Naniwa Diamond Waterstones Review.

I picked up a diamond jointer stone from Global Tooling a while back and have had good luck with it in some respects.

http://globaltooling.bizhosting.com/products/jointing-stones.html

Its listed as "1200" but when I broke it down it looked like the particles were in the low single digit micron IIRC 3 micron average.

Abrasive density is not very high based on grind speed, the resin is quite hard. It can be used with oil or water - if used with oil it makes a great mud for cosmetic polishing. Used with water or a light film of oil it loads rapidly and cleaning is a constant hassle.

I use(d) it only for very final finish work as it is pretty much incapable of doing any sort of corrections - similar to OPs observations re the 3k. It makes a near mirror finish. I mostly use it with an old piece of saw blade to scrape off grit and use for a stropping compound on some abrasive free binder from my Washboard compound over 3 mil poly. It works great for this!

Is a nice tool to have, but a few sheets of diamond lapping film probably more useful - cut faster and load less. Is a consideration though, 9x11 sheets of diamond film are not cheap.

I'm looking forward to more review!

 

In light of HeavyHanded's hint on resin stones beeing used with oil i retestet my chinese 12K diamond stone with oil. I took a new ZY with factory grind, tested the geometry and found it to be almost perfect, except for small portions of the head and toe, as usual. Took it to a Naniwa Specialty stone with 10K artificial Nagura (Metalmaster) to mud it and soon enough the edge would be good enough to continue. To achive the complete polish for the entire bevel i took the 12K diamond stone and mudied it with 15K artificial Nagura and some thirty strokes later the entire bevel looked very shiny. Then i cleaned up the stone, the Nagura really helps with holding the stone clean. I wiped the stone with my palm and let it dry and applied oil. I did some twenty strokes, the last ten really light ones, carefully concentrating on the critical head and toe issue. Then no linen stropping and fourty on leather.

The testshave was awesome. Unfortunately the level of sharpness and keenness is above my skill level, the edge is so unforgiving sharp, that even the slightest mistake has bloody consequences. I'm used to natural finishers like a welsh 15K slate (with oil) or a very good Guanghxi 12K stone, so my way to handle the blade is obviously adapted to a different characteristics of "sharp". What surprised me extremely: the imroved edge i previously got from using the diamond hone with my water, dish-detergent, and oil mix (parts 4-1-1) was somehow transformed even further. I think with the perfect handling the level of smoothness is almost up to the welsh slate. However the keenness makes it a very dangerous fellow...

I think for the 45 USD minus three bucks rebate from some Aliexpress promotion thing it is a good finisher. And thanks to this discussion i retested it and found that it's capabilities were much above my level of skill in honing, when i first approached these stones. In spite of the general recommendation not to use diamond hones with razors i can fully recommend these hones. No microchipping, not the tiniest breakouts and usable with water and oil. It obviously benefits from high grid naguras and can set a final edge with oil that is far above anything i ever achieved with my Shapton Pro 12K and CrOx stropping. Handle with care!

 

Hi DeadboxHero,
I am wanting to get my first Whetstones and I very much like to purchase top quality that is going to perform as well as possible and last as long as possible for this reason I am considering the Naniwa Diamond waterstones but I am unsure which to get, I am thinking of purchasing two, the 1000, and 6000 grit. Would this be a good choice for maintaining knives as I dont need to restore any though I would like to get rid of the odd black spot that pops up on occasion.

Your advice would be much appreciated
GMillsy

 

Thanks yes I am confused lol, I really don't know enough about neither the steels nor the whetstones. Perhaps it would help if I inform you as to the types of knives I want to be sharpening and the stones I have on option, I am in Australia.
Knives you will likely have heard of are the;
Fallkniven F1 Custom Blade Steel: VG-10 Hardness: 59RC,
Fallkniven KRUT, F1 Pro, Steel: Lam.CoS Blade hardness: 60 HRC
Bark River Essential, Steel: CPM M-4 @ 63-64rc
Bravo 1 mini Steel: CPM S35VN @ 58rc
Shun Blade type: Laminated Blade construction: VG-10, clad in stainless Damascus, Blade hardness: HRC 61

I really only have three options for purchasing whetstones due to massive shipping charges from the US, such as wanting $137 AUD for shipping of 1 small knife! (From KNIVESHIPFREE mind you, I was quite shocked given the company name)
https://www.japanesetools.com.au/collections/sharpening-stones
http://www.kitchenwarehouse.com.au/Search-KWH?stq=whetstone
http://www.cuttingedgeknives.com.au/search_product.php?searchtxt=whetstone

Perhaps the Shun or Global or other other version of the Naniwa whetstones?

 

Thanks a lot for your advice, its much appreciated

 

I am currently in a position to recommend a maintenance stone to the back house of a sushi restaurant. While I have previously indicated my personal disdain regarding the use of diamond abrasives for knives, the dish resistance of diamond stones is something that cannot be overlooked for a product that will sit on a commercial kitchen counter for daily touch ups. That being said, I am leaning towards pushing the new iWood #12000 (JIS) which apparently uses a non-resinoid, ceramic binder for greater durability over their Naniwa counterparts and are reasonably priced. Perhaps the idea was to leverage the binder as a cutting agent? I figure to drop by and test out the stone for myself just to see how slow/fast it cuts...

 

Great information Shawn!
Was wondering if I could pick your brain. So you mentioned that going from Atoma 140 to the Naniwa Diamond 800 is too big of a jump. Is going from Naniwa 800 to 3000 also too big of a jump? (or not as much compared to 140 to 800?). Do you typically go through the 3000 in your progression for Maxamet and other high alloyed steels, or do you use 3000 only for specific steel and/or application? Would greatly appreciate any insight you'd be willing to share. Thanks!

Josh

 

That makes sense, thanks for the reply!

 

Did you thin out the primary grind on that s110v pm2? I’ll bet it cuts like the dickens.

 

Quick question on your Naniwa Diamond stones DeadboxHero, has the writing on your label for the 3000# stone 'disappeared'?

I have one that is virtually brand new, and it was sitting in water (for an hour or so) while I was using courser stones and I noticed that the writing on the label has gone, I also have a 6000# Naniwa Diamond that was in the same pond for the same amount of time and it still has the writing on it.

I purchased them both through Amazon from different suppliers, what are the chances my 3000# is a fake?