it's the Unique-One-Of-A-Kind-Handy-And-Portable-Llyn-Idwal-Palm-Hone, of course.


----------



## Skylar303

I think he meant the dino tooth looking stone? Or is that a Llyn also?


----------



## BillHanna

Skylar303 said:


> I think he meant the dino tooth looking stone? Or is that a Llyn also?


Shoubudani Karasu Suita


----------



## blokey

Gesshin 2k straight from JKI









Edit: just used, fantastic stone, took all my knives’ biteness to 10.


----------



## MowgFace

blokey said:


> Gesshin 2k straight from JKI
> 
> View attachment 176816
> View attachment 176815
> 
> 
> Edit: just used, fantastic stone, took all my knives’ biteness to 10.



Absolutely LOVE this stone. My favorite and go to medium grit stone.


----------



## blokey

MowgFace said:


> Absolutely LOVE this stone. My favorite and go to medium grit stone.


Tried this and Maido 2000 at JKI, love the feel of this one more, the edge is really aggressive after sharpening, love the bite of it. On the downside I have to show my embarrassing sharpening skill in front of Jon.


----------



## ethompson

My business district restaurants finally recovered to pre-pandemic levels and I’ve successfully purged a few dozen knives and stones (down to only 7 knives, wild) so I treated myself to some nice stuff that all came in this week. Big boy stone holder, Ohira renge uchigumori, Ohira renge suite.


----------



## domrun

ethompson said:


> My business district restaurants finally recovered to pre-pandemic levels and I’ve successfully purged a few dozen knives and stones (down to only 7 knives, wild) so I treated myself to some nice stuff that all came in this week. Big boy stone holder, Ohira renge uchigumori, Ohira renge suite.View attachment 177077



Very nice stones 
I would have say Ao Renge Suita for the right one. 
Enjoy !


----------



## PineWood

Decided I needed more low grit and medium grit synthetics...




I wanted a limited number of stones that allows me to do pretty much everything (sharpening, polishing, thinning on different kinds of metal). I made my choice based on a lot of feedback from this forum and my own preference for splash and go and slightly softer stones.
So I went for: Suehiro LD-21 (180 grit), King 300, Sigma Select II 400 (thanks @refcast for the tip), King 800 (only soaker here, specifically for polishing), Naniwa pro 800, Morihei 1000, Naniwa pro 2000.


----------



## KingShapton

PineWood said:


> Decided I needed more low grit and medium grit synthetics...
> View attachment 177915
> 
> I wanted a limited number of stones that allows me to do pretty much everything (sharpening, polishing, thinning on different kinds of metal). I made my choice based on a lot of feedback from this forum and my own preference for splash and go and slightly softer stones.
> So I went for: Suehiro LD-21 (180 grit), King 300, Sigma Select II 400 (thanks @refcast for the tip), King 800 (only soaker here, specifically for polishing), Naniwa pro 800, Morihei 1000, Naniwa pro 2000.


I would like to hear your impressions of the Sigma Select II 400...


----------



## ModRQC

KingShapton said:


> I would like to hear your impressions of the Sigma Select II 400...



I seem to remember @SolidSnake03 liked it very much.


----------



## PineWood

By chance I could sharpen 3 knives today that needed some work, so I could already test the Sigma Select 400. First impression: it is a muddy, even messy stone... so it never glazes, fresh particles come off all the time. At the same time I don't think it will dish fast, it behaves a bit similar as the Suehiro LD-21. It is a fast stone but somehow I expected it to be even faster based on the many positive comments. I don't think it's faster than SG500 that I had previously. The feel is a bit sandy and it is not too noisy. I wouldn't say it's a pleasure to sharpen on (never have this feeling with rough stones) but it feels OK, it's a good stone but not a miracle stone.


----------



## refcast

@PineWood

yep, mostly I agree on the sigma. It can be slow sometimes though if doing honyaki, but all are slow on honyaki, and at least there is was a little faster than the sg500 I had tried before too. It has different behavior if doing iron vs hard steel. . . on hard steel is slows down a bunch.

The benefit to it is that it dishes only slightly faster than the sg500 for me, but it is a lot more stone. .. i still think the suehiro 320 cerax is the fastest stone in that range I've tried but it dishes ultra fast


----------



## SolidSnake03

ModRQC said:


> I seem to remember @SolidSnake03 liked it very much.



yup I liked it a lot. To me it strikes a really good balance in that lower grit range of fast but not too dishy but also releases enough slurry to not clog up quickly. It will also leaves a mean edge for stainless knives, family knives etc… it’s one of those stones that’s great for what it does and is. Also splash and go is a bonus although if you give it a quick soak it cuts even faster


----------



## hmh

Where did you buy the Kasfly? I have not been able to find it anywhere


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

hmh said:


> Where did you buy the Kasfly? I have not been able to find it anywhere











The Ultimate Sandpaper Holder by Kasfly (CZAR Precision)


Sharpeneing Area: 215mm * 60mm Sandpaper strip can be cut from a standard letter sized stock. =========== Kasfly (formally CZAR Precision) is a high precision manufacturer in China. The owner Czar owns a business to manufacture top quality parts from aluminium cellphone enclosures to military...



knivesandstones.us


----------



## hmh

HumbleHomeCook said:


> The Ultimate Sandpaper Holder by Kasfly (CZAR Precision)  Sharpeneing Area: 215mm * 60mm Sandpaper strip can be cut from a standard letter sized stock. =========== Kasfly (formally CZAR Precision) is a high precision manufacturer in China. The owner Czar owns a business to manufacture top quality parts from aluminium cellphone enclosures to military...




The link is for the sandpaper holder. The sinkbridge has been out of stock for a while at K&S. Hoping more will be available in the future.


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

hmh said:


> The link is for the sandpaper holder. The sinkbridge has been out of stock for a while at K&S. Hoping more will be available in the future.



Ah. Sorry, whenever I see "Kasfly" I think sandpaper holder.


----------



## DHunter86

hmh said:


> The link is for the sandpaper holder. The sinkbridge has been out of stock for a while at K&S. Hoping more will be available in the future.


You can try Taobao (kitchen knife shop) or Aliexpress (woodworking shop):






天貓淘寶海外，花更少，買到寶！


天貓淘寶海外作爲面向華人的跨境電商平台，覆蓋200多個國家和地區的消費者，其中核心站點包括：中國香港、中國澳門、中國台灣、新加坡、馬來西亞、澳洲、加拿大。




m.intl.taobao.com







https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005002646672449.html



I bought the one from Taobao through a friend, the one I got was legit. Taobao is cheaper than the Aliexpress


----------



## Rangen

The Kasfly sink bridge is well worth pursuing to the ends of the earth. Mine has become indispensable.


----------



## cotedupy

A rather excellent gift from a friend arrived yesterday: four very fine polishing stones. I've only given each of them a quick 2 min try out so far (they need sealing) but it's fair to say I am mildly impressed .


----------



## deltaplex

You've got some pretty good friends!


----------



## Tapio

Time to start testing some gear I got lately. The stones are JKI vitrified diamond 1000/6000, Ardennes Coticule and Shapton Pro 12000.


----------



## cotedupy

Tapio said:


> Time to start testing some gear I got lately. The stones are JKI vitrified diamond 1000/6000, Ardennes Coticule and Shapton Pro 12000. View attachment 178395



What layer is that AC...?


----------



## Tapio

cotedupy said:


> What layer is that AC...?


It's attached on black slate.


----------



## jffallred

Suehiro Debado MD 200 & 1000


----------



## mrmoves92

jffallred said:


> Suehiro Debado MD 200 & 1000


I am really interested in how you like the Suehiro Debado MD-20 once you have used it for a little bit.


----------



## tag98

A while back i bought a bundle off a fellow canadian and which included 4 stones including the final few mm of a cerax 320 and 3000, i used them several times and unfortunately they have both now broken, however i liked them so much i have now bought brand new ones! So thank you again to @ModRQC !
Also grabbed the 140 atoma with a handle and a bottle of kasumi powder from toshos sale this week


----------



## ModRQC

tag98 said:


> A while back i bought a bundle off a fellow canadian and which included 4 stones including the final few mm of a cerax 320 and 3000, i used them several times and unfortunately they have both now broken, however i liked them so much i have now bought brand new ones! So thank you again to @ModRQC !
> Also grabbed the 140 atoma with a handle and a bottle of kasumi powder from toshos sale this weekView attachment 178488



T’was written in the sky. 

You can always turn what’s left of the Ouka into polishing powder as well.


----------



## cotedupy

deltaplex said:


> You've got some pretty good friends!




I know right! Here they are all ready to roll:







Used the middle one at the end of a more proper kasumi progression yesterday and I think did rather nicely...


----------



## captaincaed

blokey said:


> Gesshin 2k straight from JKI
> 
> View attachment 176816
> View attachment 176815
> 
> 
> Edit: just used, fantastic stone, took all my knives’ biteness to 10.


Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. 

If you don’t own this stone, go buy it. 

If you want the same bite at 4k, buy the JKI 4k. Then sell all your other inferior sharpening gear (or keep an enormous stone library like me for “historical reasons”, or some other similar claptrap).


----------



## captaincaed

Not new sharpening gear, but has anyone got the jki synthetic natural to work? I swear I can never get a decent edge. I tell myself I’m a bad sharpener, then spend 30 seconds on the 2k, 4k, or a cheese grater, and get an edge I like. Do you need to grind through a millimeter before you get to the good stuff? I’ve run a diamond plate across it a bit, but do I need to do more?


----------



## cotedupy

A month or so ago I was taking some quality 'me time' to enjoy a Monday afternoon pub crawl round Hobart, when I noticed that my penultimate stop turned out to have a leather dealer next door. So I nipped out and bought a bit of dead kangaroo to make into strops.

Firstly a hanging strop for razors, basically copying my other one.












Then I had enough left to cut some out and stick it on a bit of wood, for a knife strop.












Twelve dollarydoos well spent I think!


