Thread: Japanese Knife Sharpening Hones

Well, thanks to Dwarvenchef's suggestions, I had a package arrive from Japan the other day, with a nice G3 Santoku knife I gifted my wife.

She liked it so much, and was reading the literature that came with the knife: "It says for best results, sharpen with Japanese natural hones. You should go and buy some hones."

Ray this is nice excuse to buy more Japanese stones for yourself. I got to try this too. hope it will work.

You dog Ray! Talk about working the system! Sure you didn't plant the note?

Later,
Richard

Oh boy..
now be careful because Japan produces not only great stones but also great knives..

My wife loves the one I got her, same one you got by the way They CAN be sharpened on regular synthetics just fine... But why pass on such an opportunity

I use Shapton GS in 1k and 3k than hit the Norton 8k to finish it. Works great for the knives at the house

Originally Posted by DwarvenChef

They CAN be sharpened on regular synthetics just fine... But why pass on such an opportunity

I told her this, and no, she now insists on me buying a japanese waterstone for me to hone her knife. Any recommendations for one (or two ) that will also work with razors?

I'm still working on J-Nats for my razors, and they act differently with knives (sort of..). Depending on your experience with hard thin kitchen knives (fine edged knives) I would recommend different grits. Personally I don't take my own knives past the 8k range, as I like that edge vs the work it takes to get there. My wife likes a less sharp edge and I stop at 3k for her knife. When she asks me to sharpen it I use the Shapton Glass Stones, 1k than finish on the 3k, She loves it and that works for me.

So in a J-Nat I'd be looking for a quality aoto and a Nagura to work it with. Aoto's tend toward the 2-3k range (I want one also) so that may work for you.

I prefer Japanese synthetic stones for my kitchen knives though. Reasons are many but I feel the more angular abrasives favor cutting knives over razors, but thats my view on it. Also the knives tend to wear stones faster and I don't want to wear out my J-nats faster than I need to... But I also sharpen knives more than the average home user I usually have a knife of some sort on the stones every 3 to 4 days a week. So wear is a concern to me.

I generally think of naturals as carbon steel stones. That's my preference so i just dont know stainless. G3 is stainless isn't it? i dont even know what the different steels are. (my interest is just that low)

Santoku are great though. Maybe just a good ole med hard suita.

Cool! Thats a green light to fill the house with J-Nats lol..!

I only have one, a Nakayama Maruichi, but its an awesome stone and puts great edges on a razor. I've also shaved with an asagi edge that Dylan honed and thats super sharp but smooth as anything. It was the experience of shaving with that razor that prompted me to get a J-Nat as well!