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The #5000 grit Rika Whetstone is classed as a finishing stone for most blades. It will leave a beautiful mirrored edge on the knife bevel.
Suehiro’s size 1 model standard whetstone may be used with a wide variety of knives and cutting tools. Includes a storage case which can be used as a whetstone stand.
The Rika Waterstone by Suehiro Niigata Japan is renowned for its fast cutting surface and a reputation for consistency and high quality.
The Rika Stones do require soaking, however they're not extremely thirsty. A soak for only a few minutes and they're ready to go. An occasional splash of water during use keeps them working smoothly. They should not be stored in water.
If your knives are fairly sharp, going on a 1K whetstone more than once a week would wear the knife down faster than necessary.
Rika is packaged with a small Nagura stone, which is used for unclogging the stone if particle material becomes embedded during the sharpening process.
The Suehiro Rika series of stones will begin to develop a dish after frequent usage, to maintain the stones a lapping plate is recommended to keep the surface flat for long life.
We suggest either the Jende Industries Glass Lapping Plate, Shapton Diamond Glass Lapping Plate or the Shapton NAORU cast iron lapping system for this process.
We recommend soaking the Rika stone for only 2-3 minutes for initial sharpening, after the Rika has been soaked it can be splashed with water to keep the surface wet.
The Nagura stone will assist in developing a slurry for finer cutting, the Nagura stone is not for flattening the whetstone, this is a common misconception.
Once finished sharpening clean the stone and allow it to air dry naturally in a shaded position, rapid drying can cause cracking, and leaving the stone in water can cause the stone to degrade.