Quote Originally Posted by Vasilis View Post
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.