I would like to know if you prefer the Shapton Glass stones or the stock Edge Pro stones? I'm debating whether to get the Edge Pro 4 or the Edge Pro Essential set. I sharpen a wide variety of stainless steel knives.
Thanks
Thomas
Which stones are better Edge Pro or Shapton Glass?
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Re: Which stones are better Edge Pro or Shapton Glass?
Hi there Thomas. I spent many many years persevering with the standard stones, resisted the move to other third party stones quite strongly, but was amazed at how much better the third party stones are in general terms. The coarse EP stones are not great at all and a number of third party stones cut much faster, don't dish as quickly and last longer. Some of the higher grit standard EP stones are quite good, namely the 1000 grit stone (JIS equivalent 3k) & the 1200 (JIS 5k) and I still use these. If you're buying a set then definitely go for the Shapton Pro's
HTH
HTH
Cheers Grant
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Re: Which stones are better Edge Pro or Shapton Glass?
Hi Thomas,
I agree with Grant.
The stock EP stones are ok. They work, but I find they load pretty quickly and don't cut nearly as well as the other lines of Japanese water stones we have available. These are related issues since when the stones load they get plugged up and stop cutting until you lap them clean again.
But you're paying money to have this excellent little jig and it makes no sense to use them when there are clearly better stones like the Shaptons (both Glass Stones and Pro Stones) and the Choseras readily available. We put the Essential set together with these superior stones that are made for us by the factory and added a few really good accessories so for about the same price you get a tricked out machine that works much better than any of the stock ones.
I agree with Grant.
The stock EP stones are ok. They work, but I find they load pretty quickly and don't cut nearly as well as the other lines of Japanese water stones we have available. These are related issues since when the stones load they get plugged up and stop cutting until you lap them clean again.
But you're paying money to have this excellent little jig and it makes no sense to use them when there are clearly better stones like the Shaptons (both Glass Stones and Pro Stones) and the Choseras readily available. We put the Essential set together with these superior stones that are made for us by the factory and added a few really good accessories so for about the same price you get a tricked out machine that works much better than any of the stock ones.
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Re: Which stones are better Edge Pro or Shapton Glass?
Agree with the above. I've been using the EP for ~5 years. I have both the Shapton Glass and the Chosera, both run circles around the stock stones. I wish I would have known about the cktg special bundles at the time as it would have saved me some $ and lots of time up front.
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Re: Which stones are better Edge Pro or Shapton Glass?
+1 to Mark's last sentence. Just to be clear, I have not tried the Shapton Pros or the Choseras, so I can't comment specifically on those. But as well as the high grit EP standard stones, I have quite a collection of Shapton Glass and Nubatama stones, which do a great job.
Cheers Grant
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Re: Which stones are better Edge Pro or Shapton Glass?
+1 to both Mark and Radar's comments.Radar53 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 26, 2017 7:25 pm +1 to Mark's last sentence. Just to be clear, I have not tried the Shapton Pros or the Choseras, so I can't comment specifically on those. But as well as the high grit EP standard stones, I have quite a collection of Shapton Glass and Nubatama stones, which do a great job.
I consider the stock EP stones a last choice compared to Shapton, Nubatama and Chocera stones as well as other waterstone options, both synthetic and natural that are available.
---
Ken