Whetstone Sharpening Stone SHAPTON Ceramic KUROMAKU #320 by Shapton

This is a good, even excellent, whetstone. For, it does the job, gives reasonable feedback (i.e. one can feel what one is doing), does not have any problem with slurry, and it does not seem to wear especially fast. I have used it with success on low-carbon knives and medium-carbon knives. I have not tested it on any very high carbon knife, though I imagine that it would work on such a knife. Other reviews here say that it does. The price is pretty good. I add the following (and in so doing I echo somewhat one of the other reviews). This remark of mine will concern medium or high-carbon knives, i.e. hard knives. If one is changing the angle of such a knife, and/or perhaps is the knife is really blunt, then one needs a coarse stone, like this one. For, under those conditions, using a less coarse stone makes it hard to get the knife sharp. (Still, what counts as less coarse? Perhaps 400 grit and above. Certainly 800 grit and above. But I'm talking about standard synthetic stones here. Matters might be different with diamond stones. As to natural stones, some of them are very hard, but at least most such stones will have a grit north of two thousand, which, for the sort of work at issue, will take forever.) I would not try to use the whetstone atop its box - as shown in one of the photographs provided by the seller. I imagine that that would work badly. One needs a proper whetstone holder. For _storing_ the stone, the box is fine, though I prefer the Naniwa boxes. (Incidentally: to my knowledge, Naniwa does not do a stone in the 300-400 grit range, at least not within its more serious lines of stones.)

Great stone!!!

I have a few whetstones, ranging in grit from 250 to 8,000 and I have been previously using my 8,000 grit stone to finish off my Global Knives - none of them in the price range of Shapton, to be fair. I've become reasonable adept at sharpening them freehand and they were pretty sharp, I wouldn't say razor sharp but very sharp nevertheless. This Shapton stone, at 12,000 grit, is a different level. I used a 3,000 then an 8,000 grit stone to get a really nice sharp edge and then went to work with my new Shapton 12,000. The stone I ordered came directly from Japan and the instructions were in Japanese. However, I did a bit of research and it was recommended that you soak the stone in water for about 5 or 6 minuted prior to first use. On further uses, it's not recommended to soak the stone as it can soften the stone. For future uses, the stone should be sprayed with water on the surface prior to use. Following use, once clean of any residual dirt, it should be allowed to dry prior to being placed back in the box. The finish you get using this stone is at another level to the stones I've used before. I found the blade edge was genuinely polished and is was unbelievably sharp. This stone is quite a bit more expensive than stones I've used before but I can see why. It is far superior in quality. I would highly recommend this stone for anyone who is serious about sharpening their knives. Genuine top quality product.

Works well. Takes down metal quickly and effortlessly, ready for the next stage. Definitely a must if you need to reprofile, thin, or correct chips etc. Or just to get a fast edge on an especially blunt knife. For a rough grit, this doesn't seem very soft, which I like. This stone should last a long time. I had an old 220G wet stone, it needed flattening after every use, didn't last long at all. Not the case here. My two cents on sharpening grits; I feel like new sharpeners are scared of coarse grits because they don't want to damage anything, so they tend to start at too fine a grit. It's important to remember the amount of material you remove to get from blunt to sharp is the same regardless of grit. The difference is how many strokes it takes you. It's not a small difference either, if you start with a blunt knife (butter knife) with a 220, 400, 1000, 3000. You could get a mirror polished, hair popping edge in about fifteen minutes, if you started with 1000 or 3000 you could genuinely be there for hours and not achieve what you want. And you would have used up a lot of expensive stone. You can get a shaving sharp edge with (skill) this stone and a strop. The finer grits get you a nice polished egde. Although I think it's generally accepted that 1000G is ideal for dressing a "not too blunt" knife.

🔹Kuromaku 1000 — The Sculptor Rough, direct, and unforgiving, but honest. 🔹 Kuromaku 2000 — The Craftsman Balanced, methodical, calm. 🔹 Kuromaku 5000 — The Poet Gentle, refined, elegant. 🔹 Kuromaku 12000 — The Mystic Silent, patient, otherworldly.

This is an ok stone that will certainly get the job done. However it does not have many advantages over a normal waterstone which you can pic up for much less. IT does wear so it's not as good as a quality diamond stone that will never wear pout though you would expect to pay more for theses. on balance i would either get a cheaper waterstone or save up and get a quality diamond stone instead.

Got to be the best whetstone I've bought so far (and I've bought a few). Gets my straight razor amazingly sharp very quickly. Would definitely recommend

It is very good sharpener ,very good quality