Reviews for Naniwa Aotoishi sharpening stone grain 2000, IR0260

Very nice stone. The surface has a smooth velvety feel that makes it easy to use; i.e. it’s difficult to make mistakes that set back your honing. I use it both as a splash-and-go stone, and as a stone where you build up a good slurry and polish. The stone is very generous in building up a slurry, especially if you help it a bit with a dressing stone. It’s a great stone for beginners thanks to its forgiving nature. I use the “bottom” side, the one without the Japanese letters, and that side was actually surprisingly curved with the center being the high area. I am in no way fuzzy when it comes to levelling stones and I can easily achieve great razor sharp edges even if the stones are not perfectly level, perhaps because I build up hamaguri grinds. But in this case, I had to level the surface. One star deducted for that. You can use this stone as a touch up stone on an edge that isn’t damaged when you just feel like sharpening a knife, and you can use the stones as a finishing stone where a light touch makes the stone respond like a 4000 grit stone. Mirror polish is within reach then, and makes me question the reasoning behind stones with grit 6000 or greater. It is also a fun stone to use, I like it.

The stone is fine. Arrived slightly chipped at the corned. Not a big deal, but I would have packed it better.

Really good stone

All in all, it's an awesome finishing stone from Naniwa Lobster series. I am an experienced sharpener, there are quite many professional whetstones in my workshop. So when I purchased this item, I already knew what exactly I will receive. It's not a novelty to me. This particular stone is sooth, silky, delicate and it removes material slowly. It is up on you, if you want to use a Nagura in addition to this stone or not. The stone itself produces suspension very quickly, it is not aggressive at all. Smooth, silky and very soft. Regarding the quality of the stone for the money, this stone is not the cheapest in the world. Obviously, you can find something cheaper. The value for money is adequate. If you have some other edge-forming coarse stones from Naniva EBI series (like Aramusha 剛研 荒武者 #220), this stone will work for you. This is all I can say. Good luck to you!

If you are looking for just a grindstone that can sharpen your knives quickly. Then this is the stone you should buy. It is a relatively hard rock. Which quickly sharpens the knife, and that the gradation of 2000 grit gives a sufficiently fine polishing / sharpness. But note that this grindstone comes without grindstone holder, and the beautiful box that can be obtained at a higher cost.