Naniwa Chosera 1000 vs Shapton Kuromaku 1000, the result will surprise you. 

Thanks a lot for spending your time to make this great video. It has been very helpful to me!

Thank you for taking the time to educate us.

I really like the way you have presented the results of your test.

Very good informative video. Different video presenters on the Internet have varying and often erroneous opinions and biases about their stones, but seeing the results under the microscope eliminates all doubt. Your video helped guide me to make an intelligent, informed decision. Thanks very much.

amazing video. love these details. hands down subscribed!

I have been getting more and more into waterstones over the last couple years. Your conclusions relative to the grit numbers are exactly what I'm finding also between different stone manufacturers. I now have about 25 different stones from 5 or 6 different manufacturers (yep, went down the rabbit hole there), and some of the differences are quite large. I'm beginning to understand the meaning of "feel", "feedback", and other factors involving the different stones. In the beginning, they all seemed the same to me, but I've evolved. :-) Mostly what I've found is that I still have a LOT to learn, but it's a fun journey.

The best video,thanks for the picture comparison.

This is the 1st time watching your channel. I really enjoyed your presentation and appreciate your hard work bringing a top quality video to us.

Awesome content right here. Great job guys !

The clearest explanation of grit vs. brand. Would love to see similar vids on other grits...2k, 3k, 5k...thanks

I just got my shapton 300, and 1000, stones out today to do a few kitchen knives and thought "wow that 1000 seems rough" then I came across your video. With all that said, I still really like my shapton stone set and if need be I could always go to the 3000 if I wanted a finer edge. Thanks for posting your findings to the knife community.

Priceless that you have taken the time, amazing as the results unfolded, couldn’t agree more with you on company’s are different with there products, thank you for bringing it to everyone’s attention, this the reason why I love to collect stones and sharpening utensils

James, Thanks a very scientific approach. Great tutorial and test results.

Thanks for the picture comparison.

Quality content on sharpening stones. I have the Cerax 320, 800, and 2000 grits. They sharpened both my stainless steel and spring steel knives well. I also have the 6000 grits that I have not used yet. But, I will keep in mind for Ninwa stones in my next upgrades. Thanks!

Thank you! I noticed a difference is the feedback, sound and finish on my stones and even thought one Shapton was mislabeled. It also might explain why some are more expensive than others.

Wonderful video and comparison. Thank you😊

Great video. The difference between stones and the microscope review was the best. Thanks

Thank you so much for this, great video, so informative, I have been wondering about this very thing!

Very well done video and sound tests

Thanks for sharing, this was very in depth and insightful. I think this is why I prefer using the Shapton Kuromaku 1500 as the medium grit stone.

Very interesting results. It explains alot and makes you take caution if sharpening with stones from different ranges in series. Thanks for sharing.

It's one of the best, informative and interesting videos I've ever seen! You're doing really great job! My respect and thanks. Looking forward to your next Best wishes

Excellent video comparing the various stones and explanation of grit and how to match them up. Cheers from Nova Scotia. MikeR.

This is the most scientific sharpening/grit vídeo what I have seen on RU-vid until today. Now I can't stop thinking how will do the Shapton 2000 against 1000 grit naniwas & Cerax....

appreciate ya man! love the detail

Best video to really understand...and see!

excellent content! hardly anyone talks about this.

I reference your video all the time on knife forums and social media cites, thank you for your work, I'm always looking forward to another technical video from you. P.S: I really like how in the thumbnail the color theme used is a sour green apple, to match the Naniwa Pro 1k. instead of just using a regular apple. Kudos.

Very insightful with the apples and oranges analogy. Thank you

This is a wonderful video and great explaining

Great video, don't think anyone's done this before! And the new camera quality is awesome. Loving all the knives you've rehandled for me.

Great video. very informative!

Great video, lots of good information.

This is great! I like the actual scientific data rather than RU-vidrs keep saying "oh this feels great! Hmm I think it's even better than the other one, even sounds nicer". That doesn't tell me anything. Numbers and pictures with microscope is much better in terms of show the difference. You should collect more data from different grits and brand and make your own chart like the one on wiki. If someone ( yep...someone) happens to buy different brands, they can have a better idea on how they can slowly convert to one brand, like brand A, X grit is actually more equivalent to brand B, Y grit rather than same (x) grit.

