The 1x4 Naniwa Chosera 3K Grit stone is an excellent stone for light touching up and routine maintenance on dull, but otherwise intact, edges. It leaves a lightly mirrored polished edge that is more than acceptable for almost any knife or tool. This stone still cleans up scratches from most lower grit waterstones and from finer diamond plates and stones, although not as aggressively. It is a very good stone to finish on or to use as a medium grit stone before progressing to finer and polishing grits. 

This stone is 1" x 4" in size mounted to an aluminum blank with a total thickness of 5-6mm and used with water only. It works best when soaked in water for a minute or two before use. Let air dry and store dry when not in use.

Abrasive: Aluminum Oxide

Ideal place in a sharpening progression:

• Starting grit for light repair and maintenance of an already sharpened but dull edge.
• After lower grit sharpening stones (400, 600, 800, 1K, 2K grit)
• After finer belt grinder grits (A30, A16, A6 Trizact grit)
• Before progressing to polishing stones (4K - 10K grit)
• A final stone for initial polished sharpness on many knives and tools.

The Naniwa Chosera 3K sharpening stone works on almost all types of knives, scissors, tools and chisels, including those made with abrasion resistant steels. While the 1x4 size is meant for use with the KME Sharpener, it is also a great size for a slip stone, field stone or a pocket stone for knife repairs and sharpening on the go.

This stone can also be used in a mix and match progression with other synthetic and natural sharpening stones as well as with other brands, such as Shapton, Sigma, Suehiro, Imanishi, Spyderco, King, etc. Naniwa Choseras are Waterstones but can be used in conjunction with oil stones (such as Norton India and other carborundum and Arkansas stones) if the blade is wiped clean before and after switching stone types. 

On More Traditional Carbon Steel and Stainless Steel Edges, the 3K Chosera stone works on steels between RC 52 and RC 65 on the Rockwell C Hardness scale. On softer end stainless steels used by many kitchen knife makers like Henckels, Wüsthof, Gunter Wilhelm, F Dick, Victorinox, etc. such as X50CrMoV15, AUS6, 440B, this 3K stone leaves a lightly mirrored edge that is more suited to slicing. This stone can easily maintain a serviceable edge, but does require a lower grit stone for any real damage or change in profile.

On the higher end of the hardness spectrum of traditional steel edges made with steels like 1095, 52100, 440C, Aogami White, Shirogami Blue, O1, W1, etc. The Chosera 3K removes earlier lower grit stone scratches to start bringing out a light mirror finish with an edge that leans more toward slicing. It can be used to maintain the sharpness, but will require a coarser grit stone to do more serious repairs or profiling.

On Carbide Forming Steel and More Abrasion Resistant Steel Edges such as VG-10, D2, M2, S35V, S90V, etc., The 3K Chosera stone is more of a mid-grit level finish stone. It still removes matrix steel and carbides and usually forms a mirror finish when the edge is prepped properly beforehand. If not prepped with lower grits, the edge can reveal previous scratches not yet removed by lower grits. The 3K edge on these steels is still a little toothy, but cuts smoothly. The edge off this stone can be used as is, or to be further refined with stropping or finer grits stones.

Hacks and Tips:

• Use a moderate amount of water when sharpening with this stone to avoid the black swarf from turning into a thick paste. A cleaner surface will cut faster than a thicker pasted one.
• If using this stone as a final or polishing grit, keep the black swarf viscous and it will produce a slightly more refined edge.
• Lap this stone with a coarse or medium diamond plate, silicon carbide (SiC) powder, or 180-220 grit wet dry sand paper to keep it consistently flat and clean.

Comparable Stones: Jende 3K Platinum, Sigma Select II 3K,

Alternative Mid Range Stones: Jende 4K Frenchs, Naniwa 4K Finisher Suehiro 3K Yellow.