KING KW65 1000/6000 Grit Combination Whetstone with Plastic Base

Knife sharpening on any whetstone requires more skills than basic marketing will lead you to believe. It requires patience and diligence. If you give it time and effort, it will bear fruit. In this case, a nicely sharpened blade. Whetstones have a very high skill ceiling and will not be rewarding to those who are unwilling to put in the time. It works well if you know how to use whetstones, however, it will not be the easiest to use. I am a beginner and after a couple hours of practice, I was able to place a nice edge on some kitchen knives. It is quite messy when it comes to the red, 1000 grit, side(don't wipe off the stone). It leaves a watery clay like substance that can get everywhere. I would not recommend working on a surface you don't want stains on because the 6000 grit side will shave tiny particles of the metal off and possibly stain your working station and hands(also don't wipe the metal particles off the stone. It's a beginner's mistake). Clean up is pretty easy. All I do is use enough water to rub off the particles off the stone. I just use my fingers to slightly brush off the particles off the stones. I don't want to break up the stones by using coarse sponges or paper towels (do not use paper towels to clean the stones at all. It will leave tiny pieces of paper towel that will hinder your ability to make smooth strokes across the stones. It makes the stone bumpy). Then I just leave em out to air dry. Pretty simple. Using whetstones are an artform and not just something you can dive into with ease. There are a lot of things to understand and implement into sharpening knives using whetstones. The angle of the blade as you sharpen, the path of the blade as it rides the surface of the stone, the pressure you apply to the blade, and the amount of strokes back and forth to get the edge that you want. Also, it's a whetstone, so it's important that the stones are kept wet. Soaking the stone in water is an essential part of the process as well as keeping the surface constantly watered and not doing so will result in suboptimal edges. I would not recommend this for someone who wants an general sharpener for daily kitchen use. This will take too much of your time. However, I think it's a great product for people who are getting into whetstones and what it has to offer. The price is great and the stones are nice.

Very sturdy and effective sanding stone

Super nice whetstone for sharpening tools and knives. I bought this because it was made in Japan...which is great cuz all my leather tools are the same. I use this to sharpen my skiving knife and some kitchen knives. As instructed, soak in water first then use. Once it's wet, it won't move around when you put it on the stand. Mine came from Amazon and no damage at all...and I have been using this for about 1 and 1/2 years.....before writing this review. I spend about 2-3 mins sharpening my skiving knife and can use it for weeks, daily use.....because I am lazy and do wait until it's pretty dull to sharpen again. After a few mins, knife is crazy sharp and cuts through thick leather like butter.

This is one of two whetstones I bought to learn freehand knife sharpening. With this, another coarser stone, and a couple of weeks of practice, I've been able to take about 15 knives that were dull enough to run a thumb across the entire blade without breaking the skin and transform them into knives that effortlessly slice tomatoes with little to no added pressure. The best way to use the stone, in my limited experience, is to sharpen on the 1000 grit side and then only use a stropping motion on the 6000 grit side to polish the edge and remove any remaining burr. Only stropping will help you avoid a couple of things. By not using an edge-leading stroke, you won't accidentally gouge a piece out of the stone if your hand slips and the angle changes drastically. You will also remove less material from the edge, meaning that fewer flecks of removed steel will get stuck on the stone. Since the 6000 grit side has a relatively hard, glassy feel to it, it tends to suck up and hold onto material easily, which will make it polish less effectively until removed. At first, running it under water and rubbing it with your hand will remove a lot of this material, but over time it will build up more material that can't be removed in this way. I've yet to find a no/low budget way of dealing with this effectively. If you don't mind spending another $10-$15, getting a cleaning stone may be a good investment. This stone is cheap enough that when you inevitably try to apply too much pressure at an awkward angle and gouge into the stone, you won't be too upset about it. This is much more likely to happen on the VERY soft 1000 grit side. The solution is to avoid sharpening near the gouge until the rest of the stone is worn down close to the level of the gouge and then lightly rubbing the stone (while wet) against a sheet of sandpaper resting on a flat surface. You can use a #2 pencil to draw a grid on the face of the stone and then sand the stone until the whole grid is gone. Once this happens, your stone is level again and ready to go. Even though this stone is a great value, there are two reasons why I can't give it 5 stars. The first is specific to this stone: it's only 2.5" wide. While this doesn't make doing large chef's or slicing knives impossible, it does force you to turn your body quite a bit if you're sharpening with sweeping strokes. If you plan to sharpen a lot of longer blades, there are some wider, similarly-priced 400/1000 grit whetstones that may suit you better as long as you're OK with not having a high-grit finishing stone. Cheaper whetstones are generally made of softer material, and this stone is no exception, especially the 1000 grit side. Even though it has decent tactile response, it feels like clay and gets very muddy very quickly if you're applying a lot of pressure. With material like this, you'll need to apply water to the surface of the stone more often to prevent your edge from getting caked in mud. Despite those issues, it's still a good stone that has served me well. Grab a whetstone and check out Youtube for plenty of video tutorials on freehand sharpening and go for it! Your knifes will thank you.

Great everyday sharpening stones. I have a bin full of exotic waterstones (16k anyone?). This and a Shapton 2k green stone are what I actually use. Chad Ward, author of "An Edge in the Kitchen" (just for context)