Fantastic video. Thanks much.

Very good. Love seeing the edges at high magnification. I struggle with burr removal and not I’m wondering if it’s my Shapton stones. This is the second video I’ve seen where the naniwa seems to leave behind a better edge

Excellent video, thankyou.

Thank you for sharing! I would love to see more on polishing stones, and even leather stropping. What grit do you typically sharpen/polish too for performance?

Que buen documento !! Ahora se puede entender un poco mejor la diferencia de piedras. Veo que depende del material utilizado y la compresión al fabricar. Muchas gracias por compartir la información. 👍🍻

Thanks for sharing

This was really great video

A great comparison, thanks for sharing with us!

Great information ❤

Good to know about not mixing brands, thanks. My problem is the Japanese knife company I purchased 1k & a 3k/8k combo soaking stones from will not divulge who makes their stones for them, so I guess they're worthless now. I ordered a Naniwa S2 Super Stone (220 Grit), & a Naniwa Professional Stone (New Chosera) (800 Grit) yesterday & was hoping to go from the Chosera 800 to the unknown but Japanese brand 1k, then to the combo...

Great video, it's been known for years that the shapton is waaaay muc coarser than any of the known brands actually, but this video points it out.

That was a really well thought out and informative video. The shots from the microscope at different times were extremely useful. I liked that this wasn't a long video and got to the point quickly without over-complicating the sharpening portion. The sound test was actually quite interesting as well. Good job! Oh yeah, what is the kiridashi you're using to test with (if you answer questions from a 2 year old video)?

Fantastic video, and it confirms my own experiences and those of others l talk to, especially concerning the Shapton. I find the Shapton pro line fascinating because they engineered each stone in the series to work well in a progression from the last. The 1000 grit does a fine job of erasing scratches from the 320, but you will really need to go from there to the 1500 or 2000 before getting into serious polishing. I think their 1500 functions more like a typical 1000 grit than their 1000.

Like your test👍

Excellent video.

excellent presentation! the Shapton 1k is almost identical to the Chosera 600 grit. I like to use both Shapton and Chosera stones when I'm sharpening.

Amazing video! Thank you! I'm a bit curious if you put the stone directly under microscope, what it would look like?

About new stones ; it seems that they often have a ‘skin’ on the outside that performs differently/inferior to the rest of the stone. The 1,000 is a lower intermediate stone for me so I’m using a 1,200 grit stone from a company (not King, but similar) for 25 years now. It’s certainly a lot smaller than it used to be lol. I bought a Bester ceramic 700 grit stone a couple of years ago for taking material off quickly. I don’t really find a need for something coarser. I can always use wet/dry paper on my granite surface plate.

The Chosera 1K is by far the smoothest of them all, I have always used the Chosera 1K and I sharpen straight razors.

Overall a very well done video, and your evidence is very excellent. I now understand when a guy saids this stone cuts a little faster for the same grit mark classification! The type of stone, who makes it, the actual grit size, how it's manufactured! cost and how frieable it is and what steel is being sharpened? Are there any more variables that need to be understood! It's finally making some sense as I watch the videos, I'm starting to understand all the variables to get an outcome! All I wanted to do was sharpen a chisle! Good job, but you made a statement that the grit had to do with the amount of grit in the stone vs the type or size. I'm not sure that fully correct statement. Over all very good video and I fully understand your closing statement which is fully true I also have found and great conclusion, and data link!

great presentation with a facts

Well, if I was doing this test, I would use 4 different marking knives, all the same brand. I would start them on the 400 grit stone, then go to the 1000 grit stones. I would count strokes till the 400 grit scratches were gone. Final test would be to get one of those sharpness testers where you cut through a fiber and it measures the grams of pressure needed to sever the thread. I would also be curious to see how the diamond lapping plates compare. DMT and Atoma. Maybe even the 300/1000 grit stone from Rob Cosman, not the Trend stone because they sold and the replacements were concave rather than dead flat.

