Posted By:
Christopher Willett -
verified customer2 people found this review helpful
Let me preface this by saying that this was, along with the Rika 5k, my first water stone and I don't have experience with other stones in this grit range. I taught myself how to sharpen with this stone and went from gouging the stone and scratching my German knives to being able to produce a very solid edge. The stone cuts well and even with dull knives (I've been sharpening friends knives now) it doesn't take very long with this stone to set a solid edge. It does not do a good job removing chips from stones or resetting a bevel on abused knives. I use an Atoma 140 for that now.I soak the stone for about 30 minutes. The stone creates a fair amount of mud relatively quickly. I usually work the knife for 5-10 minutes depending on size, dullness, and geometry, following the techniques shown in the videos here. This results in an edge that can cut paper easily, though not quite a hair shaving edge. I then proceed to the Rika 5k for only a few passes.The stone does dish relatively quickly, though that might be me using too much pressure. After 4 or knives I have to spend 2-3 minutes with the Atoma to flatten the stone. Given my lack of experience, this could be perfectly normal. The stone seems quite thick and I doubt that I'll wear it down to the point of tossing it any time soon. The small nagura that it comes with is helpful for cleaning up the sides, but I find the Atoma does a better job over all.The stone never completely dries out. It doesn't matter how long you leave it in the open air to dry, if you put it back in the box it came in within a day or so the box will start to mold. I now just leave the stone in the open air on a shelf along with my other sharpening implements.Was this rating helpful to you?
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