----------



## cotedupy

(Also caught covid probably during the same pub crawl, but swings n roundabouts eh! At least I wasn’t the kangaroo.)


----------



## jffallred

mrmoves92 said:


> I am really interested in how you like the Suehiro Debado MD-20 once you have used it for a little bit.



I did some bevel setting with it on a small 1095 belt knife yesterday, not enough work to get a complete feel for it but I was pleased, in any case. I bought the MD-20 with hopes it would cut like my coarse Norton India does when its not loaded up—I do enough repair work in single sessions to bog it down—and I think the cutting speed and feedback will be similar. The extra width will be excellent for 12” chef knives and single bevel work, as well. I recommend prepping the surface with the included nagura type stone.

For anyone who may care, I will say this regarding the MD-100. I touched up my forgecraft chefs and a white no 1 bunka on it and I am more than happy with its performance. In the seemingly endless discussion surrounding grit range, SnG vs soakers, and the rest, this stone is a standout for me in the 1k world. True splash n go with impressive speed and feel; hard and creamy like SG. Finer finish than King 1000, approaching Shapton Pro 2k type bite. Excited to work with it.


----------



## Grayswandir

captaincaed said:


> Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
> 
> If you don’t own this stone, go buy it.
> 
> If you want the same bite at 4k, buy the JKI 4k. Then sell all your other inferior sharpening gear (or keep an enormous stone library like me for “historical reasons”, or some other similar claptrap).


Cote,

What type of stones are these, from left to right? You're getting pretty good at the kasumi finishes.


----------



## cotedupy

Grayswandir said:


> Cote,
> 
> What type of stones are these, from left to right? You're getting pretty good at the kasumi finishes.



Ta! I think I'm getting there, slowly . 

They were: King 800, King 1200, a very old Iyo stone, Maruoyama Shiro Suita, stone from my friend (it's an incredibly fine and quite soft mudstone/slate affair, fairly similar to some jnats).


----------



## Grayswandir

cotedupy said:


> Ta! I think I'm getting there, slowly .
> 
> They were: King 800, King 1200, a very old Iyo stone, Maruoyama Shiro Suita, stone from my friend (it's an incredibly fine and quite soft mudstone/slate affair, fairly similar to some jnats).


I'm sorry, I meant the three natural stones above the synthetics, two were gray, and the last one was a darker color.


----------



## cotedupy

Grayswandir said:


> I'm sorry, I meant the three natural stones above the synthetics, two were gray, and the last one was a darker color.




Ah, they were the stones my friend gave me. They're very soft and incredibly fine slate/mudstones. The Pinkish one is the softest, the middle blue-grey one is similar though a little harder you can see at the end of the stone that it's transitioning into the pink stone, and the darker one is harder still and a little coarser. Though all of these are insanely fine-grained and soft stones, that want to mirror jigane and will self slurry with ease. 

This is them wet:




\












And this is a abandoned quarry, deep in the heart of the Australian bush that he hikes to, to find them. I call it the 'Valley of Death Quarry'


----------



## Grayswandir

cotedupy said:


> Ah, they were the stones my friend gave me. They're very soft and incredibly fine slate/mudstones. The Pinkish one is the softest, the middle blue-grey one is similar though a little harder you can see at the end of the stone that it's transitioning into the pink stone, and the darker one is harder still and a little coarser. Though all of these are insanely fine-grained and soft stones, that want to mirror jigane and will self slurry with ease.
> 
> This is them wet:
> 
> View attachment 179505
> \
> 
> View attachment 179504
> 
> 
> View attachment 179503
> 
> 
> 
> And this is a abandoned quarry, deep in the heart of the Australian bush that he hikes to, to find them. I call it the 'Valley of Death Quarry'
> 
> View attachment 179506


Thanks for the detailed response. You said they were soft, level 3 stones maybe? A friend of mine turned me on to a hardness equation that's pretty accurate.

You measure (in millimeters) the length, width, and thickness of the stone --- Multiply the LxW, then multiply the sum times the thickness of the stone. The number you're left with is divided by the weight of the stone in grams, and the number you're left with tells you how hard of a stone you have. You can also divide the weight by the sum you got from the thickness of the stone times the sum of length and width. mm3/g or the latter, g/mm3.

naturalwhetestones.com (scroll down to find an example of the equation so you can work it out for yourself)

Here's a chart to show what the numbers mean:





-gray.


----------



## cotedupy

Grayswandir said:


> Thanks for the detailed response. You said they were soft, level 3 stones maybe? A friend of mine turned me on to a hardness equation that's pretty accurate.
> 
> You measure (in millimeters) the length, width, and thickness of the stone --- Multiply the LxW, then multiply the sum times the thickness of the stone. The number you're left with is divided by the weight of the stone in grams, and the number you're left with tells you how hard of a stone you have. You can also divide the weight by the sum you got from the thickness of the stone times the sum of length and width. mm3/g or the latter, g/mm3.
> 
> naturalwhetestones.com (scroll down to find an example of the equation so you can work it out for yourself)
> 
> Here's a chart to show what the numbers mean:
> 
> View attachment 179537
> 
> -gray.




This is very interesting to see how they compare Specific Gravity to the Japanese 5 point hardness scale. Ta! 

Obviously weight over volume is SG, just they're using mm3 here instead of cm3, so when you shift the decimal point three places to the right you get:

Above 2.80 = 5+ 
2.65 - 2.80 = 5
2.50 - 2.65 = 4.5
2.35 - 2.50 = 4
2.20 - 2.35 = 3.5
Below 2.20 = 3

---

One thing to bear in mind is that to use SG as a measure of hardness you have to be looking at exactly the same kinds of stones, with the same chemical compositions. You couldn't for example compare an Arkansas novaculite vs a Jnat (mostly mudstones and shales) vs a slate. A trans ark will come in as 4.5 on this scale but is going to be much harder than even the hardest jnats. While the majority of slates are going to be 5 or 5+, even if they're quite soft stones.

I've never actually measured the SG on any of my jnats I don't think. Would be interesting to see how they come out...


----------



## Grayswandir

cotedupy said:


> This is very interesting to see how they compare Specific Gravity to the Japanese 5 point hardness scale. Ta!
> 
> Obviously weight over volume is SG, just they're using mm3 here instead of cm3, so when you shift the decimal point three places to the right you get:
> 
> Above 2.80 = 5+
> 2.65 - 2.80 = 5
> 2.50 - 2.65 = 4.5
> 2.35 - 2.50 = 4
> 2.20 - 2.35 = 3.5
> Below 2.20 = 3
> 
> ---
> 
> One thing to bear in mind is that to use SG as a measure of hardness you have to be looking at exactly the same kinds of stones, with the same chemical compositions. You couldn't for example compare an Arkansas novaculite vs a Jnat (mostly mudstones and shales) vs a slate. A trans ark will come in as 4.5 on this scale but is going to be much harder than even the hardest jnats. While the majority of slates are going to be 5 or 5+, even if they're quite soft stones.
> 
> I've never actually measured the SG on any of my jnats I don't think. Would be interesting to see how they come out...


I know that Suita stones will kind of skew the results because there's air in the stone due to the su. I think the most accurate test (I've been told) would be a water displacement test. I was under the assumption this test would work with any stone, regardless of composition, but I'm no scientist, that's for sure. So far the results have tracked well with the stones I own, but that's more anecdotal. I think the results would be off a bit (+ or - 5% maybe?) depending on the shape of the stone. A perfect rectangle would be optimal, koppa stones would be a little less accurate, and maybe a corner missing from a stone would also add a little inaccuracy as well, unless you could figure out the volume of the missing part of the stone.

You can divide the weight of the stone (in grams) by the volume sum and get something like this: .0026 g/mm3.


----------



## cotedupy

Grayswandir said:


> I know that Suita stones will kind of skew the results because there's air in the stone due to the su. I think the most accurate test (I've been told) would be a water displacement test. I was under the assumption this test would work with any stone, regardless of composition, but I'm no scientist, that's for sure. So far the results have tracked well with the stones I own, but that's more anecdotal. I think the results would be off a bit (+ or - 5% maybe?) depending on the shape of the stone. A perfect rectangle would be optimal, koppa stones would be a little less accurate, and maybe a corner missing from a stone would also add a little inaccuracy as well, unless you could figure out the volume of the missing part of the stone.
> 
> You can divide the weight of the stone (in grams) by the volume sum and get something like this: .0026 g/mm3.



Water displacement is the certainly the most accurate way to measure SG really. It’s also the simplest - all you need are the scales, a bit of thread/string, and a bowl with some water in it. No need to faff about measuring stuff with a ruler!

But yeah - you can't compare it across different types of stone. Soft slates or Thuris will have higher SG readings than trans arks or hard jnats. Coticules are higher still, even though they're quite soft as well, because garnet is heavier than silica. &c. &c.


----------



## shinyunggyun

JNS 6000, Morihei 6000, King 700


----------



## KingShapton

shinyunggyun said:


> JNS 6000, Morihei 6000, King 700


King 700????


----------



## Grayswandir

I recently purchased a small chunk of Aizu.


----------



## shinyunggyun

KingShapton said:


> King 700????


Yeah, I’ll let you know what it’s like after I use it


----------



## daveb

captaincaed said:


> Not new sharpening gear, but has anyone got the jki synthetic natural to work?


The "Jinzo"? IIRC Jon has lauded this as a kasumi polishing stone - not so much an edge stone.

@JBroida


----------



## MowgFace

daveb said:


> The "Jinzo"? IIRC Jon has lauded this as a kasumi polishing stone - not so much an edge stone.
> 
> @JBroida



I think you’re thinking of the Jinzo Aoto. Synthetic natural, is meant to imitate the edge feel of natural stones


----------



## captaincaed

Cmon @daveb I'm trying to ask on the sly!
And yes, the jinzo and synth are different stones, I don't have a jinzo.


----------



## cotedupy

KingShapton said:


> King 700????




Haha... As the forum's no.1 fan of 700 grit stones I can just imagine your ears pricking up at this idea.