Hi, thank you for the video … great scientific approach … could you please provide details on your trying plate? Thank you

Totally agree with this vid. But my stone choice also depends much on the steel hardness. If the knife is hardened to a 63+ I prefer to set my bevel with the shapton. Under 62 I like the chosera

Essentially this means, you either go Naniwa 400 ->Naniwa 1.000 - >any 3K/5K & Strop or you go 400 -> 2000 Shapton and then a 5K Strop. On the other side, the 1K Shapton in Combination with a 3K/5K of any other brand would make a perfect 2 Stone Setup, cause it is still "coarse" enough to take away material in an aceptable amount of time. You would even be able to just live with the Shapton 1.000k

Amazing format, will check the channel if you did similar for higher grit stones. Subscribed!

I like this guy. Nice video buddy.

Fascinating, 😎👍👍

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Thanks for making this video James and the use of the microscopes. The images really answered the questions I had about the edges one gets from sharpening stones. But where would you place the Suehiro Cerax? Is it more like the Naniwa (as opposed to the Shapton that’s likely lower that #1000)?

Microscope's fotographs :-D --> Subscribed !

Im so glad my stones are from the chosera line

I want to see a 320 grit comparison, It's my favorite grit.

Thank you! As always…….the weakest link is the Operator/Driver/Pilot…..etc😎

Neat comparisons! You didn’t mention it in the sound test, but it seems that the lower grit (bigger particle size) results in a lower pitched sharpening sound. I can’t think why that would be the case - perhaps it’s a fluke - but was an interesting phenomenon.

You are a real source of true information, I am a cabinet maker by trade and wanting to take care of my hand tools. Chisels are already at an 8000 my block planes are very similar, I was going towards shapton until i saw your videos. I am now convinced to try out the naniwa chosera .i was thinking 400 ,1000 ,5000 then finish with either 8000 or 12000 .What are your thoughts? Thankyou sincerely Mario Aiello

I watch your video and subscribed. :)

Hi, I've had a Kai shun pro damascus chef's knife for 15 years. A few years ago, when I first tried to sharpen it, I made the angle too small and I slightly damaged (scratched) the blade. I got a lot of help from your sharpening videos and now I feel comfortable with it (Shapton Pro). However, I'd really like to remove these scratches. I've just tried to remove the scratches by polishing with wool fibre, a very fine polishing pad and a small dremel on some knives of lesser quality and not damask, it worked really well, they're better than new. I'm ready to try it on my Kai but I'm a bit worried about removing the damask. Is there a risk? If so, could I "re-reveal an iron perchloride for example?" Or would you have another idea? In any case, thank you for your videos which have helped me enormously! I'm planning to buy a Kato Santoku SG2 from you, as soon as I feel really ready to maintain a knife of this quality. Thank you in advance for your help. All the best.

Thanks for the great comparison video. Have you tried Shapton 1500? I have heard that is a very nice stone closer to a true 1000 stone.

Going over this video again, one would have to say that based on the micrographs alone, the Shapton 1000 and the Naniwa 400 are pretty much on par. When it comes time to replace my Shaptons, I would definitely go for the Naniwa collection.

Cerax 1000, Chosera 3000, Rika 5000, Kitayama 8000, Buffalo or Kangaroo Tail strop w/ 1 micron diamond paste.

What your opinion on 10k grit natural jade stone compare to normal 10k wheatstonem

nice video & thanks for sharing is there a bottle of dalmore in the background?

There's a chart showing the micron size of all different stones. Shapton 1k is about 14 micron while chosera 1k is closer to 10 microns. Same for Suehiro. Chosera follows the Jis grade exactly while Shapton lags behind a bit. Go to gritomatic website and under info you'll see the chart.

Thank you so much for making this video 🙇🏻, if you can only choose between the chosera and cerax to sharpen single bevel or double bevel knife the rest of your life which one will you choose?? Please help, I'm trying to make a decision base on your answer, I would really appreciate it 😊😊

Great vidéo I ve got the shapton ans the king, i prefer the shapton, faster Congratulations from France !!!!

