King "Neo" Waterstone | The best kept secret in freehand sharpening

Older thread I know, but thought I would give my impression of the King Neo 800. I got it a couple of years ago and is my main sharpening stone for my kitchen knives. I normally follow this with a 3000 grit for refining the edge.

Overall I like this stone. It has pretty good feedback and cuts pretty fast as well. The only negatives for me is that, as the stone has been worn down a bit, it seems to dish fairly quickly compared to when it was new, and it also soaks up a fair amount of water as well. I would almost class it a soaking stone now. As I said though overall I like it.

Definitely a good option for anyone out there who wants a relatively cheaper stone that performs well, and could almost be a one stone kit. It cuts fast enough to sharpen a really dull knife but also gives a good balanced toothy edge if it's the only stone you have. Obviously an additional coarser stone would be good for repairs and such.
 
Just got one from amazon Japan for about $33 all in. they're selling two versions, 8 x 3 inch basically, and something more like 6 x 2 " both come affixed to a plastic base, so dont be fooled. always read the details. the one that looks like it doesn't come attached to any stand, in fact does, and it is in fact a smaller version. both are the same cost.

anyhow. op was not lying. i have way too many whetstones and this thing blew me away. one of the best stones i have ever used in any price range, and it cost me less than $35. this thing cuts much faster than say a chosera 800, at least on stuff other than low alloy which melts on any abrasive anyway. it is not much more thirsty than many chosera stones. it doesnt wear much that much faster than any chosera stone, isn't any more friable than most chosera stone... I used to always tell guys that wanted just one stone to get a shapton pro 1k, which is realistically more like a 600 grit stone and is a good choice for a one stone set. i will now be suggesting this stone. you dont get stray scratches on the face of the blade with this stone. it leaves quite a fine edge but it cuts very quickly. i dont know whats not to love here. scratch pattern is very smooth, about on the level of any chosera stone.

the stones i would compare this to would include the shapton glass 500. shapton pro 1k. chosera 800. imho right now I feel like this stone is the best among those. and it leaves an edge just as fine as that chosera 800 while it clearly cuts steel cleaner and faster than any of those stone by a easily noticeable margin. for sure this is one that immediately goes on my list of all time greats, and i have more stones than i know what to do with. I compares this very favorably to my sigma select II 1k stone, which is also a green sic. this king cost half as much. I think it's better overall.

unless someone has a suggestion for a similar stone in a finer grit, I think I'm going to order that suehiro w8 next. also green sic. claims 8k rating but suehiro ratings are generally only relevant within a given line of stones, meaning a 8000 rating within a medium line of their stones isn't really like an 8k stone relative to other general use jis stones. basically what that would mean is it's about 3k at best. just talking from experience here with other Suehiro products of which I have many. for instance go compare a 5k rika which is a finishing stone to a 6k cerax which is a medium stone. one is clearly much finer than the other and it's the 5k. these grit ratings dont always mean what guys think.
 
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mentalknife said:
unless someone has a suggestion for a similar stone in a finer grit, I think I'm going to order that suehiro w8 next. also green sic. claims 8k rating but suehiro ratings are generally only relevant within a given line of stones, meaning a 8000 rating within a medium line of their stones isn't really like an 8k stone relative to other general use jis stones. basically what that would mean is it's about 3k at best. just talking from experience here with other Suehiro products of which I have many. for instance go compare a 5k rika which is a finishing stone to a 6k cerax which is a medium stone. one is clearly much finer than the other and it's the 5k. these grit ratings dont always mean what guys think.
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Suehiro G8 is the green SiC stone. I haven't seen it described as coarse-for-grade, and it's been recommended by several experienced sharpeners on this forum who have other stones to compare it with.

One example: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...-gritomatic-good-stuff-and-thank-you.1645936/

Another: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/your-favorite-water-stones.1777160/#post-20355287
 
At last I got one of these. The ST-2 model. It arrived feeling only marginally attached to the plastic base. I did not want it falling off by surprise so I gave it a tug to see if it was actually on there well or not, and it popped right off.

I am OK with that as I would rather have use of both sides of the stone, except that the rubbery gray glue which tenuously held to the plastic base is tenaciously attached to the porous stone. Any recommendations for getting it off?