----------



## Tapio

daveb said:


> The "Jinzo"? IIRC Jon has lauded this as a kasumi polishing stone - not so much an edge stone.
> 
> @JBroida



How do polishing stones differ from edge stones?


----------



## MowgFace

Tapio said:


> How do polishing stones differ from edge stones?



A lot comes from personal preferences. All of the below are generalizations and should be treated as such.

Softer stones tend to work better for polishing, as the mud fills in low spots to give a more even and consistent finish. Harder stones tend to be preferred for edges as they stay flatter in use since less abrasive is released, so the edge can be more precise and deliberate.

Binder and abrasive type can also impact the finish a stone leaves, and some are more geared towards producing beautiful finishes and might "burnish" rather than "cut" vs other stones that might look to remove metal quickly. "Contrast" between core steel and cladding is what a lot of people look for when finding stones to maintain kasumi finishes, but some stones can brighten up the edge steel and some are more misty.


----------



## bsfsu

Random buy













Its in nice condition and will hopefully come in handy


----------



## captaincaed

Love those old boxes


----------



## cotedupy

captaincaed said:


> Love those old boxes



Don't you be coming after my old triangle boxes, yeah? 




bsfsu said:


> Random buy
> View attachment 180530
> View attachment 180531
> View attachment 180532
> View attachment 180533
> 
> Its in nice condition and will hopefully come in handy




A medium slip like that I'm sure will be very useful, and it's an interesting stone in another way too. If everybody's strapped in then here's another interesting Norton Abrasives learning experience for y'all. Below is copied a post I made a while back on B&B...

---

Welwyn Garden City is a slightly random town about an hour north of London about which I know nothing, except that there is a direct train from there to Hoxton hipsterville, and that in 1929 it was chosen* by Norton Abrasives to be the home of their headquarters and distribution in the UK, opening in 1931: Welwyn Garden City Heritage Trust - Gallery - Norton Grinding Wheel Ltd - https://www.welwyngarden-heritage.org/photo-gallery/category/36-norton-grinding-wheel-ltd

The reason for establishing a subsidiary company for distribution and production in the UK was effectively to exploit a tax loophole I believe; it opened a large number of potential commonwealth (and later European) markets for Norton to trade into, without certain tariffs that would have been applied to an American company. In fact I came across this information a while back when wondering why there were so many old Norton Washitas/Arks/Indias here in Australia, and then noticed that boxed examples tended to be labelled 'Norton Abrasives - Welwyn Garden City'.

The UK facility appears to have closed in 1982, we can see here the job losses being debated in Parliament at the time: Norton Abrasives Ltd - Tuesday 13 July 1982 - Hansard - UK Parliament - https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1982-07-13/debates/e674f997-1716-4086-b343-102ad523e847/NortonAbrasivesLtd

So basically... that's a lot of the reason that the UK (and probably many Commonwealth, or former Commonwealth countries) prove fertile hunting grounds for nice old Norton stones. I myself have found two old boxed Norton Hard/Translucents, and two old Washitas in the last couple of months for very little money compared to what you might pay in other countries.


* Perhaps my favourite bit of this story is the perfect nominative determinism that has Mr. Frank Emery as one of the team of high-ranking specialists sent over to find a suitable production facility site.


----------



## bsfsu

cotedupy said:


> Don't you be coming after my old triangle boxes, yeah?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A medium slip like that I'm sure will be very useful, and it's an interesting stone in another way too. If everybody's strapped in then here's another interesting Norton Abrasives learning experience for y'all. Below is copied a post I made a while back on B&B...
> 
> ---
> 
> Welwyn Garden City is a slightly random town about an hour north of London about which I know nothing, except that there is a direct train from there to Hoxton hipsterville, and that in 1929 it was chosen* by Norton Abrasives to be the home of their headquarters and distribution in the UK, opening in 1931: Welwyn Garden City Heritage Trust - Gallery - Norton Grinding Wheel Ltd - https://www.welwyngarden-heritage.org/photo-gallery/category/36-norton-grinding-wheel-ltd
> 
> The reason for establishing a subsidiary company for distribution and production in the UK was effectively to exploit a tax loophole I believe; it opened a large number of potential commonwealth (and later European) markets for Norton to trade into, without certain tariffs that would have been applied to an American company. In fact I came across this information a while back when wondering why there were so many old Norton Washitas/Arks/Indias here in Australia, and then noticed that boxed examples tended to be labelled 'Norton Abrasives - Welwyn Garden City'.
> 
> The UK facility appears to have closed in 1982, we can see here the job losses being debated in Parliament at the time: Norton Abrasives Ltd - Tuesday 13 July 1982 - Hansard - UK Parliament - https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1982-07-13/debates/e674f997-1716-4086-b343-102ad523e847/NortonAbrasivesLtd
> 
> So basically... that's a lot of the reason that the UK (and probably many Commonwealth, or former Commonwealth countries) prove fertile hunting grounds for nice old Norton stones. I myself have found two old boxed Norton Hard/Translucents, and two old Washitas in the last couple of months for very little money compared to what you might pay in other countries.
> 
> 
> * Perhaps my favourite bit of this story is the perfect nominative determinism that has Mr. Frank Emery as one of the team of high-ranking specialists sent over to find a suitable production facility site.


I was wondering about the UK manufacturing. Thanks for the information!

Is there any difference between the manufacturing and/or quality of the USA vs UK stones?


----------



## cotedupy

bsfsu said:


> I was wondering about the UK manufacturing. Thanks for the information!
> 
> Is there any difference between the manufacturing and/or quality of the USA vs UK stones?



I doubt it tbh. One doesn’t go to Welwyn Garden City on a spider-f***ing excursion! .


----------



## KingShapton

Budget is tight right now, but I wanted to try something new for pocket knives...my love for coarse edges with bite is growing....pocket knives in real word use benefit so much from this!!


----------



## cotedupy

KingShapton said:


> Budget is tight right now, but I wanted to try something new for pocket knives...my love for coarse edges with bite is growing....pocket knives in real word use benefit so much from this!!View attachment 182085
> View attachment 182086




What’s that then? 100x400 combi of some kind...


----------



## KingShapton

cotedupy said:


> What’s that then? 100x400 combi of some kind...


Venev 3,5 x 20 cm


----------



## cotedupy

KingShapton said:


> Venev 3,5 x 20 cm



Aha! That’s what they look like then. Enjoying so far? Be very interested to hear your thoughts...


----------



## KingShapton

cotedupy said:


> Aha! That’s what they look like then. Enjoying so far? Be very interested to hear your thoughts...


Generally positive, more in the next few days. Today I am preparing for my next hospital stay...


----------



## HumbleHomeCook

My first toe dip into JNATs.


----------



## mrmoves92

My Nano Hone 200 is getting thin, so I decided to get some other coarse stones. I just got the Suehiro Debado MD-20 and the Suehiro GC-3. These stones seem huge to me.


----------



## Tapio

mrmoves92 said:


> My Nano Hone 200 is getting thin, so I decided to get some other coarse stones. I just got the Suehiro Debado MD-20 and the Suehiro GC-3. These stones seem huge to me.



What is the difference between these stones.


----------



## mrmoves92

Tapio said:


> What is the difference between these stones.


The MD-20 is a splash and go stone, and the GC-3 is a soaking stone. Other than that, I am not sure. I’ll try to write something about the differences between the two stones on this thread once I have used them.


----------



## WellLikedTurtle

Got my hands on some of that Gesshin goodness! Here are the 400 and 4K. The 4K lives up to its reputation of fast cutting and leaves a toothy edge. I've yet to try the 400.


----------



## shinyunggyun

cotedupy said:


> Haha... As the forum's no.1 fan of 700 grit stones I can just imagine your ears pricking up at this idea.
> 
> 
> View attachment 180409


After having used it quite a bit, I can say that I am not a fan. It dishes fast, way too muddy, slow cutting, and feels too smooth for a 700 grit stone. Smoother than king 1000. If you’re interested in it, I can sell it to you for a much lower price than what I bought it for.


----------



## KingShapton

shinyunggyun said:


> After having used it quite a bit, I can say that I am not a fan. It dishes fast, way too muddy, slow cutting, and feels too smooth for a 700 grit stone. Smoother than king 1000. If you’re interested in it, I can sell it to you for a much lower price than what I bought it for.


Thanks for the offer, but I don't think the shipping costs to Germany are in proportion to the value of the stone.

Your description sounds really disappointing, I expected more from the stone - based on the King Stones I know.


----------



## mozg31337

Hello sharpening and polishing geeks. 

Over the last few months I've picked up a few natural stones. The gray one was found in the Alps in Austria near a hotel that we stayed in. It was flattened and the cracks were filled in. The second one is from a friend of mine that is an unknown hard sandstone. Both stones are hard, but the gray one is very hard. They are very different in the feel, but seem to give a similar result. Hazy semi mirror finish.


----------



## jffallred

Nothing fancy, just classic performers: SP1k & Atoma 140


----------



## D J

Not new gear. My newest set-up. Been using this combo for some months now after some (for me)great results. Atoma 140 and 400, for flattening only. Right to left. Shapton 500, not needed for every sharpening. Watanabe #1000 always used. Iyoto jnat, always used and finisher for most. Okudo shiro suita, incredible stone, leaves refined edge with so much bite. Naguras used on finishing stone, and strop home made loaded with yellow flexcut compound


----------



## D J

Oops picture is not as expected. Line up is bottom to top


----------



## MowgFace

Was talking about this in the thinning stone thread. 

Shinko STD-180e
1000 grit (red)
180 grit (greenish)






Pictured with the fam


----------



## D J

Great setup for big workloads. I often wondered if they dish fast or slow, how they are flattened


----------



## BillHanna

I wonder how fast I'd turn a cleaver into a nakiri.


----------



## MowgFace

D J said:


> Great setup for big workloads. I often wondered if they dish fast or slow, how they are flattened



My initial though is that it will dish pretty rapidly. Shouldn’t be all that tough to flatten while running with a regular plate for the 1000. 

