Japanese Knives
Sharpening
Naniwa Professional Stones – The Stone Formally Known as Chosera
Naniwa Professional Stones are what they claim to be, for professionals; ideally a professional chef or knife sharpener but a professional wrestler could likely find something dull to sharpen. These stones are longer lasting, more wear resistant and faster cutting than any other Naniwa stone.
It helps to think of a stone as a chocolate chip cookie; the knife-sharpening abrasive particles are like chocolate chips suspended in the sweet dough. Most stones are like average cookies: a few chips, lots of dough… not these stones. A Naniwa Pro stone has so much chocolate crammed into it that you’d get diabetes after a couple bites. These stones are incredibly efficient because it has more abrasive available to sharpen your knives on.
This series is identical in composition to the Chosera line, but unlike those, it isn’t attached to a stand, making them more compact and easier to store/transport.
Naniwa Professional Stone 400
When your knife looks like it’s taken a beating, a 400 grit stone is the way to go. Very useful for quickly removing nicks, chips and scratches, this stone is vital in sharpening an extremely dull knife. Some of us like to use it to apply a foggy finish to the bevel of a knife after serious repairs have happened. This is the John Rambo of stones; things have gotten messy and we need some real muscle to save the day.
Naniwa Professional Stone 600
Naniwa Professional Stone 800
Naniwa Professional Stone 1000
If sharpening stones were knives, a 1000 grit would be a chef’s knife; it’s used for almost everything. Unless your Japanese knife is in need of repairs, this is the lowest grit your knife will likely need. Gritty enough to cut a new edge when needed but fine enough to finish some Western knives on.
Naniwa Professional Stone 3000
Rumour is that Takamura San prefers to have his knives finished on a 3000 grit stone; we have had amazing results sharpening various powdered steels on this stone (R2 and HAP40, for example). I like to use a 3000 grit stone on professional cook’s knives as it tends to create a wickedly sharp and long-lasting edge on knives that see a tonne of action.
Naniwa Professional Stone 5000
When you are looking to take a knife and turn it into a high-powered cutting laser, you should consider this stone. Unfortunately, lightsabers aren’t real but this will make a piece of steel feel as sharp. Used near the end of your sharpening routine, this stone will polish your edge to a near-razor state. Ripe tomatoes, you have been warned!
