Review on Enhance Your Edge with Kuromaku Ceramic Whetstone - Medium Grit for Superior Sharpening by Jeff Keegan

I did a lot of research before buying this stone (it was my first sharpening stone). MANY pros recommend Shapton Stones and I can see why. The surface is large and the stone is thick. It took a little while right out of the box. I took a piece of 12 x 12 x 3/8" slab from my local glass supply store for $16 and hot glued 3M wet-dry sandpaper on the corners (wears away evenly), I moved the stone in a figure of eight with some water When I drew the lines on the surface of the stone and saw that they were wearing 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 stone as mine typical beginning stone for sharpening chisels and planes The grit of these stones is NOT the same as sandpaper Some newer tools require me to get down to my 320 shapton (again, still not nearly as rough as 320 sandpaper) to smooth them out , but I do most of my work with 1000 grit 6000. Somewhere in the future I might take a 16000 honing stone, but in woodworking some tools du. Everything seems to go fast and honing isn't necessarily a good waste of time.