The Keenest Edge Shapton Stone Set, Save $150

The Keenest Edge Shapton Stone Set: In due time it can be

I've had this about a month now and have run about 15 knives, 5 chisels and one pair of 12" scissors through them. I have them mounted in the Shapton Holder too, so they are perfectly in place. The holder sits on a Naniwa Sink Bridge. I have all the Shapton Glass stones now, so I work my way through them...500,1000,2000,4000,8000,12000(Naniwa Ceramic), 16000, 30000. I also have a 120 DMT Diamond Lapping plate to keep them all dead flat, all the time. I currently hit my level of expertise at about 4000 or 8000. I use a digital microscope to check my progress, so at 400x zoom, I can see exactly where my primary or secondary bevel fails to be "prefect", most likely due to mistakes made in prior grits. I'll get there eventually and be able to truly leverage the 16k and 30k stones, but even now they put a perfect mirror finish on my knives. I like practicing on $7 used 10" Nella chef knives and change their cheap grind to a mirror finish flat bevel (takes about 45mins per knife). They are crazy sharp, but the cheap steel does not hold that top-notch edge for long. I don't feel that I'm able to take true advantage of the 8k or 16k or 30k stones yet and probably most folks fit into that category, but give me about 6-12mths more practice and those $7 Nella knives will be able to be used for shaving. Then I'll start using my good Japanese knives. These high end Shapton Glass stones are truly incredible. Mine show no wear at all. Also note that the grit is so fine on these 4 stones that when you put water on them, it does not absorb into the stone, it just really acts as a surface lubricant. Also note that it is easy to forget these stones are abrasive, so be careful resting your fingers or thumb on them as you move across the surface repeatedly over the course of an hour, You'll take most of our finger prints off and a few more layers of skin on top of that too. As for weight applied to all four of these stones, I've applied, light pressure and heavily leaned onto them when buffing out a problem spot, and the stones work flawlessly. It almost never catches on the surface. I'm really happy with these and look forward to years of use. My only request from Shapton would be for a 250 grit, 125 and a 50...just for those problem blades....all in glass stone format.