SHAPTON Whetstone Sharpening Stone Ceramic KUROMAKU #5000 by Shapton

As others have observed, the grading of 1000 is probably a little high, it might be more like 800, it's definitely a medium stone rather than a fine one. Whilst you can use it to reprofile an edge, it will take a while, this stone excels at repairing and maintaing an already profiled knife. It's a very high quality stone, its consitency is uniform, there are no grit lumps (giving rise to pimples) and the wear in consistent over the whole surface. It is of one grade throughout, both sides cut the same. It's easy to use, do fully read the enclosed instructions though since some online videos are incorrect, it's not just a "splash and go" stone, it's porous throughout and requires an initial soaking period especially if it has been left to dry out. You also need to regularly splash as you sharpen to both lubricate and remove slurry. It's not as convenient as a dry diamond stone but it's a fraction of the price. In practice using it with a small towel around it is fine, once it has been soaked you only need a teaspoon of water every so often to keep the surface lubricated and clean. The case is nicely designed as well, it is sturdy and clicks closed positively so that even if you do the unspeakable and drop the stone in the closed box it should still be protected from fracture. There are four non-slip rubber button feet on the underside and a four-sided fence on the lid which retains the stone perfectly whilst allowing water and slurry to drain from the gaps in each corner. This means you don't need to buy or make a custom stone holder, the case does a perfectly adequate job for most people. The whetstone has a very nice smooth grind feel when sharpening, you can easily gauge from the drag how much metal you are removing, the tactile feedback from the stone is excellent. Unlike diamond stones this stone will wear and depending on your usage and technique/proficiency you will need to periodically flatten it which requires investing in a separate flattening stone, but it's well worth it and if you use and maintain this whetstone properly it will give you many years of faultless service and hundreds of sharp knives. Whilst you can buy a finer grade stone to finish on, you don't have to. The orange Kuromaku is a good enough compromise that you can use it to both shapen and finish needing only one or two leather strops with diamond paste to raise a knife to a razor edge (dependent on the knife of course). Overall this is an excellent quality stone, I'm very pleased with it and I also believe that it represents excellent value for money since you can just about get away with just the one expensive whetstone plus one flattening stone and a few rawhide strops. (You can do major reprofiling using those cheap diamond stones first.) As a novice I watched many online tutorials before purchase and I went with the consensus of opinion that this was an excellent value one-stone sharpening solution and after using it successfully (I sharpen all my friend's knives for practice) I concur with them all. If I buy an additional whetstone it will be probably be another Shapton.

I have a few whetstones, ranging in grit from 250 to 8,000 and I have been previously using my 8,000 grit stone to finish off my Global Knives - none of them in the price range of Shapton, to be fair. I've become reasonable adept at sharpening them freehand and they were pretty sharp, I wouldn't say razor sharp but very sharp nevertheless. This Shapton stone, at 12,000 grit, is a different level. I used a 3,000 then an 8,000 grit stone to get a really nice sharp edge and then went to work with my new Shapton 12,000. The stone I ordered came directly from Japan and the instructions were in Japanese. However, I did a bit of research and it was recommended that you soak the stone in water for about 5 or 6 minuted prior to first use. On further uses, it's not recommended to soak the stone as it can soften the stone. For future uses, the stone should be sprayed with water on the surface prior to use. Following use, once clean of any residual dirt, it should be allowed to dry prior to being placed back in the box. The finish you get using this stone is at another level to the stones I've used before. I found the blade edge was genuinely polished and is was unbelievably sharp. This stone is quite a bit more expensive than stones I've used before but I can see why. It is far superior in quality. I would highly recommend this stone for anyone who is serious about sharpening their knives. Genuine top quality product.

Got to be the best whetstone I've bought so far (and I've bought a few). Gets my straight razor amazingly sharp very quickly. Would definitely recommend

Best stone / grit for general tidying up and achieving an edge out of the range of these stones I have. Ceramic is simply an excellent way to stone your edges and these are well made, come with a box holder, are a really good price at time of writing and will last forever. Absolutely love these stones they are fantastic and better buying these than some other types of “whetstones” available as sets…to the novice I would recommend starting with just this stone and for the pros then you probably all ready know how good these are.

Much better than the cheap £30 crap for sale. Do yourself a favour and spend the bit extra for one of these. Much better feedback when sharpening and you don’t have to flatten it as much since the blade doesn’t dig in as much. Splash and go as well, no need to soak it for 20min like the other double sided ones.

Every knive, dull or sharp amounts to improvement while using the stone (keeping in mind The Angle of the blade). 1000 grit measurement is the perfect medium. Have gotten knives come back to live meanwhile inferior effeminately seem ready for re-cycle. KEEP SHARP

Avevo letto online che tagliasse davvero velocemente , ma ho l'impressione che tagli addirittura piú della mia 1000 al diamante ( che ho usato nel lato 400 per spianare la pietra ed era già quasi perfetta di fabbrica) Promossa a pieni voti , però taglia talmente tanto che forse una 2000 sarebbe piú adatta per un uso come " manutenzione " , questa a parte acciai HSS al vanadio ecc... mangia davvero tutto. Taglia piú della mia King 300 . Lascia il filo equivalente ad una 700 , con una passata per sbavare diventa un filo strepitoso.

This are great stones, easy to use (just need to wet them, don't need to soak it first). Give my knives a great edge. The 1000 and 5000 stones are my go to stones for sharpening kitchen knives, with the 1000 giving it a edge and the 5000 to sharpen it. The 12000 stone is mostly for fun since removing too much teeth will also reduce its cutting edge. Grit and teeth. The lower the grit, the easier it is for the knife to cut rope, boxes, or anything that is rough to cut. The higher the grit, the more teeth it is going to remove, so the knife can cut paper easily, but nothing else. So most of the time 5000 grit is great for many kitchen knives - grit to teeth ratio. With 12000, it is going to the knife a mirror edge, which for most purposes, it is for fun instead of any practical purposes.

love it

Excellent stone. Not the cheapest, but the quality makes the cost worth it. I'll definately be buying more stones.