Can you tell if there's is a real difference between Naniwa Chosera and Naniwa Professional? What would you buy between those?

Would you buy a Naniwa Chosera 400 if you had a Shapton Kuromaku 1000? I have the Shapton and I would like to buy a coarser stone. It is suppose that Naniwa Chosera is a good option.

Good day. I would like to know. Are Naniwa Super stone and Suehiro's NEW CERAX whetstones suitable for sharpening wood chisels made of High quality hardened steel. And what grit would you recommend to buy,

I know with razors, if we use the shapton pro we tend to go for the 1500 over the 1k and on the glass the 2k glass over the 1k for a 1k level stone because their grit ratings are a bit off.

Watching this a second time, I was hoping for micro photos of the stones themselves. As for the sound test, I don't have my hearing aids in.... Maybe some sound meter?

Do you have video on K&S Shinko 1000/5000? I really want to see the results because I would like to buy one. Currently using 1000 grit cerax. Which one closer to Shinko 1000 grit? Suehiro, shapton, naniwa super stone, or others?

Thanks for making this video... very interesting, I have 3 of those 4 stones ( missing the babies) and though I've never done a side by side comparison the way you did....I had exactly the same impressions you did...the microscope photos definitely confirmed it. Only place I have a different opinion is after a shapton 1k I find you can definitely skip up to 3k+...you just have to spend a bit longer on that stone. I can understand where you're coming from though. I imagine at the store you want to have constantly repeatable results when sharpening and sticking to a specific stone brand progression definitely helps streamline the process. I personally, and it could be a bit of a downfall for me I know, jump around throughout my stone collection. I try out different combinations almost every time I sharpen. The end results are always very good and often very different in terms of end results. Personally, I find that interesting, and I sometimes do that as well for some of the knives I sharpen for others...(most others, who I know won't notice or appreciate it,I keep it to a more or less same 3 stone progression)...but for those 2 or 3 whom I know will get into the minutiae of it...it can be a lot of fun Take care

There's also different grit standards fepa jis and the american one I forgot

Having just watched your video and just wanted to point out that while imaging the knife edges after using different wet stones, I just want to say that would an analysis of the surfaces of the wet stones themselves be more useful. This can be done quite easily using an Atomic Force Microscope or Scanning Probe Microscope. Using these tools you can easily map size of grinding particles, their distribution, as well as hardness of the grinding particles and the matrix they are embedded in. If you contact some Physics or Science departments at a couple of universities, they should be able to help you out.

New to the game, just got some yaxell Ran knives as a sharpening practice set, low maintenance and easy vg10... now I really don’t know what stones to get, since I’m in Melbourne and damn there’s hardly any Choices in stores.... and omg the more than one month wait on some products from Amazon is just....not fair guess i might have to jump to Sydney for help... the struggle is real!

Is it really good to flatten the stone ? I mean, the diamond stone will do on your whetstone the same the whetstone do on your blade, depending on the diamond stone grit. What is the result of sharpening with a flat but scratched stone ?

If the chosera 400 and shapton 1000 seem so close together in their actual performance, is there a reason to use both? It seems like the shapton 1k could follow up the chosera 400 in place of the chosera 800, based on the chart.

Cerax is the best for that steel probably. I use a King deluxe just fine, $25. 👍🏻

did you take into account the type of material that they are made out of? Such as natural stone vs ceramics?

So is it better to stay in the same brand / series to get a nice progression?

I got the 2000 shapton and always figured it was more like 1000 of other brands

What I see on the Shapton pictures that I don't see on the others is several scratches that are much deeper than the rest of the scratches on the blade. They are especially evident in the higher magnifications. That tells me that the grit in the Shapton isn't nearly as uniform as it is in the other whetstones and that the larger individual grits are making the deeper scratches. The results in this video match the results under equally high magnification in a different video regarding sharpening a straight razor with another Shapton whetstone with much, much finer grit, either 15,000 or 16,000 as I recall. That in turn suggests that the entire Shapton line has this fault.

Do you think Shapton 2000 is a good upgrade for Chosera 1000? I heard that is a great stone for bite and cutting performance.

Absolutely loved the video..... Hated the elevator music