Recommendation? TSPROF Kadet Stones

R

Rickardo

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Dec 17, 2020
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I’m wondering which stones would work best with the TSPROF Kadet for higher end carbon Japanese kitchen knives.

The system came with some diamond stones but was curious about some Naniwa Pro’s or something else if anyone has some experience.

Cheers,

Rickardo
 
I have the same question; hopefully someone with experience using the different stones will jump in. The only review I have found on YouTube is by KnifeKrazy, “KME Sharpening System Using the Chosera Water Stones & Strops”. His reviewed starts with an already sharp knife & he uses the high grit stones.

I just placed an order for the TSProf Kadet from Gritomatic and the TSProf diamond plates set that goes up to 1000 grit. Plus I added one 2300 grit Edge Pro Diamond Metrix stone. Before placing my order, I contacted Gritomatic to ask some questions about adding some stones to my order. I was advised that it would be best not to mix the diamond sharpeners with synthetic stones; at least as a beginner just learning to sharpen on a guided system.

A couple series of stones on their site that interest me are the Chosera and the Sigma Power “Select II” stones. The Suehiro Cerak stones looked promising until I found a product review that said that they were not a good choice for blades with extra hard steel.

I plan on start out and learn to use the Kadet with the diamond sharpeners that I had ordered. Once I get the hang of the Kadet, I include free-handing and introduce a couple of my finishing stones to the progression. If the diamond sharpeners play well with my finishing stones, I will place an order for one or two of the finer stones from Chosera or Sigma.
 
Get yourself a set of Venev diamond stones. They are not diamond plated stones like the generic diamond stones that you get with TSPROF systems, the Venev stones are actually diamond bonded stones (diamond powder mixed with a resin bond) so they perform like water stones (most Japanese synthetic stones are Aluminum oxide in various bonds). Venev stones will cut any steel you throw at them, and you will get superb edges from them.

I have sets of Naniwa Chosera, Naniwa Superstones, various Shapton stones, and many, many others but I still prefer my Venev stones for their versatility and performance.

When it comes to their grit rating, don't be fooled into thinking the finest 1200 grit Venev is "coarse", it's actually a different grit rating (Fepa-F) compared to the Japanese stones (JIS). The Venev 1200 is more equal to around a Japanese 5000-6000 grit stone.

The dual sided 6" Venev stones are unbeatable value for money.

Your best place to find Venev stones (and just about any other stones you may ever need), is Gritomatic. They sell dual sided Venev "Centaur" and Venev "Ursa" stones for a really good price.
 
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I have Naniwa chosera, venev and poltava diamond and CBN stones that I am using with my guided sharpening system. If I would be sharpening only carbon kitchen knives with no or small amount of vanadium/tungsten/niobium in it, then I would prefer Naniwa Choseras as they provide much better feedback and finish than resin bonded diamond/CBN stones.

If you intend to sharpen any other knife with hard carbides (i.e. tungsten, niobium or vanadium) in it, then resin bonded CBN/Diamond will give you much better results than Naniwa Choseras.
 
Thanks 77 Edge & murat 1983 for the great information. I have a mix of different blade steel so the Venev diamond stones looks like the way to go. Value wish, the single sided Orion Sirius Series advertised on Gritomatic appear to be the better value. The Orion stones have a 3mm abrasive layer and the dual sided Centaur stones have a 1mm abrasive layer. Not sure how these stones wear, but if using over time and lapping, 3mm vs 1mm sounds like for the price difference the Orion series may be the better investment. Thanks
 
fl_pugs said:
Thanks 77 Edge & murat 1983 for the great information. I have a mix of different blade steel so the Venev diamond stones looks like the way to go. Value wish, the single sided Orion Sirius Series advertised on Gritomatic appear to be the better value. The Orion stones have a 3mm abrasive layer and the dual sided Centaur stones have a 1mm abrasive layer. Not sure how these stones wear, but if using over time and lapping, 3mm vs 1mm sounds like for the price difference the Orion series may be the better investment. Thanks
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Don't over think it, unless you are a professional sharpener, you won't wear out the 1mm stones.
 
fl_pugs said:
Thanks 77 Edge & murat 1983 for the great information. I have a mix of different blade steel so the Venev diamond stones looks like the way to go. Value wish, the single sided Orion Sirius Series advertised on Gritomatic appear to be the better value. The Orion stones have a 3mm abrasive layer and the dual sided Centaur stones have a 1mm abrasive layer. Not sure how these stones wear, but if using over time and lapping, 3mm vs 1mm sounds like for the price difference the Orion series may be the better investment. Thanks
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I agree with what cudgee cudgee said.

