Shapton K0704 Blade Blade, #5000, Finish Enge

Everything shapton makes is excellent, this is no exception!

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 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.

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

This is an altered version of my review for the equivalent 1000-grit Shapton stone...I did a lot of research before purchasing this stone (it was my first whetstone). MANY professionals recommend Shapton stones and I can see why. The surface is large and the stone is thick. Right out of the box, it required some lapping. I picked up a 12x12x3/8" piece of plate class from a local specialty glass store for $16 and tacked some wet-dry 440-grit 3M sandpaper down with hot glue on the corners. Using the full size of the sheet (so that it wears evenly), I moved the stone in figure-eight motions with a little bit of water. When I drew lines on the stone surface and saw them wear off evenly, it was ready for sharpening. I do this process after every long sharpening session or two short sessions.I use this 1000-grit Shapton as my typical entry stone for sharpening chisels and plane irons. The grits on these stones are NOT the same grits as those on sand paper. Some new tools require that I go down to my 320-grit shapton (again, still nowhere near as coarse as 320 sand paper) to get them flat, but I do most of the work on the 1000-grit. Once I get an even-looking surface on the tool, I move up to this 6000-grit stone. When the tools come off the 6000, they are deadly sharp and have a dull mirror finish. I test sharpness by shaving a small portion of leg hair and they feel like a nice straight razor. Somewhere in the future, I might pick up a 16000-grit for honing but in woodworking, some tools dull kind of fast and honing isn't necessarily a great use of time.