Thread: Info on Henckels hones... Whatcha think?

So I got this email from Henckels answering some questions I had about their whetstones/hones:

"Hello I apologize for the delay.

We do not give out our suppliers but these are made for us by a leading
supplier in Japan who is expert in this field.

TWIN Finishing stone and TWIN stone pro are made of WA, white Alumina.

Raw materials are imported from China and are purifying material in
Japan.

Those stones are synthetic stone and there are two types of stone.

One is vitrified type stone, which was mixed with ceramic material,baked
and molded at quite high, as like 1200 degrees.

The other one is resinoid stone, which ours is, are made by resinoid. It
means stones were mixed with sort of resin and baked around 400 degrees.

Normally whetstone has to soak in the water before using, because
normally those are baked at high temperature and dried-out, but our type
was molded by resin so that sharpening can be started soon after just
putting some water before start re-sharpening. Also this type is not
fragile as vitrified type so that it is much easier to handle.

They said they are producing not only whet stone for knife but polishing
agent of lens and other precision instruments, so that quality is much
reliable against other sharpening stone maker.

- Products produced by a company in Japan for Henckels.

- synthetic ceramic stones.

- made in Japan.

They get rave reviews by experts on knife forum sites. The polishing
stones (#8000 or higher) are considered as best around, producing the
finest mirror polish. The stones at other grits are considered among the
best.

- Convenient box with rubber feet, raising the stone to a comfortable
height for sharpening and assuring a non-slip stand

- Perfect grit stepping for best sharpening results with all kind of
metal knives. Once you have both stones, you can perform all potential
sharpening jobs, from edge repair to the brightest mirror finish.


So when comparing the following, how do you think these Henckels would rank?

-Norton combos 220/1k, 4k/8k
-Shapton Glass 1k, 4k, 8k
-Henckels combos 250/1k, 3k/8k

All sets would be the same price. I'm mainly deciding between the Norton and Henckels, but since Jende is having a sale the Shaptons became very affordable, so could you comment on them?

Sounds pretty good how they describe them.
I'd give them a try.

Of course they sound good how they describe them. Kia car salespeople make their cars sound good too. But then go drive a kia and a bmw and tell me whatcha think.

I tend to think of these rebranded stones (global, henckels, etc) as middle-man stones. I like to cut out the middle man whenever I can. Plus, they aren't selling them for free. They have to make a buck, so you probably aren't getting the best bang for your buck.

I really dig my shaptons for cutting speed, slow dishing, no soaking, consistency, blah blah blah, and the list goes on.

If you get the nortons, then whenever you have an issue with your stone, you'll have a thousand plus one others who can help you out. Get the shaptons and you'll only have a thousand who can help ya...

Get the henckels, and then come tell us about your problems. We'll all just shrug our shoulders and say something along the lines of "that must suck..."

Norton boxes function as stone holders which helps for table top honing. With the henckels and shaptons you have to come up with your own solution, but that's no big deal. Just pointing out a pro/con.


PLEASE email them back and ask for links to all these rave reviews by experts on knife forum sites.... Never seen one rave review, myself..... Unless they mean something like "Naniwa makes our stones, and naniwa gets great reviews, so our henckels are getting great reviews vicariously through the naniwa name..."

I didn't vote because I don't have enough razor honing experience. However, I just decided on the shaptons and I'll be ordering the from jendeindustries shortly.

The reason is that I had a whole variety of people tell me that they sold their nortons after trying the shaptons. With the sale going on, you can get the 1k, 4k and 8k for about $130, and for just over $200 you can get all of that PLUS the 16k.

Add to that the fact that nobody around here has heard of them or tried them, and they look even less attractive.

Great idea!
Just found a comment on the german knife forum that somebody uses
"Naniwa (Twin Stone Pro)"

Der Sprung von 1000 zu 6000 ist schon etwas gross. Eine gute Regel ist, die Koernung in x 3 oder x 4 Spruengen zu verfeinern. Ich verwende den Naniwa Super Stone (ZWILLING TWIN Stone Serie) in 1000 - 3000 - 8000 und komme damit gut zurecht. Wenn Du einen 'Zwischenstein' kaufen moechtest, kann ich somit den Super Stone in 3000 empfehlen. Oder kaufe Dir gleich den TWIN Finishing Stone Pro (3000 / 8000, basierend auf dem Super Stone). Der ist nicht so viel teurer als der Naniwa 3000, und die 8000er Seite ist noch mal eine Steigerung zum King 6000.

Guess there should be a way to proof they are Naniwa in fact.

ok, here it is:
www.messerforum.net/showthread.php=Twin+Stone+Pro

Lesslemming (who is also a member here and quite a hone expert) confirmed / got his info confirmed by the other guy who posted it.

As a knife sharpener, sharpening a Henckel up to 8K is unnecessary IME. The relatively soft stainless steel just doesn't hold such a refined edge very well, and I have personally felt the edge degrade within minutes of use. I have found that 4-6K is the most they can take, but these knives really perform amazingly well at #1,500 - 3K. Here is an interesting discussion (that got totally side tracked) on the topic.

Because of this fact, I feel that Henckel is out of their area. They should know better that their knives won't necessarily benefit from higher grit stones and then stand by that fact. It is also "just an accessory" to thier main product lines. It seems, though, that they are trying to tap into the higher end Japanese knife/stone market nonetheless.

Personally, I think anyone with a serious knife or hone addiction would steer clear of these simply because although Henckels may be high end knives for a household, they have a completely different ranking in the professional chef knife world.

I would be interested to see where they stand, though.

Edit: I think you know my vote!

Well maybe they wanted to cover the entire range, since they also still make razors.

So the Henckels are Naniwa's? That means I know just have to decide between them and the Shaptons. Btw, the Henckels cases also serve as bases with rubber feet. Jende, I will definately have an order in to you by the 13th, if there is an order to be made. I'm really on the fence.

Olivia- vielen Dank! Sie helfen mir so oft! In my skew version of German I read the same thing you did. many many thanks for sticking with me through this Henckels ordeal.

Pleasure, Khaos!
(Curious myself )