Takarazukushi Combination Stone Fast Cutting & Fine Finishing 1200 Blue Marble Ceramic / 4000 White Resin

The newest Takarazukushi combination stone is made with a fast-cutting 1200-grit ceramic whetstone and a fine 4000-grit resin-bonded finishing stone.

Tested and refined over many years in the Bernal Cutlery sharpening department, and developed with customer feedback, this combination stone works effectively on a wide variety of steels and knives, especially hard, wear-resistant steels. 

This semi-soft Takarazukushi 1200 ceramic stone is made in Kyoto, Japan, with alumina and zircon abrasive particles fired with ceramics, creating a fused, porous stone that tends to cut deeper and faster. It is a wide-ranging stone, doing great on double-bevel knives made with wear-resistant steels, and providing a great, abrasive-rich, fast-cutting medium ideal for wide-bevel and single-bevel knives. This stone will cut faster with a little extra slurry raised on the surface from a flattnener, or from work, and cut slightly finer with a heavy, thick mud and very light pressure.

Please note the grit are not completely homogenous, some slightly deeper scratches are to be expected from the 1200, this is part of its cutting power. 

The 4000 grit resin-bonded finishing stone provides a fine, bright polish, making it a versatile finish for a wide variety of knife and steel types that benefit from a fine finish. It also works well as a pre-polisher for extremely fine synthetic or natural stone finishes. We selected a harder, finer 4000 for this combination, which cuts faster than the previous yellow marble 1000/4000.  Please consider using a nagura stone or 400 diamond flattener to generate slurry for wide bevels, and a nagura to smooth out the surface if using a coarse flattener. 

While ceramic stones will not come apart with longer soaking periods, these combination stones are glued together and can run into problems if left in water for very long periods; a 15-minute soak is optimal. Allow the stone to dry away from sun and wind, and do not let it freeze when wet.