Shapton K0711 Blade, Murasaki 30000 Mirror Finish Grind

The kuromaku 220 and 320 are two must have stones for sharpeners. They are fast cutting and slow wearing stones that handle even steels like super blue at 65rc very well. Now they aren't for steels with high levels of tungsten and or Vanadium carbides but any of your lower alloy steels even if they are ran very hard these stones will do a fine job with. I sharpen zdp189 at 67rc on them all the time and they handle it very well, zdp189 is a high alloy steel with lots of carbides of course but it's chromium carbide mainly and these stones will cut chromium carbide efficiently and effectively. The kuromaku line of stones offers a lot of performance and quality for a very fair price. They are true splash and go stones and that's a huge plus and they aren't messy when sharpening as they don't create any mud, just swarf and they don't load up with steel so that's another huge plus. They come perfectly flat out the box and no lapping needed out the box and that's very nice! I really love these stones and have the full line of them except for the 30k as I don't have a need for it beings I have the 30k shapton glass stone and rarely if ever use the 30k except on straight razors maybe once or twice a year and the 30k stones are very expensive for something that isn't hardly ever used. The 120, 220 and 320 are the cherries of the kuromaku line, they are amazing stones and the extremely fast cutting they are capable of makes them a real gem and 3 that every sharpener should have in their arsenal. Out of the 3 coarse stones if you are only gonna get one I would suggest the 220 as the 320 isn't aggressive enough for heavy reprofiling or larger chip damage repair and the 220 is yet it's not as fast wearing at the 120 is and still cuts steel plenty fast. Personally I only use the 120 for thinning knives and the 220 is for reprofiling and damage correction. The 320 is my start stone to set a fresh bevel and remove fatigued steel on well used and dulled edges and that's what the 320 is perfect for, the 320 is also great if your looking for a fast cutting stone that's a one and done type stone for nice super toothy edges, you can finish on the 320 and have a very aggressive toothy edge if that's what your looking for. The 1k is the best all around stone for most people, it's the perfect one and done stone for home cooks and for general sharpening so long as there is little to no damage to the edge and your not trying to reprofile. The 1k leaves a very sharp edge with high level of keenness and good bite/tooth and is personally the stone I finish most of my cooking knives on as it's the perfect finish for general kitchen knives where you want high keenness but also with good bite. Knives that I use for cutting delicate pieces of fish they will be finished at 8 or 16k but those are knives that are for a specific purpose and require very high levels of keenness with very little bite. Every stone in the kuromaku lineup is very good and each grit has a purpose but for most people the 220, 1000, 5000 will be a pretty well complete set of stones that will cover all their needs. A lot of people will tell you go 320, 1k, 5k but trust me and go 220 instead of the 320 and you will thank me as soon as you have a big chip you need to sharpen out or you are wanting to reprofile a knife that's in a hard and wear resistant steel that's not to say the 320 isn't a great stone because it most definitely is but the 220 will serve most people better just for the fact that it will significantly speed up reprofiling and or damage correction over the 320 and most people aren't going to finish on the 320 anyhow they will go to at least the 1k. These are great quality stones and if you buy them you will be happy and you will have a quality sharpening set that will last you many years and provide you with high performance. The case they come with has great grip on the bottom so when you place the stone in the top of the holder and use it as a sharpening base everything will stay nice and stable for you so a stone vice isn't needed if you don't already have one, the case doubles as a storage case and a sharpening base. Get you some kuromakus and you will be happy!

