Reddit reviews Woodstock SteeleX D1130 1000 Grit and 6000 Grit Japanese Waterstone

Japanese waterstones

I bought one of these a year ago to try out water stones. I still use it occasionally and it does a very good job. But there's a lot of prep and cleanup for water stone sharpening, so I very rarely do it.

Works for me and my chefs. Some of my guys who spend a little more time use a combo like this, I can't vouch for that brand, but there are sub-$40 stones of good quality out there.
I'll post links to a couple online shops for strops when I get home to my own computer, but Google can lead you there too.

Edit: Home now. Wow, this isn't going to add anything to my authority on the matter, but I've been using a King 1200 grit waterstone, thinking I was on a 1600. Whatever, my results have been great. This is what I use, and here are some low priced strops and compounds.

One of my guys has a second job as a sushi chef, and he gets incredible deals through reps that roll through those kitchens. That's how I get my supplies, and if you regularly frequent a Japanese restaurant you could probably go through them for a good deal. Most of those guys know how to keep a blade sharp too.

1k/6k stone
$44.77 at amazon. 2 days ago, I paid 30 something for it.

These will probably be some of the best sharpening stones you can buy. They're expensive but will last a long time and they're well known.

If you're looking for inexpensive ones to practice, you could try this one. The reviews are pretty decent and the two included grits are some of the more useful ones.

Here is the desktop version of your link

A cheap katana is a good one to start out with, since you won't feel bad when you screw it up. :)

Generally speaking, that maintenance kit has pretty much all the basics for general care. you'll probably want to oil it with the choji oil every few months if you're not using it. If you are using it for cutting practice or the like, make sure it's oiled at least once a week. (Or after each session, if you're cutting water bottles.) A few drops is plenty.

If you want to practice sharpening, there's the super-traditional way, which would take up several pages. Feel free to research that on your own - I don't really bother since it's a pain, involves taking out the mekugi pins and all, and I'm not quite comfortable doing that yet. Plus, don't have replacement pins, and the ones I've got aren't loose.

Katanas are supposed to be pretty darn hard steel. Depending on the kind of steel you've got, you might use different care than the traditional kit uses. For instance, if you've just lost a slight 'true' from your hard edge through use, the uchiko ball there is plenty enough to fix that. You tap it over the blade, and it releases some very fine powder from sharpening stones, which you then rub over the blade (carefully) with rice paper, and that re-sharpens the edge.

If you've got a regular steel (or even mild steel) blade like me, though, you'll need a whetstone of some nature to sharpen it. I do use Japanese water stones for sharpening. They're pretty easy to use, and if you've got rust spots from not oiling your sword regularly, you can actually take some of the slurry off the top of the stone and just rub down the rust spots with it using a small cloth and they'll come right off. That uchiko ball might also just do the same thing - I have to confess, I haven't used one.

If it's mild steel, though, you may just well develop nicks and dings in the actual blade itself. You can feel these running your fingers gently along the sides of the edge (not directly on the edge!). If that's the sort of blade you've got, well... fixing small ones is simple. Use a brillo pad, squeezing along the sides of the edges, and they come right out. If they're large, and you're CERTAIN you've got mild steel, you might need to file the edge back and then sharpen the whole thing.

https://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-SteeleX-D1130-Japanese-Waterstone/dp/B0000DD2C9

Sure it takes 2 minutes to sharpen AUS-8 and 5 minutes to sharpen M390. Shaving sharp is my normal metric. With something like 3V and a convex grind, all I really have to do is strop for 10-15 strokes, whereas say 1095 requires some additional material removal at an equivalent 'dullness'.

To be honest I kind of wish it took more time, as I really enjoy sharpening.

Is 1000 coarse enough to sharpen a dull knife? I bought a 400/1000 stone but I'm thinking about returning it because I have my eye on this.

I was thinking about buying these japanese waterstones because they are cheaper than artificial stones. If so would it also make sense to buy this one as amazon seems to recommend?

I wouldn't pay 80 bucks for a stone even if it painted my house. I don't even see the need to go up to 8000 if you're stropping properly. Personally, I sharpen up to 6000 on the stone I linked and I get a mirror finish that is shaving sharp. I use it on all my plane irons, kitchen knives, and blades I make and they all suit me just fine.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000DD2C9/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1420502886&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX200_QL40

Something like this ok?

http://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-SteeleX-D1130-Japanese-Waterstone/dp/B0000DD2C9/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324860242&sr=8-1

I'm assuming this will work well for kitchen knives too, so I'm not just wasting money on something silly here, right?