Gesshin 8000 Ceramic Stone

The Gesshin™ 8000 Grit Sharpening Stone is an awesome shiage toishi (finishing stone).  Like this rest of the Gesshin™ stones, I have been testing this one for quite some time now.  This is one of my favorite stone in the 8000+ grit range.  It has amazing feedback, it extremely fast cutting, works up mud easily, is not too hard for kitchen knives, leaves a very nice finish, and resists dishing well.  Like the Gesshin™ 400, 2000, and 4000, this stone works well on all kinds of steel, from simple carbon to high tech powdered stainless.  This stone makes a great finishing stone for your kitchen knives.  It is best to use this stone after using a stone in the 4000-6000 grit range.  The edge this stone leaves is refined with just enough tooth for ktichen purposes.  The finish is whiteish hazy and the stone gives decent contrast between softer cladding and core steels on wide bevel clad knives.  This stone should be soaked for about 5 minutes before use.  I do not store mine in water, but I have tested storing the stone in water and saw no problems.  If you do leave your stone in water, please change the water regularly.  When drying out this stone or any others, do so out of the sunlight in a well-ventilated area. This stone may or may not include the nagura stone depicted in the product photos.