Waterstone Wet Stone Sharpening Kit with 220/1000 and 4000/8000 Combination Grit Knife Sharpener Stones, Flattening Stone and Whetstone Holder

This was my first entry into sharpening with water stones, and I decided to get this set after trying to piece together a similar set with individual stones. Not sure why, but the name "Starter Kit" had me concerned because it implied that it was going to be somehow smaller or less capable. Rest assured, the kit is simply their standard stones packaged in a single rather utilitarian box. Each stone is of high quality, and purchasing together this way provided significant savings over buying each piece individually. Before I talk about the stones themselves, I should add to my comments that, like others, my kit first arrived with two 220/1000 stones and no 4000/8000. This definitely seems to be a genuine quality control issue. However, in typical Amazon fashion I completed a return authorization online and had a new set in two days, and the inconvenience was minimal, but not non-existent. I was surprised how short the learning curve was with this. I started with a very inexpensive and dull stainless steel Chinese cleaver that I purchased years ago in New York's Chinatown. This thing was really little more than a novelty piece, as I'd never been able to get it more than moderately sharp using our Chef's Choice sharpener. In one attempt the stones had the knife extremely sharp, and in fact I now reach for it for a huge number of chopping tasks that I'd usually tackle with my Henckels chef's knife. Feeling confident, I worked my way through the Henckels set, and each is now shaving sharp as well. From there I proceeded to sharpen a 20-year old, original Japanese-made Kershaw Black Horse folding knife. This was a little more challenging, but after getting better at finding and holding a proper angle the blade was reprofiled and again absolutely razor sharp. Feeling confident, I then tackled the reprofiling of a KA-BAR USMC. This one was much more difficult for me as a novice, but again, after some patient practice, the blade is now a perfect, hair-popping mirror finish. After literally hours of sharpening, the stones really don't seem to be any worse for the wear, and I suspect I may never actually consume a stone. The Silicon Carbide flattening stone is very useful, and mine was perfectly flat and very quickly and easily restores the stones to a completely flat surface. I did go out and purchase a Nagura stone for the 8000 grit stone, and have found it to be indispensable as well, as the 8K does very quickly accumulate metal, slowing its effectiveness. I've read from many much more experience sharpeners than I that the 8000k stone is really overkill, but I've definitely found that it takes the blades to another level of sharpness in my amateur hands, while bringing out that jewel-like mirror finish. Using the stones becomes a bit addictive, and I actually went ahead and also picked up a strop that I loaded with green .5 micron compound, at it definitely takes the blade to a final level of perfection. The edge on that KA-BAR, for example, is truly scary after adding a stropping step! All in all, this is more than a "starter kit," it's just a very capable and easy to learn full size set that should last for a very long time, even if not forever for the typical home user.

These bad boys are way easier to use than you might expect. I am an experienced home cook who puts her knives through the ringer most every day. Don't get me wrong, I handle my blades well (never in the dishwasher, only ever cut on end-grain or plastic cutting boards), but I chop, dice, matchstick, and julienne the heck out of any vegetable I can get my hands on. I usually send my 5 main knives out for sharpening once or twice a year, but have always cringed at how much metal the belt sanding method takes with it. I bought J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's "The Food Lab" and in it, he features a couple page text box on the benefits of sharpening your own knives using waterstones. I was terrified I would completely botch my precious blades, but his article explaining it step by step and demystifying the more complicated parts gave me the confidence I needed to give it a try. Lopez-Alt says that he thinks sharpening your knives yourself, by hand, also helps you get to know your knives more intimately. I kind of rolled my eyes at this thought, but after sharpening my kit a couple of times now, I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I see what he's saying. This kit is great because it offers everything you need all at once. I only used the 220 grit for a couple of my knives that had more damage, otherwise I stuck to the 1000 and both side of the 4000/8000 stone. The 8000 grit probably doesn't do much in terms of sharpening benefits, but it does put a beautiful mirror shine on the sharpened surface. Each knife takes about 10-15 mins to sharpen, depending on how damaged the blade is and how thorough you want to be with it. You'll also need to pre-soak the stones for 30-45 mins (I've heard estimates as low as 20 mins). The process itself isn't messy, but it isn't exactly clean. I kept the unused stone soaking in a 9x13 pyrex container while I used the other stone on a towel on my kitchen counter. Because you have to periodically dribble some water on the stone to keep it lubricated, I end up with a pretty soggy towel and a few drips and dribbles of dirty water around my kitchen. Nothing too serious, but it's helpful to know what you're getting into. Plan on spending an hour or two from soaking the stones back to a spotless kitchen. I really appreciate that this method hardly removed any metal from my knives and I love that I can keep pushing the knife around until I get just the edge I'm looking for. I don't know if it was just me convincing myself there was something special about it, but I've never had a more joyful knife cut than the first thing I cut into after sharpening my chef's knife myself. I really did feel more connected with my knives. I think this set is a great starter option. You'll spend more money getting all of the pieces individually. Maybe there are superior waterstones out there, but these seem like more than sufficient for the vast majority of users. I got this set, and countless sharpenings, for the same price that I used to pay for a single sharpening of my 5 main knives. Well worth the money.

