Shrimp Corporation SS-800 Professional Super Ceramic Whetstone with Base #800

If you are looking for one of the best waterstones in the 1K grit range, and money is no object - then look no further.I am not sure why Naniwa chose to give this particular Cho the tag of "800 grit" --- and then also offer a different 1K Chosera stone to compete with it. In the end, all that did was hurt the recognition and sales of this stone - which IMHO (and the opinion of many) is the better stone between the two. Many shopping 1K stones would automatically choose the Cho 1K before the 800 mainly because of the familiarity of the 1K label.This Chosera does everything well - whether kitchen or pocket knives, chisels or plane irons, etc. The hardness is just right, and the feedback is perfect. Then, the stone cuts fast and the edge is clean. This stone cuts like a 1000 -1200 stone, not sure why the 800 label, but Chosera is famous for under-rating their stones in grit.If I want a reliable / utility edge that is not polished to a mirror finish, I typically follow this up with a Chosera 3K and stop there. Many follow the 800 with a Cho 5K also with good results. I have also gone with a Cho 800 --> Cho 3K --> Naniwa Snow White 8K lineup when I want a more polished / refined edge with great results. (note the Cho 10K is VERY expensive, and to me the 8K SW is 90% of what the Cho 10K is for MUCH less). Some woodworker's I know like to go from the Cho 800 to the Naniwa 8K Snow White directly - but I find that there is too much work eliminating the 800 scratch patter and like a stone in between (like the Cho 3K).A couple of use / maintenance tips on this stone - you will get many different opinions and there ARE do's and don'ts to keeping your Cho's in good working order. First - these ARE splash and go stones - but can benefit from a short soak before use (note "short"). Maybe a 10-15 min soaking before hand will help. DO NOT PERMA-SOAK THESE STONES. Short and quick. Next, they require frequent water refreshes as you get them going initially... but do get to a point of saturation quickly where the surface does not require constant refresh. NEXT - and most importantly - dry them at an even and slow pace - do not expose to heat, sunlight or other means to dry them faster. What I do is let them dry for a few hours, then wrap them in a cotton hand towel to dry the last 10-20% after that for a day or two. The key is natural, slow drying.You will read how some have issues with Chosera's scaling / cracking and 99.999 times out of 100 this is due to poor handling, over soaking or poor drying / storage techniques. Sure, the Cho's require a little extra care and feeding to keep them optimal, and are not bullet proof but to me that is the price you pay for this high level of quality. (look at them as a high class lady that needs a little extra maintenance to keep her happy :-))If you have the budget and don't mind spending more for that little extra bit of quality, this is a great stone. Realize though the 1K waterstone market is clogged with so many great choices that the price of this stone may mean others will choose different for half the price.Recommended. Thanks for reading.

One of the quickest stones on the market that leaves a scratch pattern in the 1200-1300 grit range . The feedback is outstanding and you can feel where your edge bevel is while sharpening. The stone doesn’t produce a lot of mud and is quite hard so you don’t have to worry about your stone dishing out compared to softer stones , I usually sharpened around 8-10 knives before it needs a flattening but the amount of knives can be increased if you’re utilizing the whole surface of the stone evenly . So far , I like this stone a lot that I have multiple of each chosera stone in the line up and because it’s cheaper than the professional while also thicker at 25.4 mm to 20 mm .If you’re wondering whether to get the 800 or the 1k , either stone will be a great addition to your collection. The 1k is slower and harder but leaves a more refined edge but both have similar feel and feedback . If used properly both stones can produced a razor hair shaving edge .

Last year I upgraded from my 20 year old Henkels Pro S to a Mac Pro MTH-80. I bought the $30 King 1000/6000 combo stone and learned how to sharpen by watching youtube videos. The King 1000 grit side dished quickly, cut slowly and created a thick muddy swarf that consisted of as much particulate from the stone as from the knife (not good). It did get the knives sharp but it was difficult to raise a consistent burr. After spending an embarrassing amount of time researching stones (I have no life) I decided to buy the Chosera 800.The Chosera arrived in the mail today and I immediately tried it out on both my Henkels and my Mac Pro. The difference between the Chosera and the King is night and day. First off, the Chosera is noticeably more dense. It will undoubtedly last a lifetime. This is a true splash and go. I wet the stone and started sharpening. The Chosera is a fast cutter compared to the King. I was able to raise a consistent burr in under a minute on each side. The feel of the stone is so much smoother than the King. It was much easier to sharpen on this stone with great feedback.I would recommend this stone to anyone including beginners. I wish I had bought this one 1st rather than spending a year learning how to sharpen on the King. The Chosera is jut so much easier and produces better results.

Fantastic stone. Great feedback and easy to use.

The media could not be loaded. This stone is really growing on me. The feel is that of a very smooth water stone that’s hard enough not to gouge but cuts quickly. Gives great feedback and easy to clean. The base is so so but I don’t have a dedicated setup so it actually works quite well for me with a towel and spray bottle or at the edge of the sink.For most blades I can clean up from my 120 stone but a 320 is easier and faster but this will work if you are trying to only have 3 stones.I’d say it’s going to be my most used stone.From here I step up to my medium and hard Arkansas stones and they refine the edge quickly off of this stone. Before I used to jump to them from a 320 and it took a lot of work.Sharp blades right off this stone and it makes me want to try more from the chosera line.Overall great middle grit stone. I personally need something lower (120-220) to re profile an edge and desire something higher (3000-5000) to refine that edge.I’d highly recommend and buy this stone again.