I have a sh!t Diamond plate I’ll use for the 180. 

I’ll end up using a pencil to find the high spots and work them down


----------



## Tapio

D J said:


> Great setup for big workloads. I often wondered if they dish fast or slow, how they are flattened


Do they wear unevenly? i would assume that those stones don’t need to be flattened.


----------



## OldSaw

MowgFace said:


> Was talking about this in the thinning stone thread.
> 
> Shinko STD-180e
> 1000 grit (red)
> 180 grit (greenish)
> 
> View attachment 183106
> 
> 
> Pictured with the fam
> View attachment 183107


Where can I get one of these?


----------



## MowgFace

OldSaw said:


> Where can I get one of these?



I got mine from eBay. Searched the model number. Ran me around ~225USD +shipping. Came with both stones


----------



## MowgFace

Tapio said:


> Do they wear unevenly? i would assume that those stones don’t need to be flattened.


Depends on how you use them. They feel like Japanese water stones, and they definitely wear. At some point you will 100% have to flatten them.


----------



## MowgFace

BillHanna said:


> I wonder how fast I'd turn a cleaver into a nakiri.



Haha in height? Or we talking geometry too?


----------



## BillHanna

lol both


----------



## MowgFace

BillHanna said:


> lol both



Just a wild guess, but maybe a couple hours. Including all of the scratch cleanup after thinning.

Do you have a cleaver to donate to science?


----------



## BillHanna

MowgFace said:


> Just a wild guess, but maybe a couple hours. Including all of the scratch cleanup after thinning.
> 
> Do you have a cleaver to donate to science?


@ma_sha1 might have a shig sitting around doing nothing.


----------



## ethompson

New midgrits - natsuya and aizu. Will be going full natural from the SG500 onwards from now on


----------



## mozg31337

I've managed to find a few knife shops in Antalya, Turkey while on a holiday. Picked up a few local natural stones, which I believe are Cretans. However, one shop owner told me they are called Girit stone (based on what I heard. Not sure hot it is spelled). They are pretty cheap in Turkey. I've paid around 15 USD for the shorter stone and around 3 USD for the longer one. They were bough from different shops in Antalya. One shop keeps said that they are oil stones.

They look pretty similar when dry, however after you wet them they look pretty different. The shorter stone looks like having more different looking elements/particles while the longer one is more uniform. The shorter stone has more grey/blue colour and the longer one is more of a blue/purple. To the touch they feel pretty similar, pretty hard and medium to medium-fine grit level. I've not had a chance to sharpen anything on them yet.

Has anyone had much experience with these stones? What are they good for? Knives or razors or both? Also, can they be used with water and not oil? I am not a big fan of oil to be honest and try to avoid using oil.

Cheers


----------



## deltaplex

If they are the turkish/cretan stone that's novaculite, they work significantly better with oil than with water. @cotedupy you think they could be?


----------



## cotedupy

mozg31337 said:


> I've managed to find a few knife shops in Antalya, Turkey while on a holiday. Picked up a few local natural stones, which I believe are Cretans. However, one shop owner told me they are called Girit stone (based on what I heard. Not sure hot it is spelled). They are pretty cheap in Turkey. I've paid around 15 USD for the shorter stone and around 3 USD for the longer one. They were bough from different shops in Antalya. One shop keeps said that they are oil stones.
> 
> They look pretty similar when dry, however after you wet them they look pretty different. The shorter stone looks like having more different looking elements/particles while the longer one is more uniform. The shorter stone has more grey/blue colour and the longer one is more of a blue/purple. To the touch they feel pretty similar, pretty hard and medium to medium-fine grit level. I've not had a chance to sharpen anything on them yet.
> 
> Has anyone had much experience with these stones? What are they good for? Knives or razors or both? Also, can they be used with water and not oil? I am not a big fan of oil to be honest and try to avoid using oil.
> 
> Cheers




These are very interesting, though I'm pretty certain they're not the type of Cretan stone that is the Turkey Oilstone. They may well be another type of Turkish whetstone from Bolu, sometimes called the 'Anatolian' stone. 

I've never had one, but funnily enough was talking just yesterday with another member about them, and saying I wanted to try one. Look forward to hearing your verdict!


----------



## mozg31337

Oh, very interesting. They may well be Anatolian. Wonder how they differ from the Cretan? They look a bit like Cretan when dry, at least from a few pictures Ive seen. On the other hand, I have no reason to doubt you and I have very little knowledge and experience in stones.


----------



## Knivperson

Natsuya, aizu, nakayama tomae


----------



## Pie

HumbleHomeCook said:


> My first toe dip into JNATs.


Ohhhh man hold on to your wallet/retirement fund!!!


----------



## Pie

One year after starting the search.. uchigumori . Thank you @nutmeg, it’s absolutely stunning. Killer edges, something less expected from uchi in general.


----------



## ethompson

I actually quite like the edges I get off my Uchi as well. They're slow to form for sure, but high quality once there in my experience. 

That stone has me drooling...


----------



## cotedupy

Pie said:


> One year after starting the search.. uchigumori . Thank you @nutmeg, it’s absolutely stunning. Killer edges, something less expected from uchi in general. View attachment 183397




That's pretty gorgeous eh!

Look forward to seeing the very spiffy results you'll no doubt coax out of it.


----------



## Pie

ethompson said:


> I actually quite like the edges I get off my Uchi as well. They're slow to form for sure, but high quality once there in my experience.
> 
> That stone has me drooling...


It’s the reason I couldn’t buy that okudu of yours! I do have to say I may have been shopping with my eyes with this one.. the colors and renge are wild, and the mud comes up a dark pink. 



cotedupy said:


> That's pretty gorgeous eh!
> 
> Look forward to seeing the very spiffy results you'll no doubt coax out of it.



Behold, the sheer polishing power off a quick scrubbing! 




And something I’ve never seen in this knife before, actual details in the cladding and core. It’s also possible I’m squinting too hard


----------



## mozg31337

A follow up with some more pictures of the Turkish stones which Ive recently got from a few shops in Antalya a week or so ago. I've done a bit of silicon carbide work on them and finished with 400 Atoma. One of the stones seem to have a lot of inclusions which are gold colour. I wonder what those inclusions could be and if they are toxic in the knife sharpening/polishing sense? @cotedupy do you know what could they be? A close up 40x pictures below with the gold colour inclusion at the bottom half of the picture..

The wider and longer stones seem to be a bit higher grit compared with the shorter and higher stones. Apart from that they seem to have a very similar structure.

I am yet to put a steel on them, bit intend to do so over the next few weeks.


----------



## deltaplex

I'm really interested to hear the feedback once you get some knives on them.


----------



## cotedupy

mozg31337 said:


> A follow up with some more pictures of the Turkish stones which Ive recently got from a few shops in Antalya a week or so ago. I've done a bit of silicon carbide work on them and finished with 400 Atoma. One of the stones seem to have a lot of inclusions which are gold colour. I wonder what those inclusions could be and if they are toxic in the knife sharpening/polishing sense? @cotedupy do you know what could they be? A close up 40x pictures below with the gold colour inclusion at the bottom half of the picture..
> 
> The wider and longer stones seem to be a bit higher grit compared with the shorter and higher stones. Apart from that they seem to have a very similar structure.
> 
> I am yet to put a steel on them, bit intend to do so over the next few weeks.




Very cool looking stones! Look forward to hearing how they perform.

The gold inclusions are almost certainly pyrite, which may or may not be a problem. The top end of pyrite hardness is around the same level as the top end of knife steel hardness I believe. Though in general - it's going to be a little below that of good quality Japanese steels, so shouldn't be too much of a problem or issue for sharpening. It will though scratch softer steel/cladding.

I've had and have stones with small pyrite inclusions with no problems whatsoever. (Quartz inclusions for example can be more of an issue).


----------



## Mr Kooby Shemayrew

Hello. I picked up a Dan’s hard ark, 8x3x1, last week. They come with a pretty rough surface so I lapped it to 2000 grit SiC, rubbed it with a Tsushima nagura and sharpened two knives. There is a bit of reflection in the surface now. This is a very good stone IMHO, but a little on the pricey side.


----------



## cotedupy

Mr Kooby Shemayrew said:


> Hello. I picked up a Dan’s hard ark, 8x3x1, last week. They come with a pretty rough surface so I lapped it to 2000 grit SiC, rubbed it with a Tsushima nagura and sharpened two knives. There is a bit of reflection in the surface now. This is a very good stone IMHO, but a little on the pricey side.View attachment 183867




I assume the funky colouring is in the stone itself rather than being something from the Tsushima...? Cool!


----------



## mozg31337

cotedupy said:


> Very cool looking stones! Look forward to hearing how they perform.
> 
> The gold inclusions are almost certainly pyrite, which may or may not be a problem. The top end of pyrite hardness is around the same level as the top end of knife steel hardness I believe. Though in general - it's going to be a little below that of good quality Japanese steels, so shouldn't be too much of a problem or issue for sharpening. It will though scratch softer steel/cladding.
> 
> I've had and have stones with small pyrite inclusions with no problems whatsoever. (Quartz inclusions for example can be more of an issue).


Thanks. I was planning to give them a spin tonight if I wouldn't be knackered. Will update the thread.


----------



## Mr Kooby Shemayrew

cotedupy said:


> I assume the funky colouring is in the stone itself rather than being something from the Tsushima...? Cool!


Yes. The stone is clean and dry in this picture. The white dot in the center is the reflection of the light above.


----------



## mengwong

I was curious about SG HC vs HR, so I ordered a 4000 HC and a 8000 HC – the grey ones supposedly preferable for carbon, 50603 and 50803.

They arrived today with a usage note in Japanese. I'll share that for posterity, plus the Google Translate version.

Stones from left to right, 2000 HR, 4000 HC, 8000 HC.


