Naniwa Chosera are the best quality sharpening stones I have used. They will easily bring up an edge on super steels like s110v. They aren't cheap but they make sharpening knives a breeze!
With all due respect your technique is wrong. You're abrading far more material towards the front of the blade than the heel, That's why the knife won't cut at 11:33 when you try starting closer to the heel. Whatever technique you adopt, you have to remove the same amount all the way along. A knife invariably wears most about 50mm in front of the heel, so to get that sharp you've got to work it over the stone as much as anywhere else.
This video was a clown show. Arrogance of some wanker who clearly just learned how to functionally work a whetstone making videos to "teach" people like he's a guru. Clown show. Alumina can't cut the carbides in s110v. Chosera stones are highly over rated and a terrible suggestion to some newb that doesn't even know how to sharpen yet. Focusing on details like pressure and angle is also just more bullshit to make it seem more complicated than it actually is. Doesn't help anyone just inflates his own ego. Then notice he rubs the nagura on the stone, the nagura is dry.. thats why it left that residue all over. The expert didn't even realize that 600 grit chunk of traditional stone needed to be soaked before use. This is our wise expert in action. RU-vid is a joke and knife bro is an even bigger joke.
S110V on Chosera? 😮 I really dont think so my friend... It is possible but it takes hours and reprofiling is out of the question entirely.. Chosera is amazing but not on high carbide steels cause they loose all feedback (trust me im professional sharpener) and its just damn too slow... For really top of the line carbide monsters (10v, K390, Maxamet etc anything over 65hrc) there is only 1 solution - Resin Bond Diamond🙏 Chosera was never meant for that purpose..
Nah. I dont agree with anything you've said what so ever. First of all this isn't the right stone for sharpening a steel like s110v. Alumina will not cut that steel properly. Period. Waste of a stone and a knife by using the wrong tools. Its your opinion that these are the best stones. I have the full set of them. My opinion is they're the most over hyped and over rated product on the market. Mostly because knifeland is cesspool of misinformation and rumor. They're nice stones, if you're into the whole traditional vibe, but the hype is out of control. Tone it down. Suggesting these expensive enthusiast or professional grade products to newbs is just malpractice. Why would you tell someone that doesn't even know how to sharpen a knife they need to go out and buy a product like that? It's absurd. Flat on it's face sillyness. I haven't even watched the video but I'm gonna guess you go on the promote the foolish idea that you're gonna need 20 stones to sharpen one knife. Absurdity. At most you NEED no more than 3 stones to go from a badly damaged blade to a fully razor sharp and mirror polished edge. 3 stones. For anything that isn't broken you need 2 stones to go from wont cut shit dull to razor sharp and mirror polished. 2 stones.
Love this video, thank you! How important is it to use a flattening stone on these waterstones? I have just bought Naniwa 400 / 1000 / 3000 but I didn't bother buying a flattening stone. Should I?
Nice video! Can you explain how you go about drying, maintaining and storing your Choseras? I've been reading a lot about them being prone to cracking if there either soaked, or not dried properly but nobody ever explains what proper drying and storage is. :) Thanks!
Always use room temp water. Then when finished you can clean off your stone with like a tooth brush or any other plastic bristle fine tooth brush and some water. Then wipe down the stone lightly with a towel, pat dry and let it slowly air dry in a room temp environment with low moisture and let it sit there until its 100% dry and then some to make sure. I'd say no longer then a day depending on how porous then stone is or what stone it is. Do not try and speed dry it by any means because, yes as you stated they are prone to cracking due to quick temperature changes and such. This is all said and done assuming you are using your stones as splash and go of course otherwise it would be a permasoak.
I use a stone cheapy Bear Brand combination stone pickpocketed from an old abbitoir job, and a 1000 grit white Arkansas Stone for my folders and hunting knives. The point is, stones and practice is they best way to go. On a side note, have you used the Razorback system out of South Africa? As I use a much larger angle for more abuse resistant edges its set up of 18 to 21deg (if i recall) suits for quick touch ups away from the stones. Cheers for the good content I will be passing it along.
Now when you strop…. Are you doing it flat or at the same angle? Thx! And I think I will use a belt as well I don’t want to risk nicking one if my 3 inch hanging strops lol
I’m a traditional WetShaver, so I use the Naniwa SUPERSTONES for my straight razors and honing a knife is a lot harder, because you have to hold it at a particular angle, honing a straight razor isn’t easy either but I would say knives are harder. I’m here to learn! With my cutthroats I use a progression of 1k to set the bevel (if needed) then 3K 8k then 12k to finish. I have heard and done some research that with straight racers you don’t have to go so high into your grit levels. But I do have a diamond plate that is 400/1000 I believe I’m talking about pocket knives btw
I notice you hold the knife handle in both hands vs just using your strong one (eg right hand if right handed or vice versa). Is that the way you recommend for starters too?
I have been using Japanese water stones all my working life. They are very popular with woodworkers for sharpening chisels, plane irons, leather/marking knives etc. We like them because they sharpen fast and give a superior edge. Natural water stones are the best but very very expensive. Then you have synthetic stones that needed to be kept soaking in water. King brand is the best value and they cut really fast because they are soft and the binder is clay, not plastic. Rule of thumb, the harder the steel the softer the stone. Soft stones expose fresh sharp grit as you go and the clay lubricates the blade. Plastic binders tend to dull the edge and you loose the microscopic points that make a blade cut with less effort. Its sharp but a different kind of sharp. In practice I use a 60 grit DMT diamond stone to get rid of nicks and re flatten the other stones. Then a King 800 grit, King 1000, king 1200 and to finish, the best finishing stone on the market, 15000 grit Takenoko. Much better than King finishing stones. If your really after a mirror finish razor edge, you cant beat the Takenoko. I have used naniwa but did not like them much myself. They are okay for knives but a bit hard for my taste. Stropping on Leather works okay for cut throats but actually I never find stropping improves the edge but rather the opposite. It rounds the bevel over to much and increases resistance. Finally, if you want the best edge do your final sharpening perpendicular to the edge. A good finishing stone will peal off the burr like magic. You will be able to see it come off in long fine strips. THATS when you get a super sharp edge trust me. Never tear off the burr with your fingers or strop it off. Cheap stones bludgeon the edge rather than cut it. A good stone is composed of razor sharp flakes, NOT fine grit. You can hear the flakes slicing. It sounds different to a cheap stone that bashes the edge.
These are the "Naniwa Chosera" stones. Officially they are only available in Japan, so you'll need to find someone exporting them. The same stones are sold without the base for export as the "Naniwa Professional" series. They are great stones but overkill for basic knives.
