Reddit reviews NANIWA COMBI Ceramic Whetstone Sharpening stone Workstone #1000/3000 QA-0124 from Japan

>• Splash and Go vs. Stones that require soaking

A matter of taste, mostly. Splash and go means that you can apply water to the surface of the stone and begin sharpening immediately, soakers need to be soaked for a few minutes (half an hour at most). Some soaking stones need to be dried carefully or they may crack. If you don't have a lot of storage or counter space, splash and go will be more convenient.

>• Synthetic Stone vs. Natural Stone

For a first stone, you only need to look at synthetics. Natural stones are inferior to synthetics in the coarse and medium grits. Arkansas stones can make for good finishers. Japanese naturals are expensive and esoteric.

>• Fine Grain vs. Coarse Grain

Fine stones have smaller abrasive particles, coarse stones have larger ones. Fine stones tend to be denser and less porous. Coarse stones tend to cut faster, but it can be difficult to form a sharp edge using a coarse stone alone, thus the popularity of 2-grit combination stones. Most people start sharpening on a medium grit (~400-1200 grit) and finish on a fine grit (~3000-8000). The coarsest stones (80-300 grit) are mostly reserved for repairing damage to the edge and grinding large sections of the blade. Different stones, even those with the same grit rating, may grind at different rates and produce different finishes due to differences in the way they were manufactured (type of abrasive, type of binder, heat, pressure, scale used for grading, etc.).

>• Wooden Base vs. No Base

Again, personal preference. If the stones are to be kept permanently soaked, stones without bases are preferable. The stone with which this comes up the most is the Suehiro Rika, which many people prefer to keep soaked.

>What makes a quality whetstone?

Uniformity of scratch pattern, resistance to clogging, resistance to dishing (becoming concave), rate of grinding, auditory and tactile feedback. Dense stones are almost universally preferred, but it's difficult to generalize beyond that.

>What should influence my decision to purchase one over the other?

Budget, availability, the types of knives being sharpened. Knowing your boyfriend's temperament. Is he patient? Is he careful with his knives? Does he drop things all the time?


I use a King Deluxe 300 and a Shapton Ha no Kuromaku 2000 for most of my sharpening. Both are splash-and-go and very dense ("hard"). I have a dozen or so other stones that I don't use nearly as often.

Suehiro's vitrified stones are among the most user-friendly and least fussy. Almost all of them need soaking. The SKG-24 is a good combination stone on which to learn.

Naniwa makes a huge variety of stones, most of which are good. Their QA-0124 is a splash-and-go stone, although the fine side works better after a brief soak, and even then it dries out quickly. These stones can crack if soaked and then dried unevenly.

King KW-65P is a good, traditional soaking stone. It goes out of flat more easily than some of the newer types of stones but it's a nice size and easy to maintain. The KDS is also widely liked.

Imanishi/Bester can be all over the map. I like their Arashiyama, Latte, and Tamago stones but not so much the Besters. They make a lot of stones that are resold under other brand names. I suspect they're behind this combination stone, which I like—splash-and-go and wears slowly.

All the above applies to Japanese "waterstones" (I don't like that term). "Oilstones" (I also don't like that term) like the illustrious Norton India can also provide good results, and are less demanding in terms of maintenance (flattening, drying, etc.). There are also diamond plates—I like EZE-LAP and ATOMA the best.

Edit: Fixed links.

Yep, came here to say that. The stone is WAY too rough.
This is what I use:
https://www.amazon.com/Ceramic-Whetstone-Sharpening-Workstone-QA-0124/dp/B001NI5JUY/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3UHESRX58NOIP&keywords=whetstone+1000%2F3000&qid=1556004905&s=home-garden&sprefix=whet%2Cgarden%2C234&sr=1-6

I like using a towel or cloth as well. I picked up a few bricks a while back, smoothed them by rubbing them against each other with some silicon carbide grit, and I use one of those wrapped in a rag to to serve as a base, and also to flatten against. Very useful. Very cheap.

I wish you well with the Bear Moo set. I know you didn't ask, but after a cursory look, I think I would've gone with this coarse stone: Waterstone Single 500 Grit, Silicon to cover chip repair and coarse work; and probably this Naniwa QA-0124 combo for actually sharpening stuff, and keeping it sharp.

Go with something a bit above the most bottom one I would suggest as the cheapest combination stones found under different Names are often verry soft and dish in the process of sharpening one knive.
I personally would go with atleast a King 1K/6K or a Naniwa 1K/3K stones.

While this might sound a bit odd there is not much difference in the finish of the two stones.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DT1X9O/ref=psdc_553346_t1_B0016VC46A

https://www.amazon.com/Ceramic-Whetstone-Sharpening-Workstone-QA-0124/dp/B001NI5JUY/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1527488903&sr=1-2&keywords=naniwa

Or the one up:
https://www.amazon.com/Chosera-000-Grit-Stone-Base/dp/B000CNOXGC/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1527488946&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=naniwa+1000

Another question if you don't mind: since trying to take any of these knifes to 6k is unlikely to get me good results, do you think this NANIWA stone be a better choice than the King 1/6k?

EDIT: or maybe the Suehiro 1/3k, which seems to have better reviews (and is recommended in the wiki)?

Do not use simplified knife sharpeners is the first step to not ruining them.

You might want to consider getting an angle guide and a 1000/3000 whetstone for starters. You can consider picking up 5000 - 8000 stones later.

https://smile.amazon.com/Naniwa-QX-0010-Blade-Angle-Sharpening/dp/B00I6H92BC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1466754292&sr=8-8&keywords=knife+angle+guide

https://smile.amazon.com/Ceramic-Whetstone-Sharpening-Workstone-QA-0124/dp/B001NI5JUY/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1466754346&sr=8-9&keywords=1000+3000+whetstone