Nagura Stone for Sharpening Honing Stones, Grit 12000

Bought this together with the 15000 grit version and it gets a great polish on my chisels and burins. Didn't want to spend so much on a full size block. Don't let it's small size fool you, highly recommended.

Note: this is not a standalone whetstone. It is a compound used to create a slurry on a stone.

Not a right size, useless!

Firstly, be aware that this is not a flattening stone. Nagura stones are used to help build up slurry on the actual sharpening stone, which is why you want to match the grits of your nagura to the water stones you are using to sharpen. If you need to flatten out a dished water stone there are separate products for that.If properly used, water stones will get knives sharper, and more durably sharper, than any other type of sharpener, such as diamond or oil stones. In other words, not only is the edge of a knife keener when properly sharpened on water stones, it will stay sharper longer. This is due to the random mixture of the cutting material suspension in the media, and without going into a lengthy explanation, suffice to say this effect only works when a stone has at least a little, and ideally a lot, of slurry on it. Otherwise it will quickly clog with swarf--tiny metal particles removed from the blade, and when that happens it eliminates the feature of the water stones that allow them to produce the sharpest, most durable edges.I'm very comfortable sharpeing with diamond stones, but I'm in the process of learning on, and converting to, water stones; and I don't know if it's the relatively cheap stones I'm using right now, or if this is true of all types, but at grits under about 3000 it takes a very long time to build up slurry. So I decided to invest in a 1000 grit nagura--the lowest grit I regularly use--and it has helped with the slurry. Maybe not as much as I would have liked, but even a little is better than none. My only complaint with this stone is that it is too hard: like my actual 1000 grit sharpening stone, it just doesn't want to break down into slurry without a lot of vigorous rubbing. That isn't entirely negative because it means the nagura stone will last a long time (the attached pics are after about two months of use, and there is no visible wear), but I would have preferred a slightly softer stone that more easily created slurry. That is the reason I rated it four rather than five stars. Never the less, it's a useful tool, and recommended if, like me, your 1000 grit stone doesn't raise enough slurry as you sharpen.

So samll