I scraped off the bulk of it now, but some is embedded into the stone surface. I suppose I have to lap it out, unless you know a solvent that is safe on this stone? DeadboxHero DeadboxHero
 
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I need mid grit stone for my kitchen (Germans and vg-10) and pocket (vg-10, s30v) knives.
Already have shapton pro 120 and 1500.
Thinking of getting
Naniwa ARATA (Chosera) 400 vs King Neo 800.
Any advice?
Yes, I know that shapton pro 1000 would be perfect match but I want to try something else. 🙂
Thanks!
 
Lacerdo Lacerdo What about the Glass Stone 500 or Rock Star 500? That's about mid-way between the 120 and 1500. I haven't used those, or the Chosera, but the King Neo is fairly fine in feel and I question if it would be different enough from your Shapton 1500.
 
Lacerdo said:
Naniwa ARATA (Chosera) 400 vs King Neo 800.
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I don't have the Arata but I do have the Choosera Pro 400 and the King Neo. I'm assuming the Arata is similar (or identical) in in terms of abrasive and binder to the 400 pro.

The 400 pro and the King Neo are both good stones. The 400 pro is closer to ~700 or so. It may cut faster than the King Neo (not sure), but the Neo has a better finish. I use the 400 Pro occasionally. I use the Neo frequently. It's no go to stone for non-super steel kitchen knives. For anything with high vanadium carbides I use diamond stones.
 
Lacerdo said:
I need mid grit stone for my kitchen (Germans and vg-10) and pocket (vg-10, s30v) knives.
Already have shapton pro 120 and 1500.
Thinking of getting
Naniwa ARATA (Chosera) 400 vs King Neo 800.
Any advice?
Yes, I know that shapton pro 1000 would be perfect match but I want to try something else. 🙂
Thanks!
Click to expand...
I have both the Gouken Arata 400 and King Neo 800. I would say the Naniwa is faster cutting and slower wearing. The King is a bit more thirsty but leaves a slightly finer finish as expected.

Honestly either would be a fine choice if you are set on these. The 800 would probably make more sense as a starting stone for general sharpening. The 400 is probably more suited to really dull knives that haven't been sharpened in a while, minor thinning or removing scratches from the 120. You could easily jump to the 1500 from either the 400 or 800 IMO.

Edit: There is a bit of overlap with the King Neo 800 and 1500 Shapton. They are both basically what I would broadly categorize as medium sharpening stones. They may be different enough to use in progression but I probably wouldn't if I had both TBH. Having said that the King Neo has it's own strengths as noted earlier in the thread.
 
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Thank you guys for your replies. I narrowed it down to glass 500 vs shapton pro 1000.
I've heard that pro 1000 is more like 700-800 grit jis but how about glass 500 is it true to grit?
 
Lacerdo said:
Thank you guys for your replies. I narrowed it down to glass 500 vs shapton pro 1000.
I've heard that pro 1000 is more like 700-800 grit jis but how about glass 500 is it true to grit?
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Don't forget about the Rock Star 500; it's supposed to be the same composition as the Glass Stone but you get a lot more of it. Currently in stock at Sharpening Supplies.

Here's a comparative review of the Shapton Pro 1000, 1500, and 2000: https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/...first-impressions-comparison-with-pics.51488/
 
Lacerdo said:
Thank you guys for your replies. I narrowed it down to glass 500 vs shapton pro 1000.
I've heard that pro 1000 is more like 700-800 grit jis but how about glass 500 is it true to grit?
Click to expand...
I don't have either of those. I would suspect the Pro 1000 would be similar to the King Neo 800 except IMO the King would be a slightly better choice for carbide rich stainless but would definitely be faster wearing. The impression I get is that the SG500 (and Rockstar 500 is apparently the same) is similar to the Naniwa 400. I will eventually buy the SG500 or Rockstar to compare.

Given what I've seen of the prices of these stones, IMO you would be better off buying the Rockstar 500 unless you can get a cheaper Naniwa 400; it is a great stone. But then all of the stones discussed are generally very well regarded.
 
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