ShaptonGlass stone 2000 HR

I recently started to learn freehand sharpening and initially bought a popular diamond stone which is very good for performance but not much feel to them so not great for learning. Shapton ceramic stones have really great feel and even for an amateur made feeling the edge possible. I have the glass 500 and 2000 and the rockstar 1000, the glass and rockstar are made of the same materials. Imo the 500 and 2000 grits are just amazing, the 1000 is fine but unnecessary with these other two. The 500 takes off material fast but leaves a very usable edge and the 2000 will get you up to a very fine and reflective edge but obviously not a mirror finish. I don’t think going higher than 2000 is necessary for most people but I do plan on getting some higher grits and I will be sticking with shapton glass and/or rockstar. Another thing I’d like to point out is that these are extremely slow wearing, I have sharpened nearly 50 knives already and flattened the stones around 25-30 times and I just measured the thickness of ceramic left on the glass stones and it’s still just over the rated 5mm. This means that shapton is actually giving you a bit more stone than they advertise and they will last the average user years, perhaps a decade or more. When you consider that these are an excellent value. From my understanding these have a bit better feel than the pro (kuromaku) line and will leave a nicer finish on your knife due to the abrasives used.

I was really impressed with this stone much more than the Naniwa Diamond. Beginners just grab this and learn on them you will for sure save money. Dreassing stone recommended for optimal use.

I used this with a 400 grit diamond stone and it works awesome.

If a razor's edge is the goal, this grit is just one step along the way. But, it gives enough of a polish to make kitchen knives a pleasure for me to use. (I don't do sushi.) When an edge doesn't come back after a few strokes on a steel, I find this stone is usually enough to restore the edge. The splash-n-go ceramic is nice, too.

Smooth and durable. Top Japanese Craftsmanship.

Shapton glass stones are great. They are fast, easy to flatten, and easy to clean up. I can really tell the difference when sharpening modern super steels. They work well with old-school carbon steel knives, but I usually use my Chosera stones for that. Shapton Pro Stones are good also, but for the super steels, these glass stones are the way to go.

Meticulous Shapton stone build and quality. May or may not sharpen/semi-polish any better than a Chosera, but it will wear a little more slowly, and it looks and feels awesome.

I got this as a "splash-n-go" replacement to my soaker stones for the more frequent day-to-day finer sharpening.I love the ceramic stone and the elegant glass backing. It is quick effective and aesthetically pleasing.I use an adjustable rubber mount stone holder, that way I only have to keep a single stone mount vs exactly sized blocks.The reason for the 4 star is the same as other reviews... Despite Amazon's exemplary efforts to package and ship the stone safely, the box itself holds the stone precisely with NO cushion or buffer. As with other reviewers, my stone came with a chipped corner. Given the care of Amazon packaging/shipping, I believe the damage to have occurred pre-shipping. The chipped corner is not in the used surface area of the stone and thereby does not affect the performance of the product. I was not bothered enough to request a replacement for an aesthetic flaw with no guarantee that the replacement wouldn't be equally damaged.For the cost, I would have expected the Vendor to have done a better job with the boxing.Final point, I will still purchase more of these stones in different grits as I continue to build my collection.