Advise on buying Japanese Whetstones

C

CaneC808

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Jan 16, 2012
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hopefully this hasn't been overly covered, i did a forum search but didnt find exactly the answer im looking for.

im wanting to buy a set of Japanese whetstones for repair, sharpening and honing. ive been doing a ton of google searching and reading and it appears that the real deal stones cost upwards of hundreds of dollars. im on a budget, uncle sam doesnt pay a lot. im willing to buy them one by one as money is allotted but can anyone give me advise on a company or dealer that has genuine japanese whetstones. i want the real deal because im trying to get involved in the community and maybe one day in the near future taking a shot at knife making. i have a big assortment of various machetes, hawks, throwing knives, good kitchen sets, dive knives, combat knives, high end productions and im now getting into buying custom knives and a legit wakizashi in the near future. im currently using portable diamond sharpeners and they do the job but i want the real deal. any insight, advise or criticism will be well taken. thanks all.
 
Check out the Shapton pro stones from chefknivestogo. I have a set of these ceramic stones 120, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 8000. These are for sure the real deal and probably about the best you can get from my research. Their glass stones are a newer line that seems to be high quality also. They are all pricey, bit you are getting what you pay for. Good luck.
 
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^ That, with the Shaptons.

Also, CKTG offers some new stuff over in the "Ken's Corner" section from Nutebama that is reputedly quite good, and not quite as pricey.

Another often-chosen one as a starter is made by King, specifically their 1k/6k double-sided waterstone.
 
Komitadjie said:
Another often-chosen one as a starter is made by King, specifically their 1k/6k double-sided waterstone.
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+1. :thumbup:

I use King and Ice Bear stones pretty often. They work very well and don't break the bank. IIRC they're what Murray Carter uses in most of his sharpening videos.

IMHO water stones are one sharpening method where you don't have to spend very much to get good products - You don't have to shell out for shapton or bester stones in order to get very good results.
 
CaneC808 said:
hopefully this hasn't been overly covered, i did a forum search but didnt find exactly the answer im looking for.

im wanting to buy a set of Japanese whetstones for repair, sharpening and honing. ive been doing a ton of google searching and reading and it appears that the real deal stones cost upwards of hundreds of dollars. im on a budget, uncle sam doesnt pay a lot. im willing to buy them one by one as money is allotted but can anyone give me advise on a company or dealer that has genuine japanese whetstones. i want the real deal because im trying to get involved in the community and maybe one day in the near future taking a shot at knife making. i have a big assortment of various machetes, hawks, throwing knives, good kitchen sets, dive knives, combat knives, high end productions and im now getting into buying custom knives and a legit wakizashi in the near future. im currently using portable diamond sharpeners and they do the job but i want the real deal. any insight, advise or criticism will be well taken. thanks all.
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When you say "real deal" and " genuine" are you referring to synthetic or natural stones?
 
CaneC808 said:
im wanting to buy a set of Japanese whetstones for repair, sharpening and honing. ive been doing a ton of google searching and reading and it appears that the real deal stones cost upwards of hundreds of dollars. im on a budget, uncle sam doesnt pay a lot. im willing to buy them one by one as money is allotted but can anyone give me advise on a company or dealer that has genuine japanese whetstones.
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Since you do not have prior experience with them i'd strongly recommend starting with synthetic japanese whetstones. As you get better and accumulate enough money you can move on to natural whetstones. Good stone dealer will ask you tons of questions before recommending one natural whetstone, which will cost from few hundreds to few thousands.

Shaptons are pretty good, but don't last long. Especially coarse ones. Plus they do have rather rough scratch pattern, however they're fast, as in, just sprinkle water on them and you're good to go, no soak times.

I've posted my impressions of various stones there - Japapanese whetstones reviews. That should help you with few choices and recommended dealer links are in there as well.
 
Harpoon1 said:
When you say "real deal" and " genuine" are you referring to synthetic or natural stones?
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im a noob and novice to all this bro and the only research ive done was natural but now planning on running w ceramic because of the prices. im just trying to learn thanks for all the advise ill post up in the future when i find what im going with
 
CaneC808 said:
im a noob and novice to all this bro and the only research ive done was natural but now planning on running w ceramic because of the prices. im just trying to learn thanks for all the advise ill post up in the future when i find what im going with
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No problem, I thought you were asking about "naturals" at first. I'm pretty much a "noob" myownself, still trying to figure out what I really want, like, need. Only been at it a few months longer than you.:D

You've come to the right place, take your time and ask a lot of questions. Then purchase the stones that are right for you and the knives (type of steel) you plan on sharpening.
 
My advise would be to not jump at any one "best" stone until you understand what best suits you. What do you plan to sharpen? What kind of steels? What type of stone do you like?

I like muddy stones because I use more convex in my hand sharpening and I prefer the level of feedback. Some like harder stones such as the Shaptons because they yield results quickly but as with both stones if you don't know why you are buying them then I would go back to doing more research.

It can be a rewarding and frustrating experience costing you as little or as much money as you can throw at it. My journey took 3 years cost a pretty penny and I found out that the "best" stone is a dream we all have.
 
ive never used stones before period. i have some n690, seki-japan, s35-vn, cold steel throwers, some machetes and hawks, i have a wakizashi cpm 3v in the making, some 1095 1084 a w2 in the making, titanium dive knives, more that i can sit here and list. im wanting to learn to use stones as now that ive discovered the custom world and have some orders in im wanting to be able to do things right. ive seen the kings and ceramics and just didnt know if they were good or hype. i know i need something for repairs, would that be around the 500-800 gr mark? and then sharpening and honing. so a 1000 and 6000? im grateful for all the input on this.

can you guys that havent already tell me exactly what company and product you use and for what materials youd recommend what products? Im wanting to immerse myself deep enough that i can gain enough knowledge to make my own knifes in the future. id love to be able to look back at a thread like this 5 yrs from now when im actually making knives and pointing others in the right direction.
 
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