Shapton Kuromaku Professional Waterstones

KUROMAKU is the world's first set of color-coded sharpening stones, each color representing a different grade of coarseness. The storage case makes it easy to carry the stones, and can also be used as a sharpening base. These stones are waterstones but can also be used as oilstones.

The stone is fired at a high temperature with a mixture of abrasive and a clay binder. It is 8-1/4" x 2-3/4" x 5/8".  The case has rubber feet to help prevent slippage.

These “Splash and Go” stones do not absorb water and do not need to be soaked. Shapton Traditional Stones are often called the Shapton Pro or Professional Stones. Each name refers to the same Shapton series of stones.  

These stones are easy to use, no need to wait for them to saturate, some of the fastest cutting stones on the market, and these stones are hard wearing, needing infrequent flattening.

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.

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 denser 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.

Flattening Stone
We have tested many flattening stones to find the best value. We agree with the experts that the DMT Dia-Flat Lapping Plate is the right choice to flatten the Shapton Waterstones and any other water or oilstones you have. The lapping plate is 4” x 10”.  With a consistent, aggressive diamond surface and precision ground, hand certified flat to +/- 0.0005”, the Dia-Flat™ Lapping Plate assures precise results when flattening stones. Its extra-large surface area makes it easy to use.