The Best VALUE Sharpening Stone 2023? (NOT SPONSORED HONEST REVIEW) Shapton Kuromaku 1000 

Link to this stone and the one I compared it to in the description. Thanks for watching, really appreciate it!

Congratulations you are on the good side of the force now, the shapton pro 1k and 5k are amazing stones you will fall in love with them, but you cant sharpen on the side with the labels on thats against the unwritten rules of japanese waterstone sharpening, and you have to open the surface of the stone when you first got them with 80-120 grit Silicon carbide powder or a atoma 140 because the shaptons have a layer of Wax or anything on it, once you flattend them the cutting speed, feedback, and finish will be much better, have fun with your stones.

Exact video I’ve been looking for. Glad I found your channel this week 😀

Thank you so much for your videos! You really helped me sort through the BS of this market and not make a mistake as a beginner. The world needs more people like you.

I definitely agree. I love this stone for my kitchen knives. It has a perfect balance of cutting ability and aggression as well as a refined edge and high sharpness. It has great feedback and cuts pretty fast.

I had so many stones, eventually I got the white Shapton stone (120 grid I tink) to repair a damaged iron from a japanese plane. I was so impressed by the performance and especially feedback that I commited to shapton stones. Did not regret it.

Saw your video, got the Shapton 1000, watched your sharpening video since I’ve never used a whetstone. Many thanks my man ! It’s awesome. The pull through sharpener I have will be going to the garbage.

Awesome video Alex. Thanks for showing this. Hope all is well and everything with this house is good. Keep up the good work brothee

Thanks for your review! I’m new to sharpening knives so your video is helpful. I cook a lot and I’m tired of dull knives! I’ll give this a try

Thank you so much for sharing your valuable insight. I ordered the last one! 👍💪

Shapton stones are great. They can provide sharpening on par with Chosera stones and are cheaper and last several times longer than them. Definitely recommend them.

Just ordered, thanks for your review!

Thanks Alex, ordering 1 now. Stay safe up there!

I have had this stone over a month now and really struggling to get anything sharp on it . I'm trying to sharpen some of my daughters kitchen knives, she said they were cheap so wondering if this could part be issue . I have tried all manners of techniques . Stone is constantly needing re flattened as dishes out quite rapidly . I have better success with a cheap oil stone but I so want this stone to work .

Hanging fire on a diamond stone, I jumped on this. Thanks for the ref.

Hey thanks so much wasnt specifically looking for a stone revirw today but have been trying to find a good reasonable priced one and yiur video came out at just the right time. Appreciate it

Thanks! I was just looking for a new sharpening setup and came across your channel. I'm a fan. You had me just about to pull the trigger on a diamond plate and then you released this video. I ordered the 1000 and the 5000, plus a double-sided strop with 5 and 1 micron diamond paste. I'm thinking I'll be pretty much set for all of my needs. Thanks!

I got the 12k that I use with my hand plane blades and chisels. Great stone. I'll need a 1K soon since my old Norton 1k is much softer and has limited life left. Thanks for the review.

Thanks for the video and the recommendation.

YES!! Finally you get to the Japanese synthetics, dont forget to review a Naniwa pro 1000

I do also have a set of shapton pro! 320/1000/5000 I’m going to be getting a in between probably around 2000/3000 just to help reduce the scratches but I’ve been stone sharpening 27 years and the pros have been the best investment for my business hands down! I recommend them to everyone

I absolutely love Shapton, quality products that perform fantastically well

I love this stone. I've been using it for about 5 years

I use my 12000 water stone slurry to load the leather strop. I get a nice mirror finish edge

Love the Kuromaku and the Shapton Glass.

I got my dad that same buck for fathers day, also gave him a spyderco and a nice kershaw later on but he loves that buck.

Thank you for letting people know, and for risking yet another "great" stone purchase on your own, for our benefit. I've been debating on my next one to help finish things after my 600 diamond and was holding out for ceramic, but this just may fit the bill for now. Up to $42 now, 2 days after posting.

What do you think about the spyderco ceramic stones? How do they compare or fit in?

Appreciate the tip. I need to upgrade my sharpening equipment.

Had one for years... Great stone. Use it for Chisels and knives.

