The knives on this website are awesome in the hand and scary sharp right from the off. Having said this, they do need a little TLC to keep them sharp. Put away your metal steels or water sharpeners, the best way to put an edge back on your knife is with a whetstone. Whether carbon steel or stainless, Japanese knives all have a high carbon content. This makes them incredibly sharp and easy to sharpen, but also makes them prone to chipping. If you use a steel to sharpen your knife, like a butcher would, you will almost certainly chip the blade over time.
This range of stones is as good for beginners as it is for pros.
These stones require soaking prior to use, 15 to 20 minutes should be enough or until all the bubbles have stopped escaping from the stone.
They come in 400 grit which is great for chip removal or thinning a knife, 1000 grit which is a great stone for everyday sharpening, and the 3000 grit which is a great finishing stone or a progression stone for those waiting to take take things to crazyville. They all come with a Tomo-zuri or roughening stone used to form a mud on the stone prior to sharpening. These are manufactured from fired ceramics. We also have whetstone holders and flatteners.
The stone measures 180×60×25mm.
Saunders says:
"Sharpening your knife for the first time can be a daunting exercise but with a little practise great results can be easy to reach.
Whetstones come in different grit levels much like sandpaper, low numbers being coarser than higher numbers. It is very important to use a stone progression but until you get the feel of things, I would stick clear of anything less than 1,000 grit unless you have chips. The lower grit numbers can be quite aggressive in their metal cutting capabilities so the chance of you altering your bevel angles by mistake are much higher. To begin with I would highly recommend the 1,000 and 3,000/5,000 grit stones that we sell. The 1,000 grit will form a burr that is detectable with your fingers (if this makes no sense watch youtube for a plethora of sharpening videos) while the 3,000/5,000 grit will polish the bevel improving edge retention."