If you're doing commercial sharpening, then the Orion stones are nice to have but if you're doing home sharpening, it will take you a very long time to wear our the Ursa or Centaur set - especially the finer grits.

Your TSPROF Kadet has dual sided clamps that will work with any of the Venev stones you choose, either the dual sided or the aluminum backed Venev stones work very well with the Kadet clamps.

The bond that Venev uses is nice and hard, and the diamonds cut fast so you won't dish them for quite some time. They won't need flattening for a long time. Don't be concerned when you read the outdated information online about them needing flatten the Venev stones when they are new, this is not the case any more - that was only for the very early generation Venev stones.

They will need to be conditioned and refreshed fairly regularly, for this you can use a cheap Nagura conditioning/dressing stone. The "Bodrid" dressing stone that Gritomatic sells, works very well. Alternatively the "King Nagura" that Amazon sells also works very well too. Either of these dressing/conditioning stones are less than 10 bucks. You simply rub the Venev surface with the Nagura under running water for 10 or so seconds and it will be clean, refreshed and perfectly conditioned.
 
I love my Ursas. Got them less than a month ago after
777 Edge 777 Edge recommended them. I have since sharpened 4 kitchen knives and 15 folders. At first I didn’t realize the Ursas were narrow (0.6”) and almost returned them. Glad I didn’t. I absolutely love them now especially when sharpening near the tip. I feel like i have more precision. Also came in handy when sharpening the front edge of a PM2 Tanto. It was perfect for that.

Can’t go wrong with the Ursas or Centaurs which the only difference is the width of the stone.

I was considering purchasing the Orion’s while still keeping the Ursas, but decided that would be overkill for now.
 
Regarding the Kadet clamps, I was under the impression that the bare bones Kadet came with the standard clamps with the notch. You had to upgrade to the “Black” edition to get the double sided clamps (or purchase them as an upgrade). Just want the OP to make sure he has the proper stone holders.
 
crn3371 thanks, I am kind of learning as I go. Not wanting all of the stuff that came with the "Black", and not knowing what stones I would finally settle on, I ordered the bare bones Kadet and a set of the TSProf Diamond Plates. The TSProf plate set includes 5 plates ranging from 150 to 1000 grit for $50 so I figured it would be a good place to start. I did order the spring-assisted stoppers to upgrade the Kadet but I did not order the improved clamps. I was under the impression that the standard clamps did work with the dual stones but they were a little finicky. Gritomatic has the improved clamps on their site which I will get with my next order.
 
If you don't have a set of improved clamps, the standard clamps will work just fine. The improved clamps are nicer, but certainly not a "must have".

If you find them finicky with non-backed stones, just stick a strip of Gorilla crystal clear tape on the ends of your stone, and the "rubbery" grip of the tape will help them seat nicely in any clamp.
 
777 Edge said:
If you find them finicky with non-backed stones, just stick a strip of Gorilla crystal clear tape on the ends of your stone, and the "rubbery" grip of the tape will help them seat nicely in any clamp.
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Good tip.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
777 Edge, thanks for the great tip. My Kadet is supposed to be delivered later this afternoon. I'll play with it for a while to see if I want to upgrade the clamps before I place my next order with Gritomatic.
 
fl_pugs said:
777 Edge, thanks for the great tip. My Kadet is supposed to be delivered later this afternoon. I'll play with it for a while to see if I want to upgrade the clamps before I place my next order with Gritomatic.
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My pleasure.

FYI, the stones you ordered will work perfectly fine in the clamps.

My tip is only necessary when you use non-backed rectangular stones. The TSPROF diamond stones you ordered will come with backing plates.
 
You might consider the 5 Piece Diamond Plate set. We have them in stock and they are inexpensive.
 
Thanks for all of the advice. Here is an update. I have had my TSProf Kadet for several weeks now and so far it is a very nice sharpener and has performed well. When I purchased my Kadet, I bought the TSProf Diamond Plate set (150, 220, 400, 600, 1000 grit) as a starting point. This set of plates sold for $50 and I find this set useful for taking out chips, re-profiling the bevel and bringing the knife up to a respectable sharpness.

After sharpening several knives, I ordered the Verev Orion Series Diamond 400, 800, 1200 stones. These stones took my edges to the next level. They help to remove and softened the scratches caused by the TSProf diamond plates and they bring the edges to a hair popping sharpness and still leave some bit to the edge. I have sharpened both German and Japanese kitchen knives with great results. For now I’ll see how the edge retention goes and I’ll play around with other stones if needed or when curiosity kicks in. Thanks again for all of your help.
 
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