Shapton K0704 Blade Blade, #5000, Finish Enge

I bought this along with the #1000 stone to replace a 400/1200 DMT diamond stone. I got pretty good results on the DMT, but its cutting ability degrades within a couple of years.I like these stones because while they are water stones, they do not require soaking; just spritz some water on them and go.I get a mirror polish with the #5000 which I never got from the diamond and the burr is a lot finer than it was off the 1200 diamond, which means it's much easier to remove on a strop.If you are new to water stones, these will require flattening eventually, but not nearly as soon as a typical water stone.

I sharpen knives as a side job and these Kuromaku stones are my go to for all but the very most expensive or hard to sharpen knives. They're not the best stones you can buy but for the price they're great they'll cut metal almost as well as the best of the best but they just feel sort of rough or unwelcoming to use. Not smooth at all. The stones come with their own case that doubles as a stone holder which is really handy. Stones are splash and go, DO NOT SOAK, and are very hard so they wear slowly but cut fast. I use the 5000 grit as a finishing stone, preceded by the 1000 grit and usually followed by stropping. I'd say, if you regularly sharpen your knives these are a great choice and should last you a lifetime despite being thin but if you only sharpen a few knives once or twice a year they're probably overkill. Get a cheaper combo stone and you'll be fine. These are the Japanese market version of the Shapton Pro line and are supposedly (according to their marketing team) designed with the colder, wetter climate in mind and supposedly will crack in a hot, dry climate but I live in Southern California, where it's pretty hot and dry and I've never had an issue with cracking so, save some money and get the Kuromaku instead of the Shapton Pro branded stones.

It's a very high-quality stone. I bought it because I was very interested in the Shapton brand.I've been sharpening with Naniwa Chosera and Suehiro for a while, but the sharpening feel of the Shapton Kurumaku is very dry. I prefer the Naniwa Chosera or Suehiro, as they provide better feedback.

Like a lot of people, I've used gimmicky sharpening products with the hopes I'd get nice edges without much effort or need for developing a new skill. I had used both pull-through sharpeners and a very nice Edge Pro Apex system and struggled getting a good, reliable edge with either one. It was 'good enough' for most kitchen tasks, but never as sharp as I wanted for cuts to be really effortless, particularly for thin-skinned vegetables and such. I was always having to saw through the thin part of a tomato or onion. So, I finally decided to just get quality whetstones and figure out how to use them since that seemed to be what all the cool kids do.Having said that, these Shapton stones seem of very high quality to a novice. They come with a plastic case that doubles as a stone holder. It's probably not the absolute best thing you could use to hold the stone but I've been getting great results with some practice, so I don't see the need to get something else. The stone also comes with a small piece of foam padding inside the case so it doesn't get banged up. The stone is a 'splash-and-go' type of stone which doesn't need soaking, just a nice layer of water on top to keep things smooth. I purchased both the #1000 and #5000 stones. I plan on getting more later; both a coarser and finer stone so I have more options, particularly for harder steels that I have.It absolutely takes a ton of practice and trial and error to get a nice edge on a knife. This is not something that you'll get perfect on the first try. I've used the stones probably 5 times before developing a method that will effortlessly cut paper. What I'm realizing is that you need to spend a lot more time and use more passes than you think you need to in order to properly develop a burr and get a good edge. Watch some YouTube tutorials or read the billion forum posts from all the knife nerds out there. Again, this will take skill and practice to make it work but I'm getting better results with these stones than I have with other systems. They're not easy to use, but they are very effective and I feel good about developing a new skill.

I have bought two of these stones - 5,000 & 8,000. These stones arrived intact and were packaged nicely. They are very large stones compared to the cheaper ones on Amazon.Grit size seems to be true.They are the last step of my sharpening process before stropping. If you don't know how to sharpen by hand - don't waste your money on these. Pro's get great edges on almost any stone 1,000 grit or above.Below 1,000 you are mostly forming the Apex or shape of the edge.Everyone has their own individual way of sharpening, but these two stones that I bought are not for shaping but rather for refining an already sharp blade.I sharpen to relax - knives, chisels, plane blades...doesn't matter as I keep them all sharp.These come with a care that doubles as a holder.I use a stone bridge over a water basin to sharpen so although appreciated - I don't use the case as a holder while sharpening.These are basically splash and go. I received directions that stated to soak them for 5 minutes and not to leave them submersed. Soak 5 minutes and go, or not. These stones perform.They arrived flat and true to size.I will be replacing my older stones with these when the time becomes necessary.

I would say ecxelent valiue, fast material removal very hard and with very good results for a none natural stone.

Stone was broken in half when it arrived. Nice stone otherwise. Wish I could use it.