----------



## KingShapton

mengwong said:


> I was curious about SG HC vs HR, so I ordered a 4000 HC and a 8000 HC – the grey ones supposedly preferable for carbon, 50603 and 50803.
> 
> They arrived today with a usage note in Japanese. I'll share that for posterity, plus the Google Translate version.
> 
> Stones from left to right, 2000 HR, 4000 HC, 8000 HC.


I would like to do the comparison occasionally! I'm curious about your impressions when you use them...


----------



## Pikehaus

zizirex said:


> Got my new 320
> 
> tanaka michibiki
> 
> View attachment 139493


Haven't heard much about them, good?


----------



## cotedupy




----------



## Pikehaus

Ooh! What's that?


----------



## cotedupy

Pikehaus said:


> Ooh! What's that?



It’s something that’s become known as the ‘Fiddich River Stone’, though really its origins are still a mystery. Probably because as well as being very pretty, it’s also wildly rare - I don’t know of more than a handful of others out there.


----------



## zizirex

Pikehaus said:


> Haven't heard much about them, good?


I like it good.

Soaking stones, but cuts fast, finish pretty decent, I like it better than NP 400. Doesn’t Dish too fast.


----------



## inferno

mengwong said:


> I was curious about SG HC vs HR, so I ordered a 4000 HC and a 8000 HC – the grey ones supposedly preferable for carbon, 50603 and 50803.
> 
> They arrived today with a usage note in Japanese. I'll share that for posterity, plus the Google Translate version.
> 
> Stones from left to right, 2000 HR, 4000 HC, 8000 HC.



The difference between the HC gray and white stones in use is this:

HC is slower, maybe 30-50%

felt hardness is the same.

HC polishes a step above its stated grit, similar to naniwa SS.
HC 6k produces "a 10k polish"

HC feels a bit weird, those colored specks in the stones are either more slippery or more grabby than the rest of the stone.
this feels like you have very tiny more grabby pieces in the stone. you get a stuttering effect, well it feels like that at least. on a small scale.

HC and HR cut the same steels equally good. but HC is slower since its polishes more.


----------



## inferno

its not exactly sharpening gear per se. but its abrasives. mostly for finishing stuff like razors and such.

suehiro diamond plate. this one kinda sucks. its dualsided so at least it has that going for it. but an atoma is probably a better deal.
it started rusting on the bottom when i put it up next to a wall for drying. lol.

2 alox sticks. cheap ones. for deburring stuff.

diamond wheel to run in a drill (diy mount obviously). these ones are industrial coated stuff meant to grind tungsten carbide, not plated ****.
i think they are a few hundred each originally.
i will use these to round spines and creating TF type finger choils. and round these off.

3m axial bristle discs for roloc holders. these are good for removing rust and finishing. there are 3 grits. they are good because they follow hollow surfaces such as on razors. the finest one still produce too coarse finish for razors imo.

3m radial bristle discs also for finishing. they are originally made for paint/rust removal and weld cleaning in corners. these can create that factory look on razors.
i run these in a 0-3000rpm drill.

(both these 2 above are quite interesting, its basically cubitron2 abrasives molded in plastic)

3m scotchbrite discs for roloc holders. these come in 4 different grits. also good for rust removal. faster than the axial ones, but they also clog up/wear out very fast. you might get a few minutes out of one.
the finest one could theoretically be used to finish razors. if you have low quality standards that is.


----------



## BillHanna

I’m requesting copper, tabs covered, about 140g. And one of those fancy boxes like Lambda Razors. @inferno


----------



## Jarrod12345

Kasfly sink bridge. Time to replace the naniwa sink bridge that doesn’t fit my sink properly. This thing is awesome


----------



## Pie

New batch of koppa - ozuku suita and 2x nakayama. I’m pretty sure all of them will need bases, the nakayama especially. The mottled kiita is interesting - it came as a raw unflattened chunk, but the pinks and whites are most definitely there. Started work on it this morning, really really soft. I have no reference point for nakayama stones but the kan is quite hard and fine and this one self slurries easily. Unusually creamy/smooth, the both of them.


----------



## cotedupy

Vermio Stone. Super-duper fine finishing stone that’s somewhat difficult to get one’s hands on nowadays.


----------



## KingShapton

cotedupy said:


> Vermio Stone. Super-duper fine finishing stone that’s somewhat difficult to get one’s hands on nowadays.
> 
> View attachment 185600
> 
> 
> View attachment 185598
> 
> 
> View attachment 185599


Great stone! I sold mine almost 3 months ago. Far too fine for my applications.


----------



## cotedupy

KingShapton said:


> Great stone! I sold mine almost 3 months ago. Far too fine for my applications.



Tis indeed a very good stone . And I think quite unusual too in a geological/petrological sense. But yes, as you say, effectively useless for knife sharpening.

Hope you got a good price for yours! They've become a bit sought after in the razor community I think - I've had a couple of people asking how to get one, now that they're not generally available anymore.


----------



## KingShapton

cotedupy said:


> Tis indeed a very good stone . And I think quite unusual too in a geological/petrological sense. But yes, as you say, effectively useless for knife sharpening.
> 
> Hope you got a good price for yours! They've become a bit sought after in the razor community I think - I've had a couple of people asking how to get one, now that they're not generally available anymore.


I am happy with the price. And even more, it is important to me that I know that some stones that are difficult to obtain are in good hands.

I now have a handful of contacts who appreciate exactly the stones that are too fine for me - both sides are satisfied in terms of price, I have little effort with the sale, the mutual trust is based on good experiences and the bottom line is that everyone involved is happy. It doesn't get any better!


----------



## Naftoor

New rocks to rub sharp things on.

A new god stone (scorpion forge mystery Chinese natural). This one in a larger size then my previous ones, I am naturally (badumtish) thrilled about this =D My dragon hoard grows. Sell me your Cris Anderson stones. Please.

Stunning kangaroo strop from matchplay. The fit and finish on this thing is spectacular. I’m trying to figure out if I’m gonna be transitioning on bare leather strops or continue to use compound, but if I’m using compound and need a few more I would pick up a few more from him with zero hesitation. The edges are beveled so the leather is in line with the wood. Slip resistant bottom. Leather is excellent and the thing is MASSIVE. I’d previously only used strops from knifeswap or Amazon, and this thing dwarfs them while being much, much better put together. Highly recommend it.

Don’t cringe too hard now, experienced sharpened avert ye eyes. I decided to give the jade stones from naturalwhetstonesharpening a shot, after running into them on badger and blade a few times. I was intrigued, he has some pretty relaxing videos to watch using them and I was honestly in the market for a stone for field touch ups. He happened to have a slab of Wyoming nephrite on sale, which was too tempting with the discount I was already using. So maybe I’m gonna learn a moderately expensive lesson on why jade is terrible for sharpening, or maybe it’ll turn out to be ok  At least the Viking stone looks pretty sweet if nothing else.


----------



## deltaplex

Naftoor said:


> New rocks to rub sharp things on.
> 
> A new god stone (scorpion forge mystery Chinese natural). This one in a larger size then my previous ones, I am naturally (badumtish) thrilled about this =D My dragon hoard grows. Sell me your Cris Anderson stones. Please.
> 
> Stunning kangaroo strop from matchplay. The fit and finish on this thing is spectacular. I’m trying to figure out if I’m gonna be transitioning on bare leather strops or continue to use compound, but if I’m using compound and need a few more I would pick up a few more from him with zero hesitation. The edges are beveled so the leather is in line with the wood. Slip resistant bottom. Leather is excellent and the thing is MASSIVE. I’d previously only used strops from knifeswap or Amazon, and this thing dwarfs them while being much, much better put together. Highly recommend it.
> 
> Don’t cringe too hard now, experienced sharpened avert ye eyes. I decided to give the jade stones from naturalwhetstonesharpening a shot, after running into them on badger and blade a few times. I was intrigued, he has some pretty relaxing videos to watch using them and I was honestly in the market for a stone for field touch ups. He happened to have a slab of Wyoming nephrite on sale, which was too tempting with the discount I was already using. So maybe I’m gonna learn a moderately expensive lesson on why jade is terrible for sharpening, or maybe it’ll turn out to be ok  At least the Viking stone looks pretty sweet if nothing else.


You have any tips for your CA stone? I've had one for a while and never really blocked out time to figure it out.


----------



## Naftoor

deltaplex said:


> You have any tips for your CA stone? I've had one for a while and never really blocked out time to figure it out.



I treat it as a medium-fine grit, currently just using water because oil is the devils fluid and I don’t want to spend 5 minutes cleaning my hands and knives. 

I know CA mentioned that he uses it from bevel set onwards. I use it as my touch up, and my finishing stone nowadays. Removes microchips pretty quick and sets microbevels at speed. I wouldn’t try it for dedicated thinning sessions or removing actual chips as I feel it’s too slow for the job. Edges go from stone to bare leather and end up with an edge that’s simultaneously bizarrely toothy and quite smooth. 

I’ve talked to a few folks who also reported the stone didn’t fit their needs, but for my purposes it’s the perfect rock, thus my perpetually open BST posting for them


----------



## Se1ryu

Thanks to @cotedupy


----------



## Se1ryu

Also this New Suehiro RE-153 grit 300/1500 just arrived yesterday. It supposed to be a Splash and Go stone from Suehiro. I never try them before and I can't find any reviews or video about it, so I bought them for trial.


----------



## jffallred

Got some gear to round out my sharpening business. Set of diamond needle files to help with serrations and other oddities. Honing guide for chisels and plane irons. King 1000 slip stone for carving tools and hollow ground chisels. And last but not least, an 8x3 Dan’s soft ark. Ive had a Dans 8x2 soft/black combo for years, but recently found myself wanting a wider soft ark.


----------



## cotedupy

Se1ryu said:


> Also this New Suehiro RE-153 grit 300/1500 just arrived yesterday. It supposed to be a Splash and Go stone from Suehiro. I never try them before and I can't find any reviews or video about it, so I bought them for trial.