These stones were a huge disappointment. When looking at these stones, fresh out of the box, I thought that they needed to be "broken in". So I took the flattening stone and started to flatten them and wear down the initial rough surface to get the stones to their rated grit level. The first thing I noticed was that the flattening stone was not flat... The second thing I noticed was that the stones preferred to remove material from themselves rather than my knife. They did sharpen the knife, but it at the cost of a lot of the stone material. The third thing I noticed, and this is the real kicker, was that the 4000 grit stone still seemed rough, even after running my blade over it for about 20 minutes. Fortunately, I was using a cheap blade that I use for any stone I haven't used before. I have a Shapton 5000 grit stone and I can just about get a scratch-less mirror polish with it. The 4000 grit stone from this set didn't get anywhere close. I know that 4000 < 5000, but still... So I figured that I would try the 8000 grit stone. If I can see my face in the edge that my Shapton 5000 leaves, I should be able to use the edge off of the 8000 grit stone as a rear-view mirror. WRONG... The 8000 grit stone, even after having worn away almost 1/4 of the total thickness of the stone by creating a slurry and running my knife through it, could not get anywhere close to the level of polish that the Shapton 5000 attained. I tried pushing hard. I tried just barely "caressing" the stone with the blade. I tried with a slurry, with no slurry, with no water, under water, everything I could think of... These stones are horrible. Do not buy them. If you want a good edge, get a tri-hone system from your local Academy Sports. It will do a far better job than these bricks. This was the most disappointing $140 that I have ever spent and the most frustrating several hours of my life that I am not getting back.

Excellent starter kit for sharpening with Waterstone. I have used whetstones before for sharpening, but was interested in getting into "better" sharpening of knives and straight razors, so needed to pick up some quality stones... and these were available at a very good price (there was even a coupon here on Amazon). This set comes with 3 stones. Stone 1: 220/1000 (220 on one side, 1000 on the other) Stone 2: 4000/8000 (4K on one side, 8k on the other) Stone 3: Flattening stone (very important part of the set) These are great, high quality ceramic stones. They are waterstones, so you should soak them in water prior to use and continue to put some water on them while sharpening. They don't take long though... 15 minutes is probably enough, but I soak them for 30 (I don't think I've ever had a "knife sharpening" emergency.... so this time is no problem). When I got the set, I checked if they were flat, and they were pretty darn close. Only a few swipes with hte flattening stone and I was ready to go. These stones give a really nice progression to a razor sharp edge. Ok, I did it, I used the term "razor sharp" which you see in so many descriptions of sharpening gadgets. These however can give you an edge sharp enough, and smooth enough to actually put on a razor and shave with it. (Full disclosure, I also bought a 12000 stone for finishing a razor, but these can do it if you work it properly). The stones came in great shape, I like that the containers also can hold the stone while sharpening (I don't use it that way because my setup doesn't require it). Don't drop them... they will shatter. Not a fault or problem with the stones, but due to how their made. In the end, great stones... I've had great success with them already, and I'm still learning how to do a better job.