I own all of the Shapton Pro stones except the 30k and they are all great, but not all necessary. 120 Grit is excellent for removing material but leaves deep scratches if you push to hard, this stone is very coarse and is medium wearing compared to other Shapton stones, but still wears slower compared to other companies. I use this stone for fixing chips etc. but if there is an excessive amount of material to remove I'll use a diamond as this is not as fast as a diamond plate. 220 Grit is good for working out minor chips but wears pretty fast. It will last you hundreds of sharpens but you will visibly see the stone wearing each sharpen. I would say this stone wears faster than the 120. If I could do it over I would skip this one or buy it in Glass form. It does the job but I'm not that crazy about it. 320 Grit is excellent as well, and can fix minor chips or restore a dull edge pretty fast. It wears slower than the 220 but faster than the 120 in my experience. Like the 320 you will see a mud coming off the stone but at a slower pace than the 220. A great stone and worth a buy, but once again it's better in Glass form. If you were to finish on this stone it would leave an aggressive toothy edge. 1000 Grit is excellent, a coarse medium stone that is more comparable to an 800 grit. Feels great to sharpen on, wears slow and can sharpen up a dull edge and is a great stone after the 320. This was my go to stone, that is till I got the 1500. This stone will leave a toothy edge if finished on. 1500 Grit is one of my favorites, its a medium stone that is not as coarse as the 1k but in the middle of the road of the medium grit range. It feels smooth but also feels like it is doing a great job cutting. It is slow wearing and it feels more like a 1k then the actual 1k stone and is definitely worth a buy. Still leaves a toothy edge if finished on. The 2000 Grit is my favorite, its on the finer side of the medium range and feels excellent, smooth, and almost as if this is where the polishing starts but the stone still cuts a decent amount. The stone is very slow wearing and can easily last a lifetime or years and years depending on how much you sharpen. But out of the 1k, 1.5k, and 2k if you can only afford one I would go with the 1.5k. Simply because if you are coming from a 320 you only need one of these stones, and 1.5k is the perfect progression from the 320 and can also be sharpened on by itself to touch up an edge where the 2k may be a little to fine and take much longer. Leaves a finer toothy edge which feels really nice. The 5000 Grit is where the polishing begins. It doesn't have the greatest feedback but cuts and polishes up an edge with no problem. A necessary stone in my opinion. This is where the polished edges begin, you can still get a toothy edge from this if you don't stay on it to long, but if you spend a bit more time on it the edge will become polished. The 8000 Grit is great and where a mirror polish really starts to happen. Like the 5k it doesn't feel the best but does the job no problems. This stone is where most people would end on as their progression and for good reason. A great stone and best to jump to after the 5k. But if you can't afford two polishing stones you can jump to this after 1.5k but will spend more time on it than if you came from the 5k. Leaves a fine polished edge. 12000 Grit is another excellent polishing stone, feels really smooth and not much feedback like all the Pro polishing stones. But it does its job and offers a decent mirror polish. It will still leave micro scratches if you look closely but still creates a great mirror polish. Not necessary but using this stone as a final stone gives really razor sharp results. Obviously it leaves a very fine polished edge. 30000 I don't have this one! I will update whenever I get it, have to pay taxes and simply cannot afford it right now. I mean I can but I'm not going into my savings account to buy a stone I don't need.

Let the slurry build up until it's like wet mud. Unlike diamond stones that show up gritty but lose most of it after five minutes -- if you want a 320-grit diamond stone you have to buy a 220-grit -- this water stone keeps its grit. And unlike diamond stones, it doesn't constantly clog up, which diamond stones do even with a honing liquid to lift out the swarf. You may need a piece of sacrificial steel to get the slurry going. (I'm using the iron from the cheapest block plane they had at Home Depot.) Or maybe not. Warning: When it shows up, you'll feel the surface and be disappointed. It's not sharp like #120 sandpaper. I think the surface wears as you go, and the slurry holds the grit that does the work. I was disappointed until I was flattening a spokeshave iron. I was growing increasingly frustrated, but then all of the sudden I heard it start to grind or cut, and in a few minutes the stone did what it would have taken a few hours to accomplish with my DMT 220-grit diamond stone. Obviously, this stone is for heavy work. Because these stones are splash-n-go, they're incredibly convenient. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have only bought these, and have a progression of grits. I got the Shapton 12,000-grit stone for Christmas, and I couldn't be happier with it. Do they stay flat? Yes and no, depending on what you need. If you're sharpening an iron for a smoothing plane, then you need to worry about the smallest variations; if you're sharpening knives, you have more room to play with. I have an el-cheapo dressing stone, so I use that and my other stones against each other and it seems to be working fine. (I think you can get flatness with just three stones, but the cheap dressing stone is helping by making a bridge between this stone and the higher-grit stones.) I flatten with every use, so it takes very little time -- and is oddly satisfying. Will diamond stones outlast these Shaptons? Sure. Why not? Will diamond stones last a lifetime? Yes, but only if you plan to live as long as a large-breed dog. A coworker has a set of DMT stones with the diamond clearly worn off much or most of the surfaces. He happily sharpens away on surfaces that are part diamond, part exposed steel, but that's okay, because diamond stones are just the super-duper bestest! Are there better stones that these Shaptons? Sure. Why not? If you find them and the price is right, buy 'em. This is about getting the best you can afford, not brand loyalty. Until then, my long-term plan is to collect a functional, if incomplete, set of these. I am very satisfied.

