King Giant Stones

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Gondvanaz

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Sep 15, 2022
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I intend to purchase the Giant Stones of King (800, 1000, 1200). Is 800 enoughly coarse for creating bevel on dull knives? I don't know why those stones are not available at lower and higher grits, what am I supposed to do with the 1200 one?

Japanese water stones: King and Sun Tiger

King-Stones are relatively soft and have a comfortable feel in use, because one can see and feel the stone cutting the surface. The 240-grit grinding stone from Sun Tiger cuts very quickly and is useful for grinding out chips and nicks in the blades of chisels and knives.
www.fine-tools.com
 
Gondvanaz said:
I intend to purchase the Giant Stones of King (800, 1000, 1200). Is 800 enoughly coarse for creating bevel on dull knives? I don't know why those stones are not available at lower and higher grits, what am I supposed to do with the 1200 one?

Japanese water stones: King and Sun Tiger

King-Stones are relatively soft and have a comfortable feel in use, because one can see and feel the stone cutting the surface. The 240-grit grinding stone from Sun Tiger cuts very quickly and is useful for grinding out chips and nicks in the blades of chisels and knives.
www.fine-tools.com
Click to expand...
Unless you are sharpening several knives every day for many years to come, I wouldn't bother with the giant stones. The standard ones will probably outlast you if you are only sharpening a few knives every couple weeks or months.

Also the 800, 1000, and 1200 grits, I would consider sharpening stones and would only have one of those. Personally I categorize stones into either repair(coarse), sharpening and finishing. Obviously there are grey areas between these categories as well.

Using the King grit rating, I would just get something in the 220-400 grit range for light repair, probably the 800 or 1000 for general sharpening, and maybe something finer if you want to refine your edge, maybe 3000 grit. You could definitely get away with just the first two though.
 
On the waterstone scale, all are medium grit stones and fairly close together. Get one until you know enough to know more exactly what you like.
In fact, King makes a 320 and a 6000 stone. As well as a rather nice 2000. But there is no need to restrict yourself to only one line of stones.

For a REALLY dull knife you may need a 220 or even 120 stone - again, on the water stone scale. Although an oil stone in those grits would work too, just make sure to clean your knife with soap before moving on.
However, for a knife that merely needs to be quickly apexed, a 320 grit if fine.
 
So, there's no difference between those three grits - 800, 1000, 1200? Also, will 6000 be an overkill for blades made of low quality steel? I have read that the high grits benefit only the high quality steel. Right now, I still don't work for myself, so don't see point in investing in good quality blades but in the future when I start running my own operation I may buy knives made of high quality steel and I think then those giant stones will come quite handy since I usually deal with pretty long knives.
 
Gondvanaz said:
So, there's no difference between those three grits - 800, 1000, 1200? Also, will 6000 be an overkill for blades made of low quality steel? I have read that the high grits benefit only the high quality steel. Right now, I still don't work for myself, so don't see point in investing in good quality blades but in the future when I start running my own operation I may buy knives made of high quality steel and I think then those giant stones will come quite handy since I usually deal with pretty long knives.
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"No difference" is a little strong. Of course there's a difference. But in a sharpening sequence, the rule of thumb is to double the grit size with each step, so 800-1200 can only occupy one place in a sequence. And many people will go 3X or even more in a step. It just depends how much work you want to do on a stone after you make a jump.

6000 is, in my opinion, definitely overkill for low-quality steel. Heck, I generally stop at 1000 and call it a day. I'd go 2000 for some slightly better steel, if I wanted some refinement.
 
Gondvanaz said:
So, there's no difference between those three grits - 800, 1000, 1200? Also, will 6000 be an overkill for blades made of low quality steel? I have read that the high grits benefit only the high quality steel. Right now, I still don't work for myself, so don't see point in investing in good quality blades but in the future when I start running my own operation I may buy knives made of high quality steel and I think then those giant stones will come quite handy since I usually deal with pretty long knives.
Click to expand...
As the previous poster said, it's not that there isn't any difference, but there isn't much point to use more than one of those. And the one you choose will most likely be the one you use 90% of the time to put a fresh edge on your knife unless the knife is really dull or has some chipping etc. Maybe look at some reviews of each stone to see which one has the best reputation.

As to the higher grits like 6000, you will find your own preference as to how toothy an edge you like to use and you will only discover that through experience. I think most people prefer a toothier edge and stop at this 800-1200 range for general kitchen knives. My chef's knife at home is just a basic steel but I prefer 3000 grit to finish with, but that's just me.

By all means go with the giant stone if you feel the larger size is worth it for double the price, but you only need one of these in the grit sizes available on that site. As I said in my first reply, if you decide to get a second stone I would get something coarser for especially dull knives or any minor chipping. The other recommendation is to not limit yourself to any particular brand either. There is nothing wrong with mixing brands as long as you get the right tools for the job.
 