I was thinking for long time to buy a Wheatstone, and just got these one follow yours video(it's somehow sneak out to my YT). It works nice, but need to learn a lot still. Overall I'm enjoying it a lot, and are suprpised how dull Knifes I was using till now. Thank you much for being clear, and with all of that knowledge still be yourself, instead of cooky gut who think that knows all best!

This along with a 5000 are my only 2 stones. I hear that the 1000 is more like a 800 compared to it's other Japanese competition but I think it's great. I ditched all my Apex clone/counterfeit systems and stones and now hard sharper on these. Still not the best yet at it

Great info. Nothing beats a sharp blade!

Awesome! Looks like a great deal. Shapton stones are generally very good.

Snagged on sale after watching them for almost a year. Stoked to give it a go.

Excellent heads up on a good stone; been wanting a “travel stone” but torn on which. Tip to new users: always rotate and flip your stones often and “dishing” will happen more slowly on any stone 👍

Love mine, since I only sharpen my own knives Ive had the same one since 2017.

I saw the Shapton glass 500 for under 36 bucks and had to get another. They are normally about 55 bucks.

Thanks for the great video! Off the back of this I actually ordered one of these and I've begun my knife sharpening journey. A quick question, I usually go away with some friends in the summer and have bbqs, I assume the rules for sharpening long bbq blades are the same as those for sharpening small ones?

im a chef with a variety of knives ranging from custom murray carter knifes to wusthofs which are my daily drivers, and if i had to have only one stone for all it would be this bad larry. however mine is developing a belly after almost 5 years of heavy use.

I just received mine and I think I’ll go ahead and buy a backup and a higher grit too

I agree with everything you said. I haven't tried one of the Shaptons but every review from a trustworthy source says basically what you said during the review ( I also take you to be a trustworthy source). That said I went with Naniwa as my first choice for professional whetstones and I was blown away right from the start with their performance as well. I will be buying Shaptons in the future to try them too, especially after your review. Great video as always !

Unless you know what you're doing when it comes to sharpening a tool, it doesn't matter what stone you have. I like Arkansas stones, I've been sharpening knives for the better part of 55 years - that means I started when I was a very young girl at 10 years old. Had my first pocket knife at 8 years of age and never really had good instruction on how to sharpen the first couple years I tried. I guess around age 15 I got pretty good at it with Arkansas stones - which at the time were rated the best on the planet. I use a Lansky sharpening kit nowadays and it works great! For kitchen knives, I'd try this stone. Sounds promising and I liked the video. Well done!

Ive been looking out for these for while too and saw good deals. Fantastic timing since I need a new set of stones and always wanted to try ceramic. How do u actually flatten these stones if it wears out so slow? Will the process be a pain in the ass and will ot require a diamond plate? What flattening stone will work?

I use lapping oil on my 320, works great.

Oh yeah, this video came right before I almost spent 300 bucks on venev phoenix vitrified diamonds. Thanks

Years ago you said something similar about the Spiderco 302M and I bought it. My first stone, actually. I was very disappointed that it glazed so easily and seemingly irreversibly. Lapping it with a diamond plate improved things slightly. I put it on my list of expensive disappointments.... ....until I found a video that explains how the stone must be "conditioned" with loose SiC (silicon carbide) at around 100-120 grit and then used with mineral oil instead of water. It's actually a great stone now that I know how to keep it aggressive.

Just re-found this channel after quite a bit of searching and I'm pretty pumped. Is that even wood?

Damn, I wish you could sharpen my knives. Might have to check that stone out. Thanks.

I agree, excellent stone, splash n go, great feedback, scratch pattern consistency , hard wearing, slow dishing, inexpensive, I actually have 2 of them, one I haven't even touched yet, I also got the 120,320,5000, and 12,000. Really a good recommendation.

I do not recommend using it for knives with DLC coating, since they really damage the stone and you better consider diamond plate for them. In all other cases - the best stone I ever tried! I definitely recommend it.

Just found your channel and am enjoying your videos. I've been using Spyderco ceramic benchstones ever since they came out (med, fine, extra fine) and I noticed you gave a positive review to the med Spyderco ceramic stone 5 years ago. How do you compare the Shapton stones to the Spyderco stones?

Thank you!