I suspect you'll probably find those are the same as Ceraxes, the 1.5k Cerax is certainly white anyway.

You'll be able to tell quite quickly; the Cerax 1.5 is pretty much the loveliest feeling stone I've ever used, maybe even more so than the Ouka. It's just glorious.


----------



## Se1ryu

cotedupy said:


> I suspect you'll probably find those are the same as Ceraxes, the 1.5k Cerax is certainly white anyway.
> 
> You'll be able to tell quite quickly; the Cerax 1.5 is pretty much the loveliest feeling stone I've ever used, maybe even more so than the Ouka. It's just glorious.


maybe, I haven't tried it yet because after I received the stone I packed them. I will try it later after I arrive in AU next week. The information from the seller that this is Suehiro real splash and go stone unlike cerax which we need to soak it in water for 5-10 minutes. I cannot find more information about Suehiro RE-153 online. The cooks edge sell them but no info about the stone. 
300/1500 Combination Stone RE-153

My cerax 1000 little feel bit rougher when I touched the stone. New cerax less rough but still need be soak in the water. I guess I'll find out after I try them out 

Suehiro cerax is a good stone. One of my fav 1000 grit stone.


----------



## M1k3

L to R: Shapton Pro 12k, weird AlOx combi, Fine India, Medium India, possible Dalmore, Previously broken Washita, Slate and tiny Coticule/BBW combi.


----------



## M1k3

Much cooler than Cutco


----------



## Stockman

Nothing fancy here, just my set of SP's and a couple of homemade Strops, the uncoated Kangaroo hide is awsome for touch ups between sharpens.


----------



## Se1ryu

Stockman said:


> Nothing fancy here, just my set of SP's and a couple of homemade Strops, the uncoated Kangaroo hide is awsome for touch ups between sharpens.
> 
> View attachment 190136


Where di you get the Kangaroo hide? Can you share the link. Thanks


----------



## Stockman

Good old ebay - bought from this seller, think he is in Queensland, but the price was pretty good and the leather was better than I expected.





outthere09 on eBay


Follow outthere09 on eBay. Buying, Selling, Collecting on eBay has never been more exciting!



www.ebay.com.au


----------



## Se1ryu

Stockman said:


> Good old ebay - bought from this seller, think he is in Queensland, but the price was pretty good and the leather was better than I expected.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> outthere09 on eBay
> 
> 
> Follow outthere09 on eBay. Buying, Selling, Collecting on eBay has never been more exciting!
> 
> 
> 
> www.ebay.com.au


Great, thank you @Stockman


----------



## Homechef

Wading in to this pool and enjoying it so far. Below is the new progression with a couple recent Aoto pick ups still yet to be tested.

King 1000 -> Red Aoto -> Blue Aoto -> then to either a Maruoyama Aisa or Maruoyama AO Suita. 

Previous finishing stone was Cerax 3k and there has been noticeable edge improvement from sharpness perspective.


----------



## BarryMM

Decided to get the Imanshi 220. Nice, coarse stone. Thanks Milan for the recommendation! View attachment 2022_0809_12285700-01.jpeg


----------



## M222

Three new Arks from dan's. 8X3" stones. Had a stroke a couple years ago and big kitchen knives and plane blades give me trouble so the wide stones I think/hope will help.....


----------



## blokey

Belgians are here!


----------



## miggus

New Belgian Blue, my first natural stone. Thanks guys for advising me on this.


----------



## mozg31337

My newest Koppa purchase. I was wondering if someone could let me know what stone is it? It is meant to be from Japan's Ozuku mine, but I don't really know for sure. Any help much appreciated.

The stone is very smooth to the touch and seems to be cutting pretty fast. Takes almost no time to start seeing metal on the stone without a slurry. Will need to check it's polishing capabilities and experiment a bit more. 

Cheers


----------



## mozg31337

mozg31337 said:


> My newest Koppa purchase. I was wondering if someone could let me know what stone is it? It is meant to be from Japan's Ozuku mine, but I don't really know for sure. Any help much appreciated.
> 
> The stone is very smooth to the touch and seems to be cutting pretty fast. Takes almost no time to start seeing metal on the stone without a slurry. Will need to check it's polishing capabilities and experiment a bit more.
> 
> Cheers


A quick test showed a white/creamy colour slurry from 1200 Aroma diamond plate. After just a few passes the slurry quickly became dark gray/black from Blue #2 cladded knife. The finish looks like more of a mirror type rather than kasumi/hazy that you would get from an Uchi. I've not done a long test though, just a few dozen of strokes. There was not much of a distinction between the cladding and blue2, so I am not sure if this stone is any good for polishing blue2 steels. However, I could be totally wrong as my polishing skills are pretty terrible tbh. Need a lot to learn/experiment.


----------



## BarryMM

Arrived! JNS 300 and 1K. Weird thing is the 300 is the yellow one and on the website photo it should be the 1k. definitely feels like a 300, love it! The 1K feels hard, I like it so far. Just tested one knife quickly.


----------



## D J

Thought I'd try something completely different to what I'm used to using. Nano hone surf 140 grit I think. I've never used a diamond stone with a broken surface before and have wondered how they perform, and most importantly how they feel. The tip and heel is where I will be a little concerned, although the stone will only be needed for heavy removal. I guess if I don't like it for sharpening it could be OK for flattening.


----------



## Rangen

D J said:


> Thought I'd try something completely different to what I'm used to using. Nano hone surf 140 grit I think. I've never used a diamond stone with a broken surface before and have wondered how they perform, and most importantly how they feel. The tip and heel is where I will be a little concerned, although the stone will only be needed for heavy removal. I guess if I don't like it for sharpening it could be OK for flattening.


I don't think those surf stones are meant for sharpening. I think they're for flattening. I mean, hey, try it for sharpening, and report whether it works, you never know. But mine are still sitting in their rack, unused, waiting for my meat grinder disc to get dull. I'd have used them for stones by now if I hadn't sprung for the NL-10 and NL-4.

It's kind of a shame, because those surf stones seem like they'd solve the tendency of diamond stones to suction-stick to the stone you are trying to flatten, or raise slurry on.


----------



## D J

Thanks for letting me know that. I should have done some research. I will probably try it for a sharpening on a cheap blade then for a flattening and see what it's best suited for


----------



## BarryMM

*update*
I used my atoma 140 to flatten the stones. The 1K is way smoother than before. Must have been the top layer which was coarser.
The 300 is a very fast cutter but still feels to the touch less coarse than my shapton glass 500. But nevertheless the sharpening experience is way better than the shapton. Love the feedback. Awesome stones! These will be my 2 stone setup I think.


----------



## Pie

What. Is. This. Thing. . 

Flood it with water? No problem. No nagura? No problem. Suck at polishing? No problem. Drying out? Have another pass. You’re good. It’s like a girl I used to go to the bar with - way, waaaaay too friendly. Criminally consistent scratch pattern and massive contrast for the grit. It behaves and produces in a way jnats don't (different, not better or worse). And it’s purple. And silver. My goodness. I haven’t even done an edge with it yet. 

Man. @cotedupy , you weren’t kidding. It’s one hell of a stone. It actually makes me question my jnat obsession, some even seem finicky and downright prudish in comparison.

Might as well load a shipping container up next time.. I see the light


----------



## Naftoor

This one of the cretans? 


Pie said:


> View attachment 203442
> View attachment 203443
> 
> 
> What. Is. This. Thing. .
> 
> Flood it with water? No problem. No nagura? No problem. Suck at polishing? No problem. Drying out? Have another pass. You’re good. It’s like a girl I used to go to the bar with - way, waaaaay too friendly. Criminally consistent scratch pattern and massive contrast for the grit. It behaves and produces in a way jnats don't (different, not better or worse). And it’s purple. And silver. My goodness. I haven’t even done an edge with it yet.
> 
> Man. @cotedupy , you weren’t kidding. It’s one hell of a stone. It actually makes me question my jnat obsession, some even seem finicky and downright prudish in comparison.
> 
> Might as well load a shipping container up next time.. I see the light


----------



## Legion74

Naftoor said:


> This one of the cretans?


That's a BBW all day.


----------



## Vadoche

HumbleHomeCook said:


> Alright, alright, I'll go first.
> 
> This just in and I'm stoked! NanoHone NL4 "course" lapping plate. Forum friend @SolidSnake03 is well established as a crazy man who is afflicted with a low-pricing syndrome and this time I was able to take advantage of him...er... the situation.
> 
> I'd already done some work earlier and knowing this was out for delivery I left my stuff setup just waiting for it to get here. And when it did, I was flattening a Shapton Glass 500 fifteen minutes later. Wow! Soooooo nice! I've been using an 80grit diamond plate and I think this is supposed to be around 200-240 so it's a little slower but no big deal and it works so much better. Smooth, no sticking, and very even surface.
> 
> No, it is not 3" but I'm not sure I see that being an issue at all.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've wanted one of these for a long time but the retail price always kept me away. At the price I got this, it's a no-brainer but at retail? I'll need to use it a bit more but it sure is nice.


Probably one of the best flattening and lapping device for synthetic stones !!


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## Vadoche

Tapio said:


> Today I got more Morihei stones: 500, 1000 and Karasu 9000. Morihei 4000 I have had for some time already. There's also a new strop.
> 
> View attachment 138304


I've never tried these stones before, they seem interesting. How would you compare them to stones like Choseras or Hibiki ?


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## Vadoche

SolidSnake03 said:


> You got it! 1k, 3k and 8k Snow White. Don’t know if the 8k is technically a Chosera (don’t think it is) but I count it as one since it goes along so well with them


I would say the recipe and cutting taste of Snow White is much much different. Choseras are mostly good, but the 1k and 5k (highest chosera) are not really good compared to the 400, 800 and 3000.