I like this kit. However... The flattening stone does a good job of evenly removing material to produce a fresh surface. Some of the other reviews here have asserted that theirs arrived out-of-flat. Mine was just fine, but I suppose that at least checking it before use would be a good idea. A lot of my tools have seen years of bad sharpening, so I've made a lot of use from the 220-grit stone. While it's effective and it cuts well, it dishes out in no time, and requires very frequent flattening. Perhaps a diamond stone would be preferable for these early stages of sharpening. The 1000 cuts very well, although it should not be used for edge repair. The 4000 is a good bridge between 1000 and 8000. I haven't had to flatten it beyond the out-of-the box flattening yet. The 8000 stone is great. So long as you've used the 4000 stone previously, this will polish a blade to a mirror finish. The guide states that the 8000-grit stone will knock off the burr on its own, but I've seen no evidence of this. My suggestion here would be to make yourself a strop and use that as a final step. Stropping in between tasks with a tool helps to lengthen the time in between sharpenings anyway.

I chose to wait a year to write this review ... in fact the 1000 and 4000 surfaces are completely worn away. I used them on an extensive collection of L-N, Woodriver and Stanley planes as well as all of my bench chisels. All of my Stanley's are eBay items and were restored to like new condition for use not display. First, what shouldn't you use them for ... flattening plane soles. I did only one just to try it out and while it worked perfectly but it will dramatically accelerate stone wear. The plane bottom flattening process is best facilitated by lapping plates. I have 2, 18" x 36" 3/8" thick glass plate (purchased at local glass store) and a 16" x 16" granite plate that was a sample tile (they thru it in when I bought tile for a floor). The medium on the plates is Porter Cable adhesive backed sand paper (80, 120 and 320 grit) results on plane bottoms is outstanding. The Norton system does a perfect job of sharpening all of the above mentioned tools. Since I'm not good enough to sharpen free hand I use and recommend a honeing guide (I've had several and HIGHLY recommend the Veritas guide, simply unbeatable). How does the Norton system stack up against other products? They hold their own in the segment of the sharpening stone spectrum that they serve. Make no mistake about it, there are far better stones available but it would cost more than 3x the cost. I also have Shapton stones and DMT and Trend diamond plates. If you compare the Norton's to the Shapton's you will notice 2 things. First, the Shapton has much higher density and wears 3 to 5 times slower than the Norton. Second, the Shapton does not require the same flattening frequency. That said please note that my Shapton 16000 mesh glass backed stone cost about 1.5x the Norton system. All in all the Norton system is a ton of value for the price and if your a beginner there is no better system available. Highly recommended.

This set is exactly what it claims to be, and is very high quality. This set will serve for any sharpening tasks up to and including straight razors (though for a truly keen edge on a razor you may want at least one higher-grade stone as well). It is a staple of knowledgeable straight-razor "honemeisters", and is more than adequate for ordinary knife or shop tool sharpening. The lapping stone (flattening stone) is rather coarse; some prefer to use just a medium-grade sandpaper on a flat plate for the same task, but that is a matter of preference. The stones are synthetic double-grade (two grades on opposite sides of the same stone), in the 4 grit sizes mentioned. The grits provide a good gradation of sharpening from coarse to very fine, and with good technique will reliably produce a good result. They are waterstones - they must be soaked in water before use, and kept wet while sharpening. The plastic cases also serve as a stand for the stone in use. The stones are thick and relatively large-sized - 4" x 8" - which is an advantage for knives or plane blades. All in all, just what you'd expect, and well-made. A good value for a set that will handle every ordinary need and last a lifetime.

I bought this set in 2016 and use it several times per year. I learned to sharpen knives in Cub Scouts, and I have all but perfected the craft using this set. I went through several bases to hold the stones in place while using them but now I just use an old towel. It works fine and keeps things neat. They're made in USA and are great quality. I recommend soaking your stones for at least a few hours before use. I find it greatly improves the slurry and helps me "feel" the work taking place in my fingertips. Highly recommend. One of the best investments I've ever made, hobby wise.