I had been completely happy with my sharpening system. Quality diamond stones, coarse, fine and extra fine, and then I would strop with either chromium oxide (the green stuff) or diamond paste. it was fast, easy and very affordable, when you consider that the stones will last a lifetime. Then i got a Shapton ceramic glass stone 6000. It also is a "splash n go" so not all of the mess associated with water stones, it cuts really fast and was easy to flatten (i use my coarse diamond for this) and it put nice polish on my steel, but i still had to strop. Well, enter the Shapton Kuromaku 12000. I just sharpened a brand new Veritas 2 1/2" wide PM-V11 plane iron. it took less then five minutes, two on the 6000 two on the 12000 and one min. to put the blade back in the plane. oh, and yes, the hairs on my arm were jumping off before the edge was even near them. Perfect performance from the plane, stropping unnecessary. It looks like touching up my edges can be done with these two stones faster and more easily than ever before. i'll still keep my strop clamped to my bench to maintain the edge of chisels while I'm using them, and don't want to drag out my stones, spray bottle and sharpening jig, (Yes, I use a jig to establish a micro bevel, and using the strop will round that over a bit. Maybe there are some who can accurately maintain a micro bevel on a strop, but I'm not one of them) but at the end of the day, I'll touch up the edges on my stones, and I don't need stropping when coming directly off of the 1200, so next time i pick up those chisels they're super sharp with a perfect micro bevel. You should probably get this stone.

Nice finishing stone for straight razors, it's about as good as my naniwa 12k, I use this after a naniwa 8k then this And then a couple laps on the naniwa 12k or Chinese 12k, had to lap it out of box, had some rough spots , but works well now, can't go wrong with this or a naniwa 12k! This stone does cut metal, it's more aggressive then naniwa 12k, thick hard stone and has good feedback,when the blade starts sticking I know the raozrs about ready, highly recommend.

I’ve owned shapton stones for years and have always been happy with them! Saw this higher grit stone, 12,000 grit, for a great price and gave it a try! Part number is the same as the old stones and works as well as the old ones that I use to pay $100+ USD for! Very happy with the finish from this stone and easy to resurface after each use! It’s also nice that you don’t have to soak these before use! Spritz them with water and good to go!!

I bought the 12k as an alternative to using sandpaper to finish off edges after a sequence composing of a DMT EF/EEF followed by the Shapton and then the two sides of a Spyderco Ceramic Ultrafine. One side of the Spyderco UF is finished with the EEF which I use to prepare for a mirror polish on lapping film afterwards. The 12k is close to 1-2 microns (Decimals... Decimals) which is finer than say, 3k wet/dry sandpaper. It produces polished/mirror edge, but not if you're using a chisel or large flat surface of a grind as a benchmark. The large flats turn out to something closer to 3000-5000 grit sandpaper at times but just wiping them on lapping 1 micron or smaller lapping film/polish compound on wood instantly produces a mirror edge. If you use any compound or lapping film you can refine the finish afterwards to a practical mirror finish. Edit: See below. I am wrong about my impressions about it being a 3k-5k sandpaper equivalent, you must allow the stone to load up. I'll see if I can update this review to see what I end up finding out about the usability of this stone in the long term as part of a finisher sequence. I doubt I am putting in as much wear as anyone who uses a set of waterstones as I already have use the Spyderco UF (one side polished to be finer than the stock surface) to refine the edge into a hazy under magnification mirror finish. It just reduces the time spent with submicron lapping film to get a fine mirror like finish. I was hoping that at 12k it would put on a finish close to finer lapping film but I suspect the lack of give might be it. It is definitely more durable than lapping film/sandpaper however. Edit: If you want a fine finish I have found you want to ensure some buildup occurs with this stone. See attached photo. This is an absolute must, do not clean the stone between sharpenings, do not level it with a diamond plate, leave the embedded swarf in it. Softer steels tend to really build up whereas harder steels will laugh at you until you apply a lot of pressure and then you risk nicking the stone surface. It will give you something between a true mirror or a cloudy/mildly scratchy mirror finish. It will not slow the stone down, you will get an incredible finish. You will want to go for 60-120 strokes with mild pressure if you have one like mine to approach a mirror finish. A warning: It is a "softer" stone. If you apply pressure on a edge forward stroke and tip the knife it will happily gouge it. If you have to apply pressure, do it on a edge backwards stroke and avoid dragging the tip.

Use this as a finishing stone for my planer blades and chisels. Produces a razor sharp mirror finish.