ShaptonK0702 Blade, #1000, Medium, Orange

This whetstone feels very well made. It's a medium coarse stone and was recommended to me as an excellent mid-grade quality stone; an upgrade over the very popular budget King 1000/6000 stone. If you only want to buy one affordable splash and go whetstone, the Ha no Kuromaku (Shapton) 1000 is a great buy. 1000 grit is a good all purpose grit level for general sharpening, 100-200 is good for major repairs, 200-500 is good for small repairs, and 5000+ is good for polishing very hard steel knives or razors.This is a fairly dense stone and does not seem to shed much. The stone is very easy to use, no soaking required. Just splash with water and start working. Very convenient to not have to soak and wait.The case is a nice touch. The case can also act as a holder while your sharpen and has rubber feet to prevent movement. I would still put this on a towel or anti-slip mat because there will still be water involved.Tip: If you only sharpen on the blank side you can keep the wording intact and always read what stone this is, but Shapton does color code there stones and orange is the color for medium 1000 grit stone. I would also get a lapping or flattening stone for future use. All whetstones will eventually wear unevenly and dish (become sunk in the middle) after many uses, when this happens it's very hard to sharpen properly. Luckily this stone is very hard and will not dish easily. The Atoma 400 diamond plate is a good flattening plate for 500+ grit stones and can also serve as a coarse sharpening plate for knife repair.

I now own 4 of the Shapton Ceramic Whetstones: 120 grit, 320 grit, 1000 grit, and 2000 grit. Every single one of them have been as good as advertised and worth every penny spent.This specific review is for the 1000 grit:The feedback is amazing. The cutting action is 4.6/5. The wear of the stone on a knife (up to 60 Rockwell) is 4.7/5. However, it is very easy to flatten when it needs to be flattened and easy to maintain and clean. I have sharpened 6 knives on it so far: KA-BAR 5.5" fixed blade, SOG Seal PUP, Kershaw Oblivion (CPM-154), Kershaw Blur (S30-V), Kershaw Cryo Tanto (8cr13MoV), and an old cheap EDC. I have lost MAYBE 0.5 mmr of stone.I have attached photos of the stone on top of the case (which doubles as a base for the stone) with a ruler over it so you can see the dimensions. Also, I included a photo of the edge of my SOG Seal PUP after using this (1000 grit) stone under a 45X magnification. In my experience, this stone is EXTREMELY close to 1000 grit.Unless something completely unexpected presents itself concerning a flaw with this stone, I will be purchasing another one soon so I have another for years to come in case they discontinue this line. This is, by FAR, the best 1000 grit stone I have used (I have used KING (3 different versions of their 1000), SHAPTON GLASS, Suehrio CERAX, NANIWA, GOKUMYO DEDABO, and a few others).In case it matters to anyone, I used the Suehrio CERAX 700 prior to using this one.

Shapton Kuromaku stones are as advertised! They provide excellent feedback and are extremely fast. Being ceramic, you don’t have to soak them in water. The 1000 stone is the workhorse stone I start on it for everything. I would only start on a lower grit if there is a chip or something like that and then I will start on it probably diamond plate or sandpaper. Being Waterstones they do dish out, especially if you use an angle jig for sharpening. So you need to be prepared to flatten them and have a good flattening option( Atoma plate are best I’ve found so far). Do not forget to check flatness out of box!

This is called a 'splash and go' ceramic sharpening stone so you just add water to the surface and start in. You do not pre-soak it in water. The 1000 grit has been versatile. You could do some light reprofiling, it has a nice feel when used to re-sharpen a knife, and with good technique it produces a fine edge. It is too new to me to comment on the durability, but it is an effective and convenient sharpening stone for the money. I recommend it.