THANK YOU for sharing the link. I was searching for these on amazon and despite searching multiple times for some reason it never showed me the one you have linked as an option. The only ones I saw were in a two pack and ones that wouldn't come for 3 weeks. (Also thank you for the great review)

I purchased this exact stone (1000 grit) some 8ish years ago to be the stone I learned on, with the intention of buying a "fancier" stone/more grits once I was sharpening reliably on it. Well, I never bothered "upgrading", probably never will. I use it several times a month. This stone (with some help from a leather strop) has kept all of my kitchen knives, outdoor knives, and axes sharp for years and will continue to do so for a LONG time. I have flattened it maybe twice over the years with some sandpaper. For the price it's actually silly how good these stones are. I've used MUCH more expensive stones of all kinds, and this thing goes toe to toe with any of 'em.

Nice, thank you

Welp, you’re the cause of yet another stone to my collection, and being $40 down.. haha, i’ve been looking for an excuse to get it anyway. I have the 1500 kuromaku so I dont really NEED the 1000. Even though the 1500 cuts quick, its just too smooth and slippery to be a mid grade stone. Thanks! Cant wait for the 1k

I own both the 1000 and the 5000 and both are great. I also own the 1500 and 220 which i don’t like, too soft, dishes out like crazy and the slurry is good for a mud fight. The 1500 is ok, overlaps a lot with the 1000 which makes it unnecessary imho. I want to try the Shapton Pro 120 or the Shapton Glass 120, if you have any feedback on those, let me know please. Cheers

Good review! I went on Amazon and checked the price and it’s up over $53.00 already (on Black Friday, when most sellers are discounting items), so I’ll stick with my Sharpmaker for a while longer.

I jumped on one of those 2 years ago off Amazon when the price dropped. I love that stone. If I didn’t already have a Shapton Glass 6k I would pick up the 5000 as well.

if i am already using diamond stones (and love it), should i bother considering switching?

CNC carbide turning inserts work well at sharpening knives in the field. Although, you move the small insert instead of the knife and the angle is hard to keep. You also have to be carefull because your fingers are close to the blade.

This is a good stone. But, I have followed Rob Cosman's recommendations for sharpening wood plane irons and found spectacular results. A 1000 grit Trend diamond stone followed by a polish with a 23000 grit Shapton ceramic stone. Mirror finish on the cutting edge and amazingly sharp plane irons, chisels, lathe tools and any knife. The two stage process is the fastest because you're reshaping with the 1000 grit and polishing with the 23000. A moderately dull knife can be sharpened in 1.5 minutes and the edge will hold for a long time (depending on the steel).

5:56 I ended up buying this stone after watching one of your other videos and absolutely love it. Cheers for the info! Although in just wondering what to flatten it with? I bought those cheap Chinese ones off Amazon and got a flattening stone with them, can I use that flattening stone? The cheap stones are going in the bin soon so just want to check before I chuck them all.

What flattening stone do you recommend?

Thanks for the recommendation. I've got one of the DMT diamond plates and I've managed to get some good results from it but I honestly don't like using it much because there's no feedback, or at least I don't notice it. Half the time I have difficulty telling if it's even working until I test the edge with my finger. Snagged one of these stones while there was only a few left at about $40. Hope it feels better. 👍

I have the shapton 1500 and it’s great. I use that at work when I need a refreshing a the knife.. I have a naniwa chosera 400, and I have the doubt about buy this stone .. I use the 400 when I have to re profile the knife.. what u think about this 1000 can help me at work or if I have the 400 and 1500 I don’t need?

I've watched a lot of your videos and recently bought a set of M, F & UF Spyderco stones due (in part) to your review of them. I was wondering how you feel these compare to each other. Thanks. And, I hope the house repairs are going well.

I’ve heard the blue black is amazing as well

I am having issues maintaining my edge angle, especially on curved edges. Have been considering getting a tanto just so I can deal with two straight edges. Any tips on how to improve my freehand edge angle, or do I just need to keep practicing? Seems like I practice and practice, sharpening for hours at a time, and all I end up with is a nice, smooth edge that is almost, but not quite, something I would consider sharp.

I just purchased one! 😁

Got the 12k stone in this series years ago. The one i bought was either a return or didnt pass quality control because it was 30 dollars cheaper than I was used to seeing it listed at. Not that i can find any problems with it besides the line where the abrasive meets the ceramic base is wavy and uneven. Dont know if thats normal and it didnt bug me when i saw it

I use a suehiro cerax 1000 and I've really enjoyed it. But i was looking at getting a shapton 320 for edges that need a little more work.

