Review on 🔪 The Ultimate Sharpening Solution: SHAPTON Kuromaku Ceramic Whetstone Shapton by Jason Wesley

These stones are clearly of high quality and provide a perfect high gloss finish on items such as planes and chisels (especially Japanese style tools ). A few things to know: 12,000 grit is a waste of time on steel that can't handle that much grit (most western knives). There are a few warnings to read on the Shapton website including: You should not soak them. ever. To use them, squirt and walk (which is very convenient). And flatten them before each use. Here's the catch: trying to flatten them with regular stone will clog and ruin them (or at least a thick layer of them). You should use a good diamond stone or press them together. On the one hand, it takes a few seconds for a diamond stone to have a perfectly flat surface, while still costing over $150 for a decent stone. On the other hand, it costs nothing but a lot of time to bring them together. To balance each other out, make sure each stone is tested against two other stones, not just one. Overall, these are the best whetstones you can get without inheriting them and spending $1,000.