Thread: Are King stones good for stainless?

I have Edelstahl stainless steel knives. They are soft steel. I plan buy locally. Either Naniwa, Norton or King for the 1000 grit. Are King Stones good for stainless steel? I heard of Neo King that are good for stainless, but I don't think the ones at Leevalley are those.

Also I had been told that Naniwa stones had problems with gouging with knives. Has anyone experienced this?

Thanks

I've only had trouble with the King polishing stones 6k+ when it came to stainless. They are slower cutters and that also causes trouble with wear resistant steels.

Naniwa do tend to be softer and you have to be aware of you knife angles, but it's not to bad. I find the 4k Norton the softest stone that just melts away under hard steel knives. I've already used up one 4/8 combo's 4k side...

Naniwa Super stones can gouge but only if you can't control the stroke and the pressure.
If you have the funds you can try Naniwa Chosera they are harder stones than the Super Stones.
Another option that you might want to explore is Shapton Glass stones.

I personally would not go for any of your local choices.

Hi Binder;
I use a King Icebear 1000/6000 combo stone for bevel set. Many folks feel the 1000 grit King is more like 2000 grit. Maybe... Soak the King Stone for 30 min prior to getting slurry going. It will cut faster if you soak it. I like the control I get from the King Icebear 1000/6000 especially when I do not want to be too aggressive setting a bevel.

I’ve never used the Neo King stone. If you get one let us know what you think. The Naniwas and Norton’s are good stones too, from what I hear. Many folks use them, so I like to break from the standards. The 1000 Shapton is a true bevel setter and will do this very quickly. I may get one in the near future. The Shaptons are aggressive cutters, and will remove steel fast.

MIke

Hi Binder,

i have King 1000/3000 combo and i think it is ok. I've used it to sharpen my kitchen knives and tool blades as well. They are mostly carbon steel but King is ok with those few stainless kitchen knives as well.

Kings are good for just about any steel, in their own stubborn way. I'm learning to use pressure in some circumstances, then lightening up through the strokes. For instance, I always do 10 laps, then inspect the edge. The first two are heavy pressure, then I gradually let up until stroke #6 where I'm at "normal" blade weight and lighten up to ten. This has solved most of my problems with these blasted stones. Experiment.

Thanks for the advice
Which do you think would be better to learn knife sharpening on: Naniwa, Norton or King?

Just pick one and go, I say.

Originally Posted by binder

Thanks for the advice
Which do you think would be better to learn knife sharpening on: Naniwa, Norton or King?

All 3 will work, just depends on what you want to get out of the stone. The type of steel you have (to me) is more important in the process of picking stones. If the steel is more in line to a Wusthof or Henkels (53-56Rc) than you don't need anything past 2k, the steel just doesn't suport that kind of edge well. If the steel is harder than say 59Rc than you can look into higher grits for polishing the edge.

I see the King line of stones as bargin basement stones, they get the job done but with a cost, ya they are cheap in cost but slow cutting, good starting out.

Next I see Norton's than Naniwa's, they are both good stones that are reasonably priced and cut at a meduim rate.

The king neo 800 was made specifically for sharpening stainless steel.