Shun 300/1000 Combination Whetstone
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List Price: Our Price: $79.95 You Save: $20.05 (20%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $65.60 (click here) Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Shun 300/1000 Combination Whetstone
Customer Review: Good whetstone, however...
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a fine whetstone, the fact that it has a Shun logo stamped on it is beside the point really as it has no bearing on the performance and I am relatively positive it is not made by KAI/Kershaw anyways.
The reason I detract one star is because you can not achieve a factory 'mirrorlike' edge with this whetstone. The fine side of the stone is 1000 grit, whereas you need at least a 3000 grit and probably more realistically a 5-6000 grit stone as well as very good technique to achieve a mirror like professional edge. That is not to say you cannot achieve a very sharp edge with 1000grit, you can, but it does have noticably more drag when cutting things like tomatoes and it will not stay sharp as long.
Shun does sell another combination stone which is 1000/3000 grit so I would probably choose that one over this one if I was only going to have one whetstone. I would say it is not that often that your knives will get dull enough to really need the 300 grit coarse side on this one (although if they do get that dull you will be mighty thankful you have the 300 grit).
Aside from purchasing another whetstone with a finer grit, other options for getting a 'mirrorlike' finish are using a fine grit ceramic honing rod, or using a leather strop with aluminum oxide honing paste (an old leather belt with tripoli paste from any hardware store works fine, although a wider strop makes the process easier). I mention these as alternatives because a good quality 6000 grit whetstone is not cheap.
If you doubt the importance of having a 'mirrorlike' finish on your blade, just ask anyone who has ever used a straight razor. The drag from a razor sharpened with a 1000grit stone will pull on the hairs, which actually makes you much more likely to cut yourself, that is why owning a good strop (and good sharpening/honing technique) is mandatory for using a straight razor.
Customer Review: Very Easy and Effective
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't have a thousand dollar knife set, but I love to cook and all of my knives were quite dull. We tried a couple of the "sharpener systems" without a satisfying result. I remembered as a little girl seeing the old timers sharpen their pocket knives with a stone, so I did a little searching and found this one.
It arrived quickly and well packaged. The instructions are understandable enough, but clearly translated by a person whose native language is not English.
My husband spent about 1 hour and all my knives were good as new. First you soak the stone in water for about 5 minutes. Then you run the blade along the stone in the pattern indicated. There will be a bit of sand residue, so you will want to set it on something that washes well (dish towel). Also, it will stay wet for a long time. I had to wait 2 days to put it away.
Note, you will still need a knife steel to keep the blade nice.
If you Google "sharpening knives" you will find several videos demonstrating the proper technique so it will not be so intimidating.
This should be the last $41 you will have to spend on sharpening your knives, ever.
Customer Review: for professionals...
Summary: 3 Stars
i purchased for my wife an entire set of shun knives along with the stone so that she can sharpen her knives. we have found that it is almost impossible to use because the knives must be sharpened at a certain spec...16 degrees. user must hold and sharpen to this specification or else you will do what we have done...make the knives almost unusable. fortunately, shun has a lifetime service where they will sharpen your knives for FREE! all you have to pay is the freight to get them there. so unless you know what you are doing, i would go with the free service.Customer Review: An excellent product from an excellent company
Summary: 5 Stars
Shun makes some of the best knives. Period.
They also make a wonderful whetstone for their knives, or any other knives out there. I sharpened some of my other knives with this whetstone (haven't had a need to sharpen my Shun's yet... which is a testament to their quality) and it was perfect. It does take some practice to get a nice sharp edge, but this with a honing steel will do all the sharpening anyone will ever need to do.
The key feature for me is the fact that it has two grits, so even your dullest knife can be sharpened easily.
Customer Review: Whetstones Rock!
Summary: 5 Stars
I tried this whetstone after being dissatisfied with other sharpeners. Either the sharpeners would create nicks, or they would work on one type of knife and not another. After trying this whetstone, I am never going to go back to another method of sharpening. This one works well on all of my knives, and after only about 10 minutes of teaching myself to use it, I have been able to produce satisfactory edges.