Recommendation? Suzuki Tool or Pride Abrasive 1000 grit stone?

jnaught · Feb 21, 2021

I'm about to order a 1000 grit water stone to add to small my collection, and I think I want one of these. Their descriptions seem similar. Does anyone have experience with either or both?

I have a 1000 grit water stone, but it is very soft and dishes noticeably with every use. I've been using the Baryonyx Mutt and Arctic Fox, and really like how hard, slow wearing, and fast cutting they are. After searching, I can see

HeavyHanded recommends the Suzuki stones repeatedly and I'm leaning that way. On the other hand, the pride abrasive stones are cheaper and made here in the good ole USA, I just can't find many reviews or discussions about them.

Anyone with experience with either of these stone lineups, please chime in!

jnaught · Feb 22, 2021

Found this: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/pride-abrasives.1612238/
Not sure why it didn't turn up in the forum's search engine, but I guess I have my answer for now.

HeavyHanded · Feb 22, 2021

You know what I'm going to recommend...but a small amount of added detail:
- the 1k is pretty darn hard, dishes very slowly but has great feedback. Cuts fast but not amazingly so.
- the 2k is a softer stone presumably for setting the edge up for greater refinement by eliminating the deeper scratches, also effective for Kasumi finish. For most sharpening is not needed.
- 4k also very hard and a strong performer, very good feedback
- 8k is a good stone, not great.

1k and 4k will load if you lean on them, go with a lighter touch and the breakdown rate balances out well with the grind rate.

For a VERY hard waterstone that resists dishing and loading the Juuma 800 and 2k from Dieter Schmid are great, they don't make a finish stone. The 2k is about as fine as most other 4-5k stones, the 800 closer to others 1k-1200. These are so hard the outside edges of a freshly lapped stone could almost cut you if not beveled. As a result they are not the most user friendly even though they have pretty good feedback. That said, the 800 is a fast, reliable stone.

The Pride stones sound like a good value, the 1k maybe not the hardest stone out there:
https://www.reddit.com/r/chefknives/comments/8bvm4f/pride_abrasives_whetstones_review_1k_and_6k/

jnaught · Feb 22, 2021

Thanks for the reply,

HeavyHanded ! I'll be ordering the Suzuki 1k soon.

jnaught · Mar 22, 2021

Just placed the order for the Suzuki-ya 1000. Should be here next week sometime. Excited to try it out!

HeavyHanded · Mar 23, 2021

jnaught said:
Just placed the order for the Suzuki-ya 1000. Should be here next week sometime. Excited to try it out!

Cool, you won't be disappointed.
I'm getting ready to do a video review of the ones I have from that line-up. For how long they've been around not much info out there.

RadialBladeworks · Mar 25, 2021

jnaught said:
I'm about to order a 1000 grit water stone to add to small my collection, and I think I want one of these. Their descriptions seem similar. Does anyone have experience with either or both?

I have a 1000 grit water stone, but it is very soft and dishes noticeably with every use. I've been using the Baryonyx Mutt and Arctic Fox, and really like how hard, slow wearing, and fast cutting they are. After searching, I can see HeavyHanded recommends the Suzuki stones repeatedly and I'm leaning that way. On the other hand, the pride abrasive stones are cheaper and made here in the good ole USA, I just can't find many reviews or discussions about them.

Anyone with experience with either of these stone lineups, please chime in!

I have never used the Suzuki-ya, but the Pride lineup is pretty solid. I have firsthand experience with the 220, 400, 1k, 3k, 6k, and 8k. Simply put: 1k and up, I'd definitely recommend, but I wouldn't really buy anything below 1k (they're not outright bad, they're just not the best option). And as is pretty typical, the 220 is too friable for knives and is a poor option versus a good diamond plate. If you find yourself with extra money in the future and an urge to buy a new stone, I would say the Pride 1k is an absolutely competitive offering.

From what Heavyhanded has said in the past, it sounds like you made an excellent choice. Post pics when you get the new stones!

