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Top Quality Stones for Demanding Sharpeners

Shapton Kuromaku Professional Stones are for those seeking an extremely high quality sharpening stone. You can rely on these fast-cutting and hard-wearing water stones to sharpen an unrivaled edge and be a joy to use, every time. Whether you are a professional looking for stones that won't let you down or a hobbyist who demands the best, the Kuromaku Professional line has you covered.

Professional Quality

Shapton is serious about calling these Professional stones. Hard working professional sharpeners need stones that they can rely on. Stones that sharpen fast and well without wasting time. The Kuromaku Professional stones do just that.

Splash and Go - The Kuromaku stones do not absorb water like many other water stones do. This means that there is no soaking required prior to using them. Get them wet, and start sharpening. No time spent waiting for them to saturate.
Fast Cutting - Kuromaku Professional stones sharpen fast. In our tests, they are among the fasting cutting of water stones. Whether you are sharpening for yourself or for a customer, they are perfect for getting an edge sharp, and getting it back to work.
Hard Wearing - No one likes the time spent flattening water stones, and while the Kuromaku Professionals do need to be flattened, they require less flattening less often than inferior quality stones, saving valuable time for the professional or serious home sharpener.

Ceramic Abrasives

The Kuromaku Professionals are made using very accurately graded ceramic abrasives. The ceramic abrasives make for stones that cut fast at every grit level. The tight-tolerance sorting of the abrasives results in a wider range of grits than most other brands. Ten distinct stones span the range of extremely aggressive 120 grit all the way to incredibly fine 30,000 grit. A range that insures you will find just the right combination for your sharpening demands.

Ten Color-Coded Grit Options:

White #120 - Extra Coarse
The White #120 stone is formulated for quick steel removal. It can quickly sharpen chipped or pitted edges. The scratch pattern will be coarse but very consistent.

Moss #220 - Very Coarse
The Moss #220 is formulated for quick steel removal in stainless and powder metals. It leaves a softer scratch pattern than the coarser #120.

Blue-Black #320 - Coarse
The Blue-Black #320 is formulated to remove high-carbon steel with a much cleaner scratch pattern than the #120. This stone is a very good intermediate step before the #1000. The #320 retains its shape very well.

Orange #1000 - Medium/Coarse
The Orange #1000 is a very popular intermediate stone. Great for moderate stock removal. This stone is good to use prior to polishing.

Blue #1500 - Medium
The Blue #1500 is a slightly finer intermediate stone. It still has a reasonably fast stock removal rate yet still starts to polish the edge.

Green #2000 - Medium
The Green #2000 stone is a very popular finer intermediate stone. It still has a reasonably fast stock removal rate yet starts to polish the edge. It will turn a clean burr.

Wine #5000 - Fine
The Wine #5000 stone is the first polishing stone. It can still remove some metal but is primary a polishing stone. It is more dense than most stones.

Melon #8000 - Very Fine
The Melon #8000 is a very nice polishing stone. Shapton spent thousands of hours on research and development on this stone to make it perform up to their standard. It will leave a very fine polish with a microscopically fine scratch pattern.

Yellow #12000 - Extra Fine
The Yellow #12000 was originally designed for fine woodworking tools requiring an extremely fine edge. It will leave a bright mirror finish. It is a serious polishing stone.

Purple #30000 - Micro Fine
The Purple #30000 is a truly one of kind stone. Each stone is individually crafted, requiring more than 20 hours of processing. With a .48 micron particle size, the #30000 is the finest sharpening stone in the world.

Color Coded Boxes

Each Shapton Kuromaku Professional Stone comes in its own storage box that doubles as an in-use stone holder. The boxes are color coded, the same as the stones, so identification is quick and easy whether the stone is out on your bench, or stored in the box. The stones measure 210MM x 70MM x 15MM (approximately 8 1/4" x 2 3/4" x 5/8"). A good overall size for sharpening, they have the added benefit of two usable sides and are the thickest of the Shapton stones.

The Shapton Kuromaku Professional Series Stones are also called the Shapton Professional, the Shapton Pro, or the Shapton Traditional Stones. Each of these names refer to the same Shapton series of stones. They are made in Japan. Sharpening Supplies is an authorized retailer of Shapton Stones.

Q. Do I need a flattening stone or lapping plate for the Shapton Kuromaku Professional Series sharpening stones?

A. Yes, all water stones require flattening. We recommend the DMT Dia-Flat Lapping Plate. It has a large surface area, flattens quickly and leaves a smooth surface on the water stone.

Q. Is a stone holder recommended for use with the Kuromaku Professional Stones?

A. Yes, we do recommend using a stone holder. Options include the sturdy Universal Stone Holder and the convenient Naniwa Sink Bridge. Of course the storage box that the Kuromaku Professional Stones come with can be used as a working holder as well.

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