Fine Grain Sharpening Stone - #8000

I only sharpen chisels, plane blades, and woodworking marking knives with water stones and this is the first one I've bought that came with a nagura stone. it seems soft, creates a slurry right away, and does a great job of creating sharp edges on my Japanese style chisels and plane blades (and the occasional marking knife). As I said, it's my first time with this type of stone and I really like the results I get - it seems like the edges are sharper than I've gotten before, but I AM an amateur and not an expert, but I think this has just upped my freehand sharpening game. However, I think that it would be easy to score/nick the surface because it feels so soft - haven't done so, but my best guess. Will buy more when this wears out.

Good feel and feedback. Great finishing stone. Mirror finish.

Very nice and high quality

I have been using a Chosera 3000 for a while now and developed great feel on this stone and learned to get my Japanese and German cutlery very sharp. Now the edge doesn't finish with that shiny polished look but the knives were very sharp. I didn't think I needed the finishing stones. I went ahead and purchased this Kitiyahma 8000 to try - seemed expensive to 'try'.So this stone works so very very well, I am really surprised at the effect of the finish on the knife. So full disclosure I am not a sharpening expert, but have experience on soak stones, and the Chosera my first nice quality stone. I say that to say this: This stone feels a little gummy to me to be honest - like the shards are sticking to the stone as a layer off some steel. I clean it, and use the little stone to create a slurry, then keep going.The difference is the blade becomes shiny and polished, but that isn't the end of it. The knife blade becomes so much sharper and refined after about 20 minutes (I'm slow). It feels like smooth magic on the steel rod after I finish a session and it goes through veggies with absolutely no effort. It definitely takes the edge to another degree of sharpness.Worth it? Absolutely, LOL.. I'm blown away at the finishing at the higher grit levels. This stone has put some excitement back into sharpening my knives because done right.This is definitely a splash and go. But it comes with a little white stone. I get the stone wet, rub the little while stone on the big stone for about 20 seconds and a creamy slurry forms. Ready to go!

As of October 2018, my stone came with a fixed wooden base and a nagura stone. It came intact without any damage to overseas, so I am happy with the shipping. The stone itself was fairly flat and it took 1 or 2 minutes to make it completely flat with a diamond plate. Nagura stone cleans the steel residue very well and puts a slurry to save you some strokes to begin actual sharpening. You don't need to soak this stone. It doesn't produce any air bubbles in water. Just put some water on top and use it. Stone has a nice soft feeling and a good feedback. It removes material in a reasonable time from hard hand plane blade steel. Stone is very large and perfect for large jointer plane blades. It gives a near mirror polish. Just a couple touch to leather strobe after this stone puts a razor sharp mirror edge. I definitely recommend without hesitation..

Incredible stone. True 8k+. Has amazing feedback and a very soft and creamy feeling when sharpening. Puts a amazing mirrored polish on your edge as long as you had a good grit progression up to it. Its very thick too and will last for years. I like the base too, its convenient and gets the stone plenty high off the table to clear your knuckles for any shape knife. I also have the Arashiyama 6k to precede this which is made by the same people in Kyoto, Japan and I highly recommend both. Great price for the quality, but seems to be going up so get it while you can. I would most Definetly be buying another if I ever need to.

This is one freakishly nice whetstone. My general weekly sharpening upkeep consists of using a 1000 grit, a 6000 grit, and sometimes this 8000 grit. It will put a mirror-finish on your edge better than factory that you could shave your arm with. I cook professionally and while I consistently use this on my paring knife, I am a bit hesitant when it comes to my chef knives due to the fact that it makes the edge so fine I worry about chipping while on the line. I use a Wusthof or Takamura for my chef knives and generally I will keep one sharpened on this stone for prep(and fun) and I won't go higher than 6000 on the one I'm using on the line(normally the Wusthof). I actually have used knives finished with this on the line and haven't had any issues but it makes me a bit hesitant during the rush only because I dread a microchip and having to buff it out on a low grit after work. All in all though, I've never used anything that puts an edge on a knife even remotely as sharp and beautifully as this whetstone.

Am I missing something?It seems be well made, and it's reasonably large. If I were judging this stone purely on those, I'd say it's fantastic. But judging by the scratches it seems to be substantially more coarse than a King 6k, particularly when the included nagura is used. And normally I would judge a stone's approximate coarseness by the edge it leaves, but I can't seem to remove the burr with this stone. I've never had this problem with a stone before. I suspect the reason is that the abrasive particles are relatively dull, but I can't be sure. Regardless, I can't seem to get a clean edge off this stone.Seems to be difficult to use and inferior in almost every way to a King 6k or a Naniwa Traditional, I think even a Soft Arkansas would mostly do the same job better.