Anything wrong with this stone?

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freeman45

Joined
May 24, 2015
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Hello guys, my kitchen & pocket knives are so dull right now, I'd like to buy my first whetstone to fix them up.
But I need to run it past the experts first, before I drop any cash.

Ebay has a handful of 1000/3000 grit stones for cheap. All japanese "Suehiro toishi" brand.
Are these things garbage, or do they actually work? Should I be spending more $$ on a better stone?
They don't list the materials used, which kinda worries me.

And my kitchen knives are really dull, like barely cut a tomatoe dull. Should I be starting off with a lower gritt, or can I manage with 1000 ?
I'd hate to buy a 400/1000 stone to fix up my knives, and then never need the 400 gritt ever again. I think a 1000/3000 stone would give me more practical use in the future, once the knives are all touched up. Right?



This is what they look like, is it possible to tell what material it is based on the colour?
XRLqXvZ.jpg
 
What kind of steels do you have in your kitchen knives and pocket knives? Japanese wet stones can be good, not great on the harder steels though.

I would suggest a smiths tri hone or a spyderco sharp maker with the coarse diamond stones for reprofiling. Either one of those would probably give you better results right off the bat than if you started sharpening with Japanese stones. Sharpening is an acquired skill...if you're just going for the results as quickly as possible, Japanese stones aren't the simplest approach.
 
I'm not sure about the steel.

Money is an issue, I don't want to spend more than $40-50 on this. So I think a stone might be my only option.
I've practiced on my fathers stone, so I got a general idea. I just need to find the right stone.
 
There's a lot of crap sold on ebay. Remember if it sounds too good to be true, it's a waste of money. Good water stones are not cheap. If you choose to go with those, and they turn out to be decent stones, it will take a while to get the edges in good condition. A courser stone is a must regardless of how little you think you will use it. You may want to consider a 600 grit stone to bring the edge to a good toothy edge and go up from there depending on how smooth you want the edge. I take my kitchen knives to a slicing edge in steps, 600,800.1000, 1500 and then 2000. I find it takes less time for each stone. I have gone from 600 to 1000 before and it takes a while to lose the toothiness and get the edge clean.
 
No idea on the stone.

However, if things are really dull, 1000 grit is going to take FOREVER to clean it up with anything resembling decent steel.

I sharpen "on the cheap" with a pack of wet/dry automotive sandpaper. Go to autozone/o'Rileys/Nappa etc, and buy the variety pack (usually gives you one sheet of 400-800-1000-1500-2000 or something like that). Then find a flat surface to hold the sandpaper (just to give it a flat surface like a stone. I have used everything from a piece of glass, a countertop, to even mousepads (if I want convex)). That should last you quite a while, costs like $4-6 and works great.

Good luck :).
 
f250 said:
I would suggest a smiths tri hone or a spyderco sharp maker with the coarse diamond stones for reprofiling.
Click to expand...

+1. I think the Smiths tri hone is a pretty good system for about $30. I like freestyle sharpening. I'm not great at it but I like the hands on "old school" approach. If you go this route, if you have a goodwill or thrift store nearby, buy a few knives (probably a $1 or so each) or a dollar tree knife for practice.

Stuff on ebay scares me now. So much cheap/copied crap but if the feedback is good and you can see others who bought it and their thoughts, you can take a shot.
 
Ok so 1000 will be no good to start on.. gotcha. But will it be enough to finish on?
I can buy dual stones like 400/1000 gritt. Instead of the 1000/3000.

Will 1000 gritt give me a good enough edge for tomatoes?
 
I wouldn't buy cheap eBay Japanese stones. Japanese stones are:
1) something where you get what you pay for...a cheaper stone will have imperfections and lack of grit consistency.

2) not the best stones IMO for a novice sharpener. They can give great edges but can be slow when grinding/reprofiling edges and require exact technique.

Google the smiths tri hone I and a couple of other people mentioned. Cheap, basic sharpening stone set, that gives you a coarse stone for reprofiling edges (220 grit) and then 2 finer stones (600 and 1000) for refining the edge. It keeps you under your budget and won't be as frustrating for you as cheapo Japanese stones probably would be. Strop the knifes on an old leather belt after working through the 3 smiths stones and if the edge was apexed and the wire edge removed, it will perform well when slicing vegetables or anything else.
 
You can get a Norton India combination stone delivered for around 20$. And the fine side will put a shaving edge on a knife. DM
 
Good to see that no one understands the OP.

Suehiro is a well know Stone in the world of waterstones, the 5k Suehiro Rika is one of the most popular finishing stones sold.

Yet I see post after post giving recommendations for the inferior tri-stone systems followed by advice to stay away from the superior combo waterstones the OP has linked.

Freeman45,

Buy the waterstone and add to your basket an SK-11 150/600 diamond plate. It will double as the coarse grinding plate and lapping stone for your waterstone.
 
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Jason B. said:
Good to see that no one understands the OP.

Surhiro is a well know Stone in the world of waterstones, the 5k Suehiro Rika is one of the most popular finishing stones sold.

Yet I see post after post giving recommendations for the inferior tri-stone systems followed by advice to stay away from the superior combo waterstones the OP has linked.

Freeman45,

Buy the waterstone and add to your basket an SK-11 150/600 diamond plate. It will double as the coarse grinding plate and lapping stone for your waterstone.
Click to expand...

Good to know :). I am far from an expert on sharpening, and had no info on the stone itself, but do feel that 1000 grit is not ideal for taking a very dull knife back to sharp. Your recommendation for a grinding plate/lapping stone fills that gap, as long as the OP has budget for it. Good recommendation.

To the OP, when I reprofile a knife, I use the sandpaper usually from 200-400 grit (depending no how bad it is), up to about 2000. Personally, I would be left wanting more if I had ONLY a 400/1000 stone. The 1000/3000 stone you're looking at + the 150/600 would cover most of your bases, and would easily get you a tomato slicing sharp edge.

Good luck :).
 
Your two guys spelling of the makers name of the stone is different??? So, some may have not known what is what?? Leading to confusion. DM
 
Last edited:
Jason B. said:
Good to see that no one understands the OP.

Surhiro is a well know Stone in the world of waterstones, the 5k Suehiro Rika is one of the most popular finishing stones sold.

Yet I see post after post giving recommendations for the inferior tri-stone systems followed by advice to stay away from the superior combo waterstones the OP has linked.

Freeman45,

Buy the waterstone and add to your basket an SK-11 150/600 diamond plate. It will double as the coarse grinding plate and lapping stone for your waterstone.
Click to expand...

+1 +1 +1
Freeman45 - I join to Jason B advice; make sure to check the size of the stone before buying it.
From my experience Suehiro is a great company.
 
David Martin said:
Your two guys spelling of the makers name of the stone is different??? So, some may have not know what it what?? Leading to confusion. DM
Click to expand...


If you are speaking to the one time in my post that I have Suehiro spelled Surhiro... I doubt that caused any confusion. It's corrected now so it won't confuse anyone.
 
One of the two times I typed Suehiro I mis-spelled it, it's been corrected.


Or are you referring to the ending toishi? It means sharpening stone in Japanese, so, Suehiro toishi means Suehiro sharpening stone.
 
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