ShaptonHa No Kuromaku Ceramic Whetstone (F-set) Medium Grit (#1000) + Fine Grit (#5000) + Fine Grit (#8000) + Ultra Fine Grit (#12000) by Shapton

Stones are amazing and they're arrived in good condition and very well wrapped!Unfortunately I didn't received those towels....1000 grit in reality compared with Naniwa Chosera is coarser....around 600-800 grit5000 grit can be compared with a Naniwa 3000/4000Good cutting speed but not so fast as Cerax compared Shapton 100 with Cerax 1010.For those who are looking for chicken sharpening you don't need more than 5000 grit!For a home kitchen they will last forever!!!Good value for money !!!At this price is hard to believe you can buy a better set !!

This is a great set of stones for doing maintenance sharpening. They arrived in great shape. Stones aere flat and have consistent grit. They produce a very fine edge. One caveat is that if you need to do some restoration or change a bevel angle you will need a more agressive stone to get the project started. I've used mine mostly for sharpening plane blades and chisels with both A2 and O1 tool steel. Both were able to achieve a very fine edge which cut like a hot knife through butter. Splash and go... no soaking or you can degrade the binder and ruin the stone!

I was taught many years ago how to sharpen knives buy 2 German butcher uncles, and backcountry outfitter grandfather. They used natural Arkansas stones, and Norton carborundum oil stones. I finally moved to Japanese soaked Whetstones. I was never happy with how they sharpen, a lot of work for not much results. It turns out that like so many things you get what you pay for. These Kuromaku Ceramic Whetstones are what is called a splash stone. You don't soak the in water before use but drop enough water on the stone to allow the knife to move in it on the stone. This is so nice because the water soaked whetstones are a mess to use. Another thing I did not realise I was missing was feeback. With these Shapton whetstones you can feel the knife moving on the stone. With this feedback you can feel your progress, and you can tell when to move to a finer grit stone, or when you are finished.

I have a mix of Henckels, Miyabi, Wüsthof, Mercer, Dexter, and custom knives. These do a great job on them all and have even the Dexters super sharp. That being said, these are not beginners stones. Do not think you'll be able to do that without training and tons of practice, as these stones are finicky on a good day. Five stars if you're a professional or very serious home cook, three stars for your average person who doesn't own higher end knives nor have the purpose for them. That being said, extremely reasonable on price.

These are fantastic stones! Don't buy cheap pebble imitation stones that start pitting after a single sharpening. Shapton stones are legit and are extremely high quality. You won't be disappointed with these stones. I don't use the 120000 stone very much but the 1000, 5000, and 8000 progression produce an incredible edge after some practice. These stones are awesome and I highly recommend them!

The 1000, 5000, and 8000 stones worked really well with little issues overall great stones. However the 12,000 grit was horrible. Loads up as soon as the knife touches the stone. It actually leaves scratches on the knife. No not like a scratch pattern like heavy scratching like if someone tried polishing on the sidewalk. I tried cleaning it with a cleaning stone and the stone I think embedded parts of it in the 12,000 and created heavy scratching sounds as I was trying to polish. Since that messed up my knife more I used a rust eraser and it only helped alittle. Overall all I truly enjoyed the other 3 stones but the 12k was trash. Now with that being said it’s possible it’s just my stone is crap and others got a better batch. Either way 3 out of 4 stones is not that bad.

Fantastic for honing straight razors. Don’t waste money on cheap stones and go for the best. It’s worth every penny. Make sure to lap them flat before every use and never soak for more than 6 minutes.

The stones all arrived w/o any damage. Buying the set is the best bargain compared to individually.I did buy a Shapton Kuromaku 2k stone to add to this set. These will be used for straight razor honing. The 1k may be best for chip removal and reprofiling edges and the 2k a better choice for setting bevels from what I've read on straight razor forums.These Shapton water stones are considered some of the best water stones available at a more affordable price point.