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## Vadoche

SolidSnake03 said:


> View attachment 137111
> 
> After cycling through so many stones, soakers, splash and go, diamonds, Vitrified diamonds etc… I came back to these and bought this set again. After using a unknown amount (it’s a lot….a lot a lot) of soakers, splash and go, Diamond plates, Vitrified Diamond and more I wanted to try Chosera’s again. Could have just stopped with these a long time ago, probably should have but I’d have learned a lot less. That said my Vitrified Diamond stuff isn’t going anywhere anytime soon either


What's the vitrified diamond you've ended up liking the most ? I really like the Naniwa Diamond personally.


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## SolidSnake03

Look under my profile, I’ve got a huge synthetic stone and diamond write up where I go over all that


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## itzjustchris1

I was in the market for new stones since my Shapton Pro is already worned down and the Morihei Hishiboshi caught my attention so I decided to give them a shot. Waited about 4 weeks for them till I received them today. 500, 1000, 4000, 6000 and Karasu 9000. Going to wear down my knives today at work and put these new stones to work on my day off.


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## mengwong

Gritomatic sent me some 0.25 micron spray, and a laser goniometer. It reveals not just edge angle, but convexity / rounding too.


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## mrmoves92

Kitayama 8k, SG320, SP1k (I already have one and am giving this one to a friend), and Morihei 4k. I am excited to give these a try!


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## cotedupy

Pie said:


> View attachment 203442
> View attachment 203443
> 
> 
> What. Is. This. Thing. .
> 
> Flood it with water? No problem. No nagura? No problem. Suck at polishing? No problem. Drying out? Have another pass. You’re good. It’s like a girl I used to go to the bar with - way, waaaaay too friendly. Criminally consistent scratch pattern and massive contrast for the grit. It behaves and produces in a way jnats don't (different, not better or worse). And it’s purple. And silver. My goodness. I haven’t even done an edge with it yet.
> 
> Man. @cotedupy , you weren’t kidding. It’s one hell of a stone. It actually makes me question my jnat obsession, some even seem finicky and downright prudish in comparison.
> 
> Might as well load a shipping container up next time.. I see the light




I missed this post originally, but very glad you like - sounds like you can see why I rate them so highly. 

You’re a far better polsiher than I am, but BBW makes even numpties like me look like a wizard. It’s so consistent and completely foolproof, your analogy is spot on I think. Just a shame big stones that kind of size are so uncommon.

The edges are pretty magic too (imo), especially when worked from an Atoma slurry.


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## BillHanna




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## BillHanna

Now I just need @musicman980 to sell me a Pennsylvania nat.


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## tag98

After hitting knifewear for garage sale I headed over to ai and om to look for a 240 Morihei fine finish, while i struck out on that front I grabbed the 1000 and 4000 morehei stones to further my efforts for a good Kasumi finish without going down to natural stone rabbit hole. Also grabbed an oil applicator


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## Vamtal

I made *new leather strop 8x40cm* (3x16inch)
Base is made of paper micarta 10mm thick. High quality leather 3mm thick is glued on top.
What do you think guys?


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## HumbleHomeCook

Vamtal said:


> I made *new leather strop 8x40cm* (3x16inch)
> Base is made of paper micarta 10mm thick. High quality leather 3mm thick is glued on top.
> What do you think guys?




Nice job!


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## JPO

tag98 said:


> After hitting knifewear for garage sale I headed over to ai and om to look for a 240 Morihei fine finish, while i struck out on that front I grabbed the 1000 and 4000 morehei stones to further my efforts for a good Kasumi finish without going down to natural stone rabbit hole. Also grabbed an oil applicatorView attachment 207320


Nice.
Now you are one step closer to the jnat rabbit hole


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## BillHanna




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## BillHanna

I’ve gotten some “feedback” about the lack of ovens that toast. I am at WORK. GEEZ. I used my _lunch break_ to go home and get the package. 







Here is an (microwave) oven and a toaster. That’s the best I can do. The packaging is already trashed.


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## HumbleHomeCook

BillHanna said:


> I’ve gotten some “feedback” about the lack of ovens that toast. I am at WORK. GEEZ. I used my _lunch break_ to go home and get the package.
> 
> View attachment 209861
> 
> 
> 
> Here is an (microwave) oven and a toaster. That’s the best I can do. The packaging is already trashed.




Well, I mean, okay. I suppose. No cake pic? I mean, you _did_ run home and all.


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## BillHanna

No cake. Make your own.


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## blokey

Some coarse stone from MTC Black Friday sale, did some thinning on the Kono Uchihamono Santoku, they feels great.




Before 




After


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## Choppin

blokey said:


> Some coarse stone from MTC Black Friday sale, did some thinning on the Kono Uchihamono Santoku, they feels great.
> View attachment 210795
> 
> Before
> View attachment 210796
> 
> After
> View attachment 210797


How do you like that Debado? My SG220 just died and I’ve been thinking about getting one.


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## ch_br

I have a couple,

First up a beautiful Sumingashi / Renge Suita (208x78x33) with Dai:


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## ch_br

Second is a gently used set of JKI Diamond plates in 1000 and 6000 grit:


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## blokey

Choppin said:


> How do you like that Debado? My SG220 just died and I’ve been thinking about getting one.


I like it, pretty fast, the scratch pattern are not bad at all.


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## daveb

Did I ever mention how much I like the Nanohone (sp?) 100 that I got from Tokufu? Great for thinning and setting bevels. Scratch pattern is better than SG2.

My Merry Christmas to me will be a couple more in that series. And they're having a sale.....


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## blokey

daveb said:


> Did I ever mention how much I like the Nanohone (sp?) 100 that I got from Tokufu? Great for thinning and setting bevels. Scratch pattern is better than SG2.
> 
> My Merry Christmas to me will be a couple more in that series. And they're having a sale.....


The Nanohone resin diamond? Kind want to try those too.


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## cotedupy

I just won this funky Coticule x BBW wheel thing for 34 quid, from a seller who specialises in antique watchmaking and horological stuff. About 6" diameter, and god knows how I'll use it, but I'm certainly looking forward to trying. If all else fails it's still by some margin the widest of these stones I've ever seen and should be rather nice for polishing...


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## BillHanna

cotedupy said:


> I just won this funky Coticule x BBW wheel thing for 34 quid, from a seller who specialises in antique watchmaking and horological stuff. About 6" diameter, and god knows how I'll use it, but I'm certainly looking forward to trying. If all else fails it's still by some margin the widest of these stones I've ever seen and should be rather nice for polishing...
> 
> 
> View attachment 211363
> 
> 
> View attachment 211366
> 
> 
> View attachment 211365
> 
> 
> View attachment 211364


That’s cool as heck. Now I gotta look for one.


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## cotedupy

BillHanna said:


> That’s cool as heck. Now I gotta look for one.



Yeah it’s pretty sweet isn’t it! Never seen one like it before tbh, but watchmakers always have the coolest rocks - definitely worth keeping an eye out for estate sales and stuff when they shuffle off!


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## tostadas

cotedupy said:


> I just won this funky Coticule x BBW wheel thing for 34 quid, from a seller who specialises in antique watchmaking and horological stuff. About 6" diameter, and god knows how I'll use it, but I'm certainly looking forward to trying. If all else fails it's still by some margin the widest of these stones I've ever seen and should be rather nice for polishing...
> 
> 
> View attachment 211363
> 
> 
> View attachment 211366
> 
> 
> View attachment 211365
> 
> 
> View attachment 211364


wow what the heck... I like it


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## HumbleHomeCook

cotedupy said:


> Yeah it’s pretty sweet isn’t it! Never seen one like it before tbh, but watchmakers always have the coolest rocks - definitely worth keeping an eye out for estate sales and stuff when they shuffle off!



I saw a video once of an old razor blade sharpener that had a hand crank and after a few revolutions the arm holding the blade actually lifted up, rotated the blade to the other side, set it back down and kept going.

EDIT: Not the same video but you can see the type of device I was describing at 4:10 here:


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## cotedupy

HumbleHomeCook said:


> I saw a video once of an old razor blade sharpener that had a hand crank and after a few revolutions the arm holding the blade actually lifted up, rotated the blade to the other side, set it back down and kept going.
> 
> EDIT: Not the same video but you can see the type of device I was describing at 4:10 here:





That whole thing is completely enchanting.

Never before has so much ASMR stimulus been packed into a 5 minute sharpening video!


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## tostadas

Massive brick from JNS


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## bsfsu

Black slate of unknown origin.












There's a white patch on it where it looks like it has been eaten away by something?







It slurries quickly and makes a dirt smell that does a nice kasumi.


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## Choppin

Debado MD-20 (#200) and Naniwa Arata #2k. I’m thinking what should I use between my SG500 and the Arata 2k for polishing… suggestions? S&G required.


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## M1k3

Choppin said:


> View attachment 212367
> Debado MD-20 (#200) and Naniwa Arata #2k. I’m thinking what should I use between my SG500 and the Arata 2k for polishing… suggestions? S&G required.


I would think it wouldn't be necessary, but, if you really just want another stone because reasons, Shapton Pro 1k? Or Naniwa Super Stone 1k?


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## Choppin

M1k3 said:


> I would think it wouldn't be necessary, but, if you really just want another stone because reasons, Shapton Pro 1k? Or Naniwa Super Stone 1k?


Yeah I’m really debating if it’s necessary (probably not but need to test the SG500 -> Arata 2k progression more).

Have you tried the Super Stone 1k for polishing? I’ve read comments here about how only the finer SS stones are worthy (like the 5k), but not sure…


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## M1k3

Choppin said:


> Yeah I’m really debating if it’s necessary (probably not but need to test the SG500 -> Arata 2k progression more).
> 
> Have you tried the Super Stone 1k for polishing? I’ve read comments here about how only the finer SS stones are worthy (like the 5k), but not sure…


I'm a crap polisher. I do know how to make scratches finer though. The Super Stone definitely leaves a much finer finish than it's grit rating though, especially once it starts loading up.

But honestly, I would think the jump from the SG 500 to the 2k would be fine.