Mixing brands and even types is a good point. My current standard sequence for good-quality kitchen knives is to spend a lot of time on a Shapton Glass 1000, a hard, dense stone, which will, with persistence, and ending with very gentle, edge-leading strokes, produce a deadly-keen edge that is actually less toothy than I prefer (this is a characteristic of the SG stone, not a general statement about 1000 grit stones). So next I put it on a Washita or soft Arkansas stone which produces an edge with my preferred amount of tooth. Hard to get more mixed than that, waterstone then oilstone, but that's what's working really well for me at the moment.
 
I did look to see what a Giant stone might be, this is an XL, about 9 inches long, though I did find a 9.5 inch stone

https://www.amazon.com/King-Medium-Grain-Sharpening-Stone/dp/B002LW16R6

It sure looks like a brick, I do not think that is bad.

I have been using 8 inch stones for more than a half century, longer is good. I like long stones. I do not care for water stones as the things dish quickly. Therefore if you have to have a water stone, a thick one would be better as truing the stone removes material. My truing stone removes the ends, because the stone gets thinner in the middle.


Let me recommend a coarse DMT 8 inch stone to set a bevel. A 200 grit water stone is aggressive. I have a 800 and 1000 grit and hardly ever use them. I am happy finishing my D2 edges with a medium india stone. That is the orange side of this combination stone.


k4wxpl1.jpg


About the only time I use a hard india, or a 800 grit water stone, is on a soft steel such as 1095. Soft steels will burr too fast on diamond stones, and even the medium india stone. I have to go to a less aggressive stone with soft steels. Something like this washita stone worked fine with 1055 or 1095 blades

HXQMCAF.jpg



A washita was iffy with 420 steel, I would create a rounded edges which feel dull with these hard, non aggressive stones. They were useless in creating a sharp edge on something like ATS34 or D2. Might as well be polishing a diamond.
 
If you do stop with a mid-grit stones, do strop. Even if it's just a bare strop.
You really aren't going to know the stones you like and the final edge you like until you sharpen and use the knife. Not everybody does things the same way.
There have been very credible pros and other sharpeners who stop at medium or even coarse stones, then strop. Other highly regardg ed sharpeners like a polished edge.

Some of this will also depend on the steel/heat treat as well as what is being cut and how. White steel cutting on a flat surface is different that D2 chopping hanging rope. Meat and most vegetables favor different edges.
 
Ourorboros said:
Some of this will also depend on the steel/heat treat as well as what is being cut and how. White steel cutting on a flat surface is different that D2 chopping hanging rope. Meat and most vegetables favor different edges.
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Ninety nine point nine percent of my cutting is with food. Turns out I eat often, and a lot! My standard for a sharp edge is a Roma tomato. If the steel/edge effortlessly slices a Roma tomato, I consider the knife sharp.

Ruminant animals can digest sisal fiber, so the knives of cows and sheep might have a different edge as they carve rope into eatable chunks. I don't recommend sisal for human consumption.
 
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UncleBoots said:
Depends on the stone. Shapton Glass stones and other dense stones like Suehiro Debado and Naniwa Hibiki do not dish quickly. Standard King stones do.
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What is your opinion on the Naniwa Hibiki? I've seen them for sale, but no reviews.

Also ditto on the stones. Shapton Glass stones are thin because they dish so slowly. Most King (not the Neos) and the Naniwa Green Brick are very thick because they dish so fast.
OTOH the soft stones also expose fresh abrasives.
 
Ourorboros said:
What is your opinion on the Naniwa Hibiki? I've seen them for sale, but no reviews.
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They are soakers, and extremely dense. It seems clear that they are designed for woodworking tools. Anyone who has worn a groove into a King stone doing significant work on a 1/4" wide chisel would really appreciate what they offer -- a stone that is extremely disinclined to wear.

I got them to try out for razor honing, and while they have not displaced my usual sequence, I found that, with a light touch, I could set the bevel on the 1000, and refine on the 3000 and 6000, and get excellent results to set me up for finer stones. So a fun variation, very viable, but they'd never be my primary recommendation for honing, if only because you don't need soakers for that.

Have not tried them for knives, but I could imagine them doing well. Hard to say for sure -- I should try that.
 
Gondvanaz said:
So, there's no difference between those three grits - 800, 1000, 1200? Also, will 6000 be an overkill for blades made of low quality steel? I have read that the high grits benefit only the high quality steel. Right now, I still don't work for myself, so don't see point in investing in good quality blades but in the future when I start running my own operation I may buy knives made of high quality steel and I think then those giant stones will come quite handy since I usually deal with pretty long knives.
Click to expand...
yeah those 3 are all so close. if you wanted you could probably use 30 stones getting from 120 to 30k stones but typically its easy to jump from 120 to say 500, 500 to 1200 etc. the bigger the jump the more time it takes on the stone to reach the desired finish and sharpness.
 
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