@t.michaelbodine4341 thx. For the kind comment :)

@t.michaelbodine4341 thx. For the kind comment :)

@@smorgishborg7789 thanks for the kind comment. I have more content coming i just need to get some personal stuff sorted :)

For only one stone its a bit hard. because if you knife dulls it will take very long to sharpen on 5k only. I would look into a double stone with 1000/3000 grits. Or if you are insisting on only one i would go for Suehiro Ouka (3000) instead of the rika. A very similar stone, but a little faster :) Naniwa Aotoshi (2000) is also something to consider, although not as fast as the ouka. Even a 1000 grit stone will give you a good edge, here you can look at the Suehiro Ld 101. its an excellent stone

Not a pro here, just purely my opinion: 1. bur is "dangling" material from the grinding of metal. In theory, each progression will create a bur as each progression grit will grind off some material. The more coarse the stone, the quicker the bur creation. 2. as long as the stone is harder than the knife, any stone will sharpen the knife. It is the matter of how quickly the knife will be sharpened and how mirror finished the edge becomes. Ex, it will take 20 mins to sharpen a dull knife by hand with a 18000 grit whetstone.

The cult following thing is right about so many things. If it works it works :) sharpening equipment is alot about personal preference. But you cant deny that theese stones are silky smooth to work on :)

I've read quite a few reviews about this range of stones, and if I summarise them, the best seem to be #320, #1500, #2000, #8000. That doesn't mean that the other stones in the range are bad... But these stand out. The #1000 is actually closer to a #700/800) and digs much faster than the #1500 or #2000. The #5000 give a nice polish but is sorely lacking in feeback. The most popular of the range seems to be the #2000. In my opinion, you can get crazy sharp knive using only #320 + #2000, and a leather strop. Increasing the fineness of the grain will give you more shine and polish, but in my opinion it is far from essential, especially if you use stropping compounds after sharpening. Hope this help.

What's your view*

anyone worth listening to would say... it depends on what you need them for. knife bros on the net are some of the "smartest" humans alive today. They don't understand for instance that different stones are for different purposes and think any 1000 grit stone is just the same as any other 1000 grit. SG320 imo is a better bet than the 500. But I'd take a 400 chosera over either any day and twice on sunday. The only other stone I'd maybe consider next to the chosera 400 is a 320 grit hard resin diamond stone I have. The chosera is still vastly more enjoyable but diamonds abrade very quickly and work on anything so in some alternative world where you can only have 1, I might choose that. king neo 800. another all time great stone. twice as fast as messy chosera 800 yet it wears much slower. the contrast finishes it's able to achieve on anything from soft iron to stainless is equivalent to the 800 chosera but it's faster and vastly better suited for doing edge work. it will cut any tenacious steel like say 10v or maxamet or whatever other thing edc bros foam over. I think it's a vastly better stone than either the 800 or 1k chosera. the SG4K and 3k chosera are both very nice intermediate stones but the finish they leave is much different. The SG is finer and leaves a much brighter finish also cuts faster, but the chosera finish looks much nicer to the eye. They're otherwise fairly similar in how they wear and release grit 3k ouka is a soaking stone which is is mostly suitable to doing wide bevels and tools like that moreso than secondary bevel edge work. I think it's a really good soaking stone but I mostly use the 5k rika. either the ouka or rika will be a lot finer than similar grit rated cerax stones because cerax is essentially an entire line of medium stones whereas the ouka and rika are finishing stones. These are the kind of details average folks don't know about. etc. I only use stones like these for wide bevels and would rarely if ever consider them if all that's needed is edge work. idk what my favorite finishing stone is. I have a lot of them. an 8k sg costs like $100 whereas you can get a 15 mm 10k chosera for like $60 on amazon japan in the US. I'd have to say the Naniwa super stones are my favorite finishing stones. They are softer than most other stones because they are resin bound. These things can do things other stones cant when it comes to finishing and polishing. anyone would be fine with either the 5k, 8k, 10k, or 12k. I have the 5k and 12k. Again, you can get a 12k ss in 10 mm for like $50-60 on amazon Japan, few dollar more like $60 to $70 for 20 mm version. 400 chosera. 800 neo. 3k chosera. and 12k ss. would be an amazing 4 stone set. total cost off amazon japan? less than $200. but. theres so many other amazing stones available for all kinds of different uses. I love shapton pros. the 120, 320, 1k, 2k, and any of the finishing stones, 5k, 8k and 12k... all excellent choices. Only things you need to know is these are the hardest and slowest wearing stones around, they release very little grit, cut well, don't work great for wide bevels, the 220 and 320 are SIC and much more friable than any of the others like say the very hard white alumina 120. the 1k is actually about 700 grit. and that's about it.

