Gesshin 1200 Resinoid Stone

The Gesshin™ 1000 Grit Extra Large Sharpening Stone is a great Nakato (middle stone).  Like this rest of the Gesshin™ stones, I have been testing this one for quite some time now.  This stone is a new addition to our lineup. As a soaking stone, it has great feedback, cuts fast, and works well on a variety of steels. Its a medium hardness stone that can work up mud pretty easily. Being that it is not a super hard stone, it does dish while in use, which is part of the reason we offer this in the extra large size. This extra large size makes it nice for professional kitchens, where many people use the same stone. Likewise, some home cooks and professional sharpeners may prefer the larger working surface area. Stones this size tend to last for a very long time.  This stone should be soaked for about 10 minutes before use.  It can be stored in water with no problems.  If you do leave your stone in water, please change the water regularly.  When drying out this stone or any others, do so out of the sunlight in a well-ventilated area.

The Gesshin™ 1000/6000 combo stone is the best combination stone I've ever used. Combo stones are often known for putting together mediocre quality stones, often in a smaller than normal size. When we decided to make this stone, we took two amazing full-size stones and put them together. The 1000 grit side of this is the same as our Gesshin™ Grit Extra Large Sharpening Stone. It is a great Nakato (middle stone). Like this rest of the Gesshin™ stones, I have been testing this one for quite some time now. This stone is a new addition to our lineup. As a soaking stone, it has great feedback, cuts fast, has great tactile feedback, and works well on a variety of steels. It's a medium hard stone that can work up mud pretty easily. It also happens to be pretty dish resistant. The 6000 grit side is a very fast cutter, muddy, works well on all types of steel, and leaves a very nice finish.

This stone is great for single bevel and double bevel knives alike...from normal sharpening to uraoshi, to koba (microbevels), to hamaguri edges this stone is a great all around stone. If you're looking for a one-stone setup, maybe even something to keep at work, this is your stone.

This stone should be soaked for about 5-10 minutes before use.  It can be used as a splash and go, but it really does much better with a short soak.  It can be stored in water with no problems.  If you do leave your stone in water, please change the water regularly.  When drying out this stone or any others, do so out of the sunlight in a well-ventilated area. Please keep in mind that these stones may vary in color saturation from batch to batch as a function of the manufacturing process.

The Gesshin™ 1500 Grit Sharpening Stone is a very different kind of stone from most that I have seen on the market.  These stones are entirely splash and go... they require no soak whatsoever.  Just a splash of water and they are ready to go.  In fact, its very important that these stones are not soaked, as they will fall apart.  You will notice that the stones are lacquered on all sides but one.  The non-lacquered surface is usable surface (the opposite side from where our logo is).  Because of the way these stones are bound together, they are a bit more brittle than the other stones we have in stock.  It is very important to round the corners of the stone before and after flattening to prevent chipping along the edges.  Initially, the stone surface will show some small pock marks and swirly textures.  It is not necessary to completely flatten this all out, though it will eventially flatten out over time.

We highly recommend flattening the stone before initial use.  The top layer of the stone needs to be removed for peak performance.  This can be done by either flattening or using the stone until that layer is gone.

This stone makes an excellent daily medium grit stone.  It is fast cutting, slow to dish, and provides an excellent edge, with a solid amount of bite.  The polish this stone leaves also looks like a much higher grit than the 1500 grit would suggest (the edge is, however, clearly 1500 grit in feeling).  Though it does not leave contrast between hagane and jigane, it does leave a very consistent and even polished edge.  The alumina based abrasive works well on a wide variety of steels.  The surface of the stone will look as if it is loading up while sharpening (i.e. it becomes blackish), but as you add water, you will notice that the stone does not load as it cuts.