KingKW65 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.

I am a former Arkansas oil stone user (for years and years). They have come and gone. Motivated by a new set of high end German kitchen knives, I went sharpening stone shopping.After a lot of deliberation and review reading, I chose this set of King 1000/6000 whetstones. My choice was made based on a combination of the good reviews left by other Amazon reviewers as well as the price point. A value choice.My whetstones arrived intact; no chips, no cracks. However, that was in spite of the poor packaging. They were just tossed into a large envelope with no bubble wrap or other cushioning materials. Only by the grace of the logistics delivery gods did my stones arrive in perfect condition.I had just purchased an inexpensive EDC folding tactical knife. It arrived dull. Since it was low cost and therefore expendable, it was to be my initial sharpening victim. I soaked the stones in water for 15 minutes. Note: there were no English instructions included. Lots of Japanese instructions but that is a language which I have not learned!i used the 1000 grit stone for about 10 minutes. I do not count strokes or time myself as the best sharpening practioners do (according to YouTube). I alternate sides on every draw across the stone as I was taught to do years and years ago. Which is why I don't need to count strokes. I like to maintain a shallow angle of 15 degrees or less for a sharper, longer lasting knife edge. I did not use an angle guide and have never found that necessary (old school). Since the knife was dull, it was a pleasant surprise that this dull blade was able to sharpen it; articles I read during my research suggested that I might need a 400 grit stone (or something similar) for a dull blade.I tested the knife edge after the 1000 grit sharpening. Would barely cut paper. Then turned to the 6000 grit stone. I sharpened the knife blade on the brown 6000 grit side for about 5 minutes again using alternating side strokes across the stone. Brown side makes a satisfying puddle of brown grit from the sharpening process; this didn't happen with the white/tan 1000 grit side (there was no visible grit puddle).I again tested the blade on paper. This time, the blade cleanly sliced the paper. The knife edge improvement was clearly visible to the naked eye.Usage note: I added additional water drops to the stones as I used them. In my experience with oil whetstones, additional oil drops are always applied throughout the sharpening process. I think adding water drops helped the sharpening process and will extend the life of the whetstones (although that is an opinion and not the results of actual tests).Additional observations:- it was very nice not to have to deal with oil and to be able to just use plain water for these whetstones. I always had to use my oil whetstones outside or in a workshop. I used this whetstone in the kitchen on my granite countertops without fear- the included molded plastic base for the whetstones doesn't look like much but it was very effective securely holding the whetstones while I used them- I expect that sharpening a "sharp knife" (one that hasn't been allowed to get truly dull) may take much less than then the 10 minutes required on this intially dull knife edge

This is a fine product - my chisels are now razor sharp. Do not need to put any pressure- almost let the weight of the honing guide do the work, Tho I stropped the tools with honing compounds after using the stone. The smaller grit side (brown side) becomes gooey during sharpening. The goo is mud from the binding clay and mustn't be washed off during sharpening apparently. Need to prepare or dress the sides before use.. may use smaller to larger grit sand-papers set on a flat surface for dressing as I understand. Also 1000/6000 should be Japanese grading - which may translate to 500/1000 US. But whatever be the grading it works very well and that is what matters.