Its the equivalent of 100~ usd for the 1000 grit one near my place

Bro you can use 320 to sharpen, in fact it's better to use a coarse stone to sharpen your knife, since it takes much less time and effort to sharpen them. Also it's beginner friendly. I absolutely loved this advice from Alex, since I brought a cheap Chinese coarse diamond stone, which is not as good stone as he used, but still gets the job done. Also I was able to learn sharping on this due to its speed and coarseness. Now , I am upgrading to a better quality diamond stone along with a shapton

Right on the money. I've heard "Burrfection" perpetuate this idea of "polishing agents" as well. Always wanted to leave the comment you basically just did

@@AnarchAngel1 His content is good for brining in newbs into the hobby and introducing them and making it popular, but in terms of actual useful information his videos are quite bad, loaded with tons of inaccurate information and not actually very informative on a technical level. He talks a lot about sentiments and "feelings" of things rather than actual an analysis of the facts. One thing about all Naniwa stones is the grit distributions are very finely tuned. Every single stone they make leaves an aesthetic pleasing scratch pattern on the steel. Choseras are the most versatile "do it all" stones they make which excel for both edges and bevel work, polishing, finishing, everything. The one weak areas is true grinding and shaping as the 400 is the most course Chosera stone they make now. they used to have a 320 but its gone. You are intended to use the 220 from the traditional line, there are two of them, one is pink and uses a harder binding with alumina and the other is green which is a green silicon carbide stone that wears faster than the pink but has more power. I prefer the Shaptons for the lowest grits. The 120 shapton pro is an extremely hard and slow wearing white alumina stone and the 220 and 320 are true SNG silicon carbide stones. They wear faster than the white 120 and they can grind steels like 10v without issue.

@@jeffhicks8428 I'm not a fan of his channel for those very reasons. I'm not a huge fan of Choseras because of how delicate they are and I'm not a huge fan of Super Stones unless I need a finishing stone. I don't think any of them are actually effective grinding stones even though they make a 220. I need to give the traditional line a try. I have the 220 and 320 Ha No Kuromaku stones. I like them a lot, they're fast and friable. If you watch your pressure they don't wear as badly as people like to make it sound. The 220 is probably my most used coarse stone. I actually just bought another because my first is starting to get pretty thin Edit: One Naniwa stone I really like is the Aotoishi, colloquially known as the Green Brick of Joy. Doesn't do so hot with hard, high carbide steels but it's like magic for your average stainless steel kitchen knife. Does well on traditional high carbon as well but anytime I want to finish a cheap kitchen knife in an impressive way that thing is king

you can't just compare SNG stones to soaking stones. or stones from entirely different lines intended for entirely different uses. they are not equivalent nor interchangeable. Chosera stones are intended to be hybrids. They're supposed to look and feel like traditional stones while actually being modern SNG stones. They are quite unique which is why I think so many folks like them. There is no info and no where to find it. you have to do what anyone else had to do which is buy them all and learn for yourself. 99% of the things i hear and read about them online is obvious nonsense. most folks have no clue what they're talking about. the 2k "cuts almost as fast" because they're both medium aka sharpening stones. you don't "need" both. you're "supposed" to get 1 stone from each category to make a "set." but also know what you're getting and why. the 120 to 320 are the course aka grinding stones. the 220 and 320 are SIC and different from all the other stones in the line. the 1k, 1.5k and 2k are the sharpening stones. The 5k, 8k and 12k are the finishing stones. and you are right about the actual grit of the 1k. The 8k shapton claims was developed for finishing knives whereas the 12k was developed for finishing woodworking tools but does it really matter? no. I have the 5k and 12k, but you could easily just the 8k and be just fine and happy. I have all of the rest of them minus the 1.5k. I think they're great. If I knew then what I know now, I'd likely get, 120, 320, 1k, 2k and 8k. I like SG finishing stones much more. but naniwa super stones are prob my favorite finishers of all. cerax stones are entirely different from chosera or any shapton. they are more like the naniwa traditional stones, except that they are actually modern stones and suitable for stainless steels. I also find the naniwa traditional stones to be harder and less friable than cerax stones which tend to be quite friable, they release grit readily and wear very fast with high pressure. They're suited for wide bevel work... and a light touch. basically modern versions of a traditional waterstone.

😁 tu as été frappé par le virus , moi aussi 😅

Looking to find a 2 stone setup coming from a cheaper combo stone that needs to be replaced. What do you think about the following: Naniwa 400/3000, 800/3000 or naniwa 400 or 800 with a Shapton Pro 2000? I looking to maintain mostly Japanese kitchen knives (shiro/aogami) but also have a few vg10 and western stainless blades that get a little more abuse. I was also considering a 3 stone setup like 400/1000/3000 to have a little more versatility since some of the knives will be duller than others. Would love to hear your suggestions since you own most of these.

@@muckeyn I would for sure include the 400 or 600. Both are medium course stones, they're not true course stones. I find 2 stone combos easier on the shaton side but the 400/3k and the 600/2k are both very popular 2 stone combos on the choseras. Honestly the 400 chosera is almost certainly finer than the finest cheapo stone you've had. I tried a "3000/8000" cheapo stone from amazon and realistically it's like 300/800 at best. Can't even compare junk like that to a chosera. If you're just doing edges, I'd consider a shapton. 220 glass or 320 pro which is SIC and cuts any steel with ease paired with something like the 2k glass or pro. Any combo of any of these stones would be legit.

@@user-xf4es7eh9y so my combo is 320/1000. For my Japanese knives I’ve been only maintaining them with the 1000 and a leather strop and have been happy with the results. I use the 320 sparingly for the western knives that get more abuse (mostly wife). Those get dull (rough paper cutting) but not chipped or anything. The 400 seems like it would be great on those knives but is it overkill to start on my Japanese knives? I understand 400/3000 is a common combo and an okay jump. But would having a 800/1000 stone be worthwhile? I’ve read of people loving the shapton 2000 for maintaining sharpish knives which is why I was considering it as well. What 2 stone combo would you go with for the shapton side? Budget isn’t really a concern although I’d like to keep everything as simple as possible. I’ve been known to turn basic hobbies into collections so I’d like to have some restraint as far as sharpening goes 😅