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## gc0220

My newest gear: a whole bunch of diamond compound from techdiamondtools, ranging from 5k ie 2-3 microns down to a tenth of a micron. Experimenting with different surfaces and grits. One thing I have noticed is compounds like this with such a high concentration of diamond abrasives, these come in two strengths, 25% and 50% abrasive, the 50% is quite intense. Especially when you're trying to load a strop, be it wood or leather. At that point you might want to dilute it out because it's very heavy on the abrasive. Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, just check out Dr. Matts videos on the excellent shapton 16k stone used on carbon steel straight razors, that stone is just too aggressive for something delicate like carbon steel on a straight razor. Works excellent for knives though. Anyhow. This is why so many people love what knife folks consider "slow" stones like the super stones for straight razors. It all depends on what your doing and every stone has it's own unique properties. I have too much sharpening crap. I wish there were some good resources to illuminate all the secrets for people like me.



M1k3 said:


> I'm a crap polisher. I do know how to make scratches finer though. The Super Stone definitely leaves a much finer finish than it's grit rating though, especially once it starts loading up.
> 
> But honestly, I would think the jump from the SG 500 to the 2k would be fine.



500 to 2000 is absolutely fine, but you should take into account what you're sharpening, also what stones you're sharpening on, and what you're trying to do.

I think people get too hung up on "making jumps" and the grit ratings, which are in a way sometimes kinda arbitrary make it even more confusing for people. You're better of thinking about it as sharpening vs polishing. 500 shapton glass is a course sharpening stone, not quite a course or grinding stone, but a course sharpener. Very fast stone, only really needed if you're sharpening stuff like R2 at the least. I just one on some hap40 and it make quick work of it, after struggling to make progress on a 2k shapton pro, which for most stuff is a very fast finer sharpening stone. That's a stone with serious cutting power. You can tear trough very hard wear resistant steels in no time on that stone. Way way way overkill for any kind of carbon steel like super blue. No reason you can't, but it's just overkill. 2000 grit on a shapton glass, shapton pro or naniwa is still a sharpening stone. I think this is the most popular grit sharpening stone honestly, it's basically the fine end of sharpening stone. I do most of my sharpening on a 2k. From there all that's left to do is pick a finisher, if you want. 5k to 16k. Then again, my 3k chosera is not totally unlike the 5k shapton pro, so I'd say that's more of a lower end of a finisher stone as well. Lota these grit ratings are quite fungible, you just have to know what's what. You don't need multiple stones, just one finisher. And you can make that "jump" from a "medium" sharener like 1k no problem too. 1k to 8k is a common one. 2k to 16 is another common one. Unless you're doing differential grits or something, which can be fun too. The difference between say 6k and 8k or from 8k to 10k in a given stone is pretty negligible, you'd just pick what you prefer. Unless you're doing differential or something like that you only need one of each stone type, one to sharpen, one to finish.







Choppin said:


> Yeah I’m really debating if it’s necessary (probably not but need to test the SG500 -> Arata 2k progression more).
> 
> Have you tried the Super Stone 1k for polishing? I’ve read comments here about how only the finer SS stones are worthy (like the 5k), but not sure…




Super stones are definitely unique. They have a unique feel to them, hard yet soft. Like a hard rubber eraser or something. The 12k super stone feels nothing like the shapton pro 12k or other stones like that. It feels hard because it like wears slowly which is why it loads up, and cuts slow, but you can definitly cut a chunk in it if you're not careful. Wear slow, have a tendency to load up. Very gentle. They are excellent at the high end for straight razors. They'd work well for carbon steels like white and blue as well, if you wanted. They are also more of a true splash and go than the choseras I've got, which are quite thirsty suckers.


It sucks that there isn't like any way to get the low down on what's what without doing either a ton of disparate research and hoping for the best or doing like me and just dropping way too much money to try everything for yourself and find out what's what.


----------



## Choppin

gc0220 said:


> 500 to 2000 is absolutely fine, but you should take into account what you're sharpening, also what stones you're sharpening on, and what you're trying to do.
> 
> I think people get too hung up on "making jumps" and the grit ratings, which are in a way sometimes kinda arbitrary make it even more confusing for people. You're better of thinking about it as sharpening vs polishing. 500 shapton glass is a course sharpening stone, not quite a course or grinding stone, but a course sharpener. Very fast stone, only really needed if you're sharpening stuff like R2 at the least. I just one on some hap40 and it make quick work of it, after struggling to make progress on a 2k shapton pro, which for most stuff is a very fast finer sharpening stone. That's a stone with serious cutting power. You can tear trough very hard wear resistant steels in no time on that stone. Way way way overkill for any kind of carbon steel like super blue. No reason you can't, but it's just overkill. 2000 grit on a shapton glass, shapton pro or naniwa is still a sharpening stone. I think this is the most popular grit sharpening stone honestly, it's basically the fine end of sharpening stone. I do most of my sharpening on a 2k. From there all that's left to do is pick a finisher, if you want. 5k to 16k. Then again, my 3k chosera is not totally unlike the 5k shapton pro, so I'd say that's more of a lower end of a finisher stone as well. Lota these grit ratings are quite fungible, you just have to know what's what. You don't need multiple stones, just one finisher. And you can make that "jump" from a "medium" sharener like 1k no problem too. 1k to 8k is a common one. 2k to 16 is another common one. Unless you're doing differential grits or something, which can be fun too. The difference between say 6k and 8k or from 8k to 10k in a given stone is pretty negligible, you'd just pick what you prefer. Unless you're doing differential or something like that you only need one of each stone type, one to sharpen, one to finish.


I was referring to polishing, specifically jumping from a SG500 (when thinning) to a Naniwa Arata (baby Chosera) 2k. 

My intention here is to remove the SG500 scratches and then move on to naturals. Technically you can do jumps like this when polishing, it just may take more time to remove scratches from the previous stone (how much time depends on the grits and specific stones). For instance, SG220 - SG500 works well for me, takes a bit to remove the 220 scratches but not too long (10min?). I guess my specific question was if the Arata 2k would be "efficient" at removing the SG500 scratches (10-15min is fine) or if I should get a 1k or something in between (in case it takes like 30min... technique also plays a role of course). 

For sharpening I agree, 500 -> 2k -> something finer gives a very nice edge.


----------



## gc0220

Choppin said:


> I was referring to polishing, specifically jumping from a SG500 (when thinning) to a Naniwa Arata (baby Chosera) 2k.
> 
> My intention here is to remove the SG500 scratches and then move on to naturals. Technically you can do jumps like this when polishing, it just may take more time to remove scratches from the previous stone (how much time depends on the grits and specific stones). For instance, SG220 - SG500 works well for me, takes a bit to remove the 220 scratches but not too long (10min?). I guess my specific question was if the Arata 2k would be "efficient" at removing the SG500 scratches (10-15min is fine) or if I should get a 1k or something in between (in case it takes like 30min... technique also plays a role of course).
> 
> For sharpening I agree, 500 -> 2k -> something finer gives a very nice edge.



I see yeah. Abrasive for abrasive that's not too big of a jump to fully remove all of the previous grit's scratches, if that's your intention. Finishing is tricky though, sometimes you don't want to fully remove all the lower grit scratches for various aesthetic affects and whatnot. All depends on what's the goal. I wish I knew more about all the ins and outs of finishing metal surfaces like that, but as it's just a side hobby with sharp objects I really have no reason why I should.


----------



## BeinM

new coarse stone for the wheel day


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## tostadas

I think I got second hand smoke after rinsing off the giant ikarashi brick from JNS. Also my whole garage now smells like cigarettes.


----------



## ethompson

tostadas said:


> I think I got second hand smoke after rinsing off the giant ikarashi brick from JNS. Also my whole garage now smells like cigarettes.
> View attachment 212991


Established this like a year ago, but that’s a feature. The better half will be so relieved you were chain smoking in the garage that they’ll forget all about the rock purchase!


----------



## Choppin

Ntxt


----------



## gc0220

I never paid enough attention to realize the naniwa naguras are just chunks of super stone. They're actually not a bad size for sharpening smaller knives.


----------



## cotedupy

cotedupy said:


> I just won this funky Coticule x BBW wheel thing for 34 quid, from a seller who specialises in antique watchmaking and horological stuff. About 6" diameter, and god knows how I'll use it, but I'm certainly looking forward to trying. If all else fails it's still by some margin the widest of these stones I've ever seen and should be rather nice for polishing...
> 
> 
> View attachment 211363
> 
> 
> View attachment 211366
> 
> 
> View attachment 211365
> 
> 
> View attachment 211364




My coti wheel finally made it through the postal strikes today, and my god is it cool!

TBH the sellers pics are better than my phone camera will do, so here's just a couple and a little vid, it is BBW backed rather than slate, which is nice. 2nd pic is a little leather disc with a pretty hand painted piece of paper on it, to put on the underside of the stone when you clamp it (I assume).

















Your browser is not able to display this video.


----------



## enrico l

Employee dining cook brought the heat


----------



## coxhaus

enrico l said:


> Employee dining cook brought the heatView attachment 213533


What's the angle of the blade when you sharpen it?


----------



## BillHanna

enrico l said:


> Employee dining cook brought the heatView attachment 213533


I respect Agnes' desire to have a sharp knife.


----------



## The_Real_Self

Rangen said:


> I don't think those surf stones are meant for sharpening. I think they're for flattening. I mean, hey, try it for sharpening, and report whether it works, you never know. But mine are still sitting in their rack, unused, waiting for my meat grinder disc to get dull. I'd have used them for stones by now if I hadn't sprung for the NL-10 and NL-4.
> 
> It's kind of a shame, because those surf stones seem like they'd solve the tendency of diamond stones to suction-stick to the stone you are trying to flatten, or raise slurry on.



They are not said to be just for flattening but they do warn against them being a beginner stone. I'd say they probably work well for thinning or apexing if you can avoid hanging up the tip and such on what appear to be potential snag points. This was what Hap recommended to me personally over the phone for changing edge angles and thinning a couple years back. I never bought one because I have an Atoma and the price was steep.


----------