Last year I got the two stone combo on Amazon not sure what brand it was but I think was the sharp pebbel one. One stone was 400/1000 and the other was 3000/7000. After a few uses the 3000/7000 felt tougher than 400 side. I’ll have to look into this stone you previewed. Noob question - when you get the bur on both sides from the first grit do you then do X amount per side like 5 on some side then 4 down to 1 on the higher next grit ?

I usually hate everything. But I agree with this. Its one and done for kitchen stuff. Lapping film on glass floats for folders. As it keeps grit out of my action. And film is cheap relative

Thank you.

What do you use for flattening?

Oh boy, the floodgates have opened for the rest of the Shaptons, the Naniwas, and the Suehiros and the like. Right now, Amazon US (I'm from PA) has the Naniwa Green brick of joy for $58 and the Arata series (basically Chosera in a 15mm format, same as Shaptons) at similar prices to the Shapton Kuromaku line.

How does this guy compare to the Spyderco Medium and Fine bench stones?

Just bought one. It’s already up to $42 after tax here in Texas.

How does it compare with the spyderco ceramic stones?

Im surprised it took you this long to give a shapton a try. Great stone for sure.

I have a question about this stone. I can get a knife to cut paper but not shave. I took my knife from this and did 3 passes on spyderco medium ceramic and it shaved. But not right from this stone. Any idea why that would be?

That's a really good price! Here in Italy they cost from 60-100€ per stone, depending on the coarseness!

So often do you need to flatten the Shapton Kuromaku? And how much is a stone to flatten it? Isnt it just as expensive as a diamond stone? Im curious also... if you only have DMT dia stone fine.. can you use that to flatten a Shapton??

water suppoed to help remove the metel shaving??

I came across your videos recently as I’m trying to learn to sharpen knives again. I was planning to get a tri-stone set like work sharp or Smith then I saw this video. Now I’m not sure which route to go.

I've just watched your video (from about 5 years ago) about sharpening recurve blades, because a couple of my old kitchen knives are slightly recurved from too many encounters with the steel. In that video, you demonstrated using the edge of a Norton stone, but warned against the risk of rounding that edge, or chipping the stone or blade with anything more than the lightest pressure. You also briefly mentioned using a narrow stone, about 1/2" wide. How about using a Shapton standing on its side? Being a single grit (unlike the Norton), it seems like the side is as good as the face for sharpening. Using the side should also be less likely to round the edge, as well as reducing the need for super light pressure. Obviously you'd need something to hold the stone in its side, but that's easy enough. Anyway, that's my bright idea idea for today. I'm happy for folk to shoot it down, try it, debunk it, or whatever. BTW, I ordered a Shapton as soon as I'd watched the video, and I'm really pleased with it, so thank you!

the 2000 is a hidden gem in that line. Fantastic stone. the 1k is great too!

I am glad to have found a video on the whetstone I just bought that was highly recommended by Reddit! You mentioned it might need some flattening once in awhile, what do you recomend? I am a novice and just use my stone a handful of times throughout the year (Might be more once this Shapton gets delivered), would I need to flatten once a year or as needed if I feel uneveness? Thank you and awesome video covering many things!

I want to get into Arkansas stones because I’m wanting to get into knife making. I have a preference for those over ceramics because I was born in Arkansas and my knives will be made using O1 tool steel, so cutting isn’t going to be an issue. Got any recommendations?

Interesting. My Adelmayer 12k vitrified diamond stone is 70€ vs the shapton kuromaku 12k is 80€. But other then that every single shapton beats prize compared to Venevs phoenix (double sided though). Good tip

thanks!!

Thanks a lot! ☀️🌿🍀🌍✨👌🏻👍🏻🙌🏻

Would these stones do okay with s110v or maxamet?

It's out of stock in most viable places for me. Is the 1500 grit an ok alternative? Or would that be too fine

Is this true 1000 grit or does it cut more like a lower/higher grit?

for a beginner, do i need any other stone or will this do?

How does this rank and differ from the Shapton Glass?

I have a few of the Shapton glass stones and they are also very nice. Shapton seem to be a company that aims to deliver high quality and I will buy more stones from them in the future. The plan is to retire my Trend diamond 300/1000 and the very messy but buttery smooth Minosharp 1000/8000 and replace them with Shapton glass.