Jason B. · Mar 25, 2021

Beansandcarrots said:
I have never used the Suzuki-ya, but the Pride lineup is pretty solid. I have firsthand experience with the 220, 400, 1k, 3k, 6k, and 8k. Simply put: 1k and up, I'd definitely recommend, but I wouldn't really buy anything below 1k (they're not outright bad, they're just not the best option). And as is pretty typical, the 220 is too friable for knives and is a poor option versus a good diamond plate. If you find yourself with extra money in the future and an urge to buy a new stone, I would say the Pride 1k is an absolutely competitive offering.

From what Heavyhanded has said in the past, it sounds like you made an excellent choice. Post pics when you get the new stones!

I would be interested to hear how they compare to other big name waterstones for feel, speed, binder and wear. Have you used these stones with any Japanese knives?

RadialBladeworks · Mar 25, 2021

Jason B. said:
I would be interested to hear how they compare to other big name waterstones for feel, speed, binder and wear. Have you used these stones with any Japanese knives?

Eventually I will be making some videos about the stones I have and I can show you guys my perspective on that question.

My general observations are: 220 and 400 are too friable for typical western style double bevel blades. The 1k and up are quite hard. They remind me of Bester stones. They are functionally excellent: they cut well, they don't dish quickly at all. Basically just black swarf. And they polish lower than resinoid and magnesia stones. Your average synthetic 8k is generally expected to produce a pretty decent mirror finish; the Pride 8k has an obvious scratch pattern. Still a great edge, but if you want a polisher, these aren't your stones--however, there is now a 10k option as well, so maybe the maybe Pride can offer its users a mirrored edge now. I don't know. I've never used it.

Functionally excellent as I would consider them, there isn't a whole lot of sex appeal to them. There is more cool-factor to sharpening on Shapton anything or Naniwa Pro, or the hilariously wide range of exotic Nubatama stones, so these may not be a sharpening enthusiasts favorite line. That's a pretty subjective opinion. I'm sure the Pride lineup sends zipper shrapnel all over the place for some other people. To each their own.

To answer your question: no, I have not used these on any real Japanese cutlery. My experience with proper Japanese cutlery is limited in general, and none of the sharpening that I have done on those knives has been completed with Pride stones.

Mr.Wizard · Mar 25, 2021

Beansandcarrots said:
Your average synthetic 8k is generally expected to produce a pretty decent mirror finish; the Pride 8k has an obvious scratch pattern. Still a great edge, but if you want a polisher, these aren't your stones--however, there is now a 10k option as well, so maybe the maybe Pride can offer its users a mirrored edge now. I don't know. I've never used it.

My data has the Pride 8000 about equal to a 6000 JIS, and their 10,000 about equal to 8000 JIS. I don't know what measurement device is used however, but that agrees with your observation.

jnaught · Mar 26, 2021

Beansandcarrots said:
Post pics when you get the new stones!

Will do!
And thanks for the info. I'll keep this in mind with future stone purchases. For now I am trying keep a reign on my appetite for synthetic rocks by not feeding it too much at a time. Limited success so far.

jnaught · Mar 30, 2021

The Suzuki-ya #1000 arrived yesterday:

Although definitely coming from Berkeley, CA, it was packed inside a box inside a box in kanji newsprint inside a box:

It is longer than I expected, barely squeezing into my stone holder that has accommodated all my other 8" category stones with no issue. Although I've only briefly touched it with two blades, I can say it is quite hard and fast, though coarser than I expected. That expectation not being met is really my fault: looking at the grit-rating comparisons in the sticky section shows me that JIS 1000 (I'm assuming that Suzuki uses JIS grit ratings) is just finer than ANSI 500, which isn't that much finer than the Arctic Fox at ANSI 400. My fault for not paying attention, but now I have two stones of roughly equal grit rating instead of adding another tier to my grit graduation. If I'd been paying attention, I might have skipped the 1000 for now and bought the 3000. On the plus side, this is my first stone in the 3" width category, and I really like having the extra real estate.
With the Arctic Fox:

If -- after using it a good bit -- I feel like I have something to add to what has already been said about this stone, I may post more later. Thanks to everyone who chimed in here!