Thread: water stones-razor vs kitchen.

Originally Posted by Vasilis

Indeed, the finish looks A LOT better with softer stones, that's why I like the king 1k and old red suehiro 1k. But I don't think the finish is more even. It only looks that way, the scratches look more uniform.
It's not hard to make them sharp, the hard part is keeping them looking like new after 10 years of continuous use, which I think is as important as the knife being sharp.

If one wants to do a quick and dirty job, just use uchigumori, or even plain slurry on a rag/paper towel. With practice the finish can be achieved on a the stones exclusively, but it takes time to master. This also is not too practical since it is irrelevant for food cutting IMHO.

Like above, softer stones for knives. Finish on something like a suita (which is comparable to any softer tomae type stone) on naturals. Provides a very sharp edge on hard steel, but one that looks even finish wise and doesn't look bright with a bunch of cobweb scratches all over it. The bullet hard razor stones that are popular right now don't have the right feel for a knife, and they don't self slurry.

For synthetics, same thing. i don't particularly care for a super bright uniform polish that is the craze right now on a lot of the powder metal and modern steel knives.

I actually sharpen all of my knives on a tri hone right now, using two generally, a fine india and a hard ark, and then strop the knife on leather. That includes two run of the mill japanese knives - one in blue #2 and another in VG 10 stainless. If I am so motivated, I will work the japanese knives on a suita from time to time, because it is the only large fine stone I have that will slurry a little bit on its own.

I'd rather sharpen these knives on a king 8k or one of the softer stones than a shapton. Chosera 10k only if soaked, but like I said, I don't have much of an appreciation for a bright polished bevel on a knife. I think it looks garish and it suggests playing or fiddling to get a visual finish vs. a good sharp working edge.