SHARPAL 162N Double-sided Diamond Sharpening Stone, 8 in. x 3 in.

I'd been using cheap "wet" whetstones but they were messy, a hassle and didn't actually work very well. (Better ones than I have will do a good job, but the hassle and mess is still an issue.) I saw a few YouTube videos about using diamond stones dry and decided to give it a try. And wow, this stone works much better than my older wet whetstones and it takes almost no time and makes no mess. The stone itself is heavy and feels quality, and you can see and feel the diamond coating. The base is a simple plastic base that doubles as a storage case, but it's the stone that's the important part. However, a quick tip is that if you get the Sharpal strop for final polishing, it fits right on top of the storage base/case for storage, as if it was made to sit there. Just a minor little detail that isn't advertised anywhere. The sharpening process is essentially the same as with other whetstones, you just don't need any water. It does still take a little skill and care or you absolutely can scratch your knives and/or just not get them sharp. I scratched a couple of my knives a little bit the first time I used this and I realized the problem was my motion. I was letting the knives run off the far end of the stone, which let the corner of the stone scratch the blade as it ran off. You do need to be in better control of your knives than I initially was. There is a little angle guide that comes with the stone and it's helpful for the initial set of the apex angle, but I wouldn't keep using it. Just use it to get a feel for what the angle you want is and then rely on your muscle memory after that. The reason I say that is you won't build up your skill if you just keep putting the knife against the guide every time, and it also just takes longer and is kind of easy to mess up. It's hard to really know when your knife is properly positioned against the guide. It always takes me about 10-15 seconds to get it set right, so doing that on every pass would be unreasonable. Just get a feel for it and then forget the guide. Once you're good at it, with a dry stone like this, you can sharpen a knife in just a couple minutes. Then cleanup really involves just rinsing the stone off and patting it dry. There will be a little bit of metal powder from your blades but it doesn't go all over like water does - it generally stays on the stone - and it just rinses off. I wouldn't go further than that with the cleanup because you can end up with residue (either metal or soap) stuck in the stone that's hard to get out. (Ask me how I know.) Same with drying it - the stone is meant to be abrasive so if you dry with a sweeping motion, you're just going to end up with microscopic bits of towel stuck in the stone. So rinse and pat dry, that's it. Very easy. Overall a huge time-saver vs. traditional whetstones. I do usually like traditional methods but this is a good compromise. They just didn't have the technology to make artificial diamonds like this in the old days, so they had to use water with more common stone. Otherwise you can bet they would have used dry diamond stones. The actual process is the same, though, so you still get the feel of manually sharpening your knives. It just takes far less time and creates far less mess.

Great diamond stone for the price. 325 on one side to cut through the steel, 1200 to finish it. It's got an angle guide to help but, with use, you should get used to approximate angle just by feel. That's where most of the work comes in--you sharpening and learning to feel the edge and angle of your knives. This is a tool that does a great job but it won't make you better at sharpening your knives. You need to put in time and practice, develop feel and an intuitive motion. The 325 side takes off steel pretty quickly so best to limit your use of that side until you "practice" a bit on the 1200 side. Once you're more confident in maintaining angle and movement you can use the 325 grit to take off steel more quickly and then finish on 1200. But it's a good stone. The diamond cuts efficiently, don't "overpower" pressure against its surface. Find your angle and motion and let the stone do the work.

Fantastic. At firrst the 325 grit side was easiest. I could get a really consistent scratch pattern. The 1200 grit side took a bit longer, as it needs a slightly different touch. But what a stone! The 325 grit makes quick work of hard tasks. I do my serious work on that side, and polish on the smooth side. The case it comes with is an excellent base for the stone. Makes carrying it around easy, and can be used anywhere you have a table top. Cleanup is a snap. I only got into sharpening this past year, but I've tried whetstones (takes time to soak and clean up after, and flattening), rods (great but not meant for serious sharpening), and this diamond stone. Also, some of my knives have high hardness, and a diamond stone is really necessary for harder blades. I've tried a few other diamond stones, and this one is by far the best. It was recommended by a sharpening expert, and lives up to the hype. I'm getting myself a new one for Christmas. Just for relaxation I sharpen knives 1-2 hours per day on average. I've spent a LOT of time on this stone. I'm still no expert myself, but I can easily get a shaving edge with this stone. And at this price you couldn't beat it with a stick!

I own a barbershop and ordered this to sharpen my clipper blades with. I've had diamond stones that I ordered about 8 or 9 years ago and have used them to sharpen clipper blades with. I've had a problem sharpening with the old stones. So I ordered this one. I can see the technology has caught up. The old ones weren't perfectly flat, so I had to do work around for me to sharpen them where they were completely flat. Well......... This one is as flat as glass from end to end, side to side! The 325 grit cuts worn areas quickly and evenly. The 1200 side is used to more or less polish the flat surface to a near mirror likeness. What used to take me 10 or 15 minute with my old stones is taking a minute or two at the most. The edge it puts on the blades is incredible!! I use a 00000 blade to more or less shave for close military style hair cuts. When you sharpen the blades and gap them correctly it is incredible how easily it will go through the hair. There is no resistance at all, the cut is smooth with no "stems" sticking up after you pass over with the clippers. Many of the blades that come from the factory is not as sharp as you would expect, I often have to refine the edge to get them to perform like I want, with this stone? It will be effortless to keep all my blades at the optimal performance levels for fades and military type cuts. It is a longer review. But I wanted to tell you if you have a need for something that can cut flat, THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR!! If you own a barbershop or salon, this will save you money for your sharpening needs. 1. Dissemble the blade 2. Clean the oil from the blade with a cloth 3. Lay the blade face down on the stone 4. Rub it back and forth until all the wear lines are gone 5. Reassemble the blade Continue with your sharpened blades, it is that easy! This is an awesome product! HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend!! *****+ Stars!

This is an outstanding stone—for a while. My disappointment is not with how it sharpened when new, but with how long it maintained that performance. For about the first six to ten months, this was one of the best diamond stones I had used. Unfortunately, I then developed inconsistent cutting across the plate under normal personal (non-commercial) use. Based on my ownership experience, I have concerns about long-term durability. I submitted a warranty request because the stone is still within the advertised warranty period, but regardless of the outcome, I would encourage prospective buyers to evaluate not only the initial performance but also the expected service life and warranty terms before making a purchase. I do not hold my breath. I need a stone to perform. I did not realise that my durability expectation was flawed. Update 1 Unfortunately as expected, a canned answer has been provided. I do understand the basics that were explained to me. The issue is not cosmetics or ‘less aggressive’. I expected that based on years of experience. The stone does not perform at all any more. ‘The extra-fine side is designed mainly for refining the edge after using the coarse side. It is intended to remove the scratches left by the coarse grit, improve edge smoothness, and help produce a cleaner, more refined cutting edge. It is not meant to remove metal as quickly as the coarse side. That said, a glassy or non-cutting feel can also be caused by metal swarf or residue loading on the surface, even if the stone has been cleaned before. We recommend giving the stone a deep cleaning with Bar Keepers Friend and a nylon brush, then rinsing it thoroughly and drying it completely. Thank you for your patience and understanding.’ Update 2 SHARPAL refunded the purchase. I must add that their representative, whose name I will withhold for privacy reasons, responded during 4th of July weekend. I have been in retail for a long time and I appreciate the effort. I understand that a perceived performance is subjective by the definition. The stone did get a good workout, most likely significantly above average. I a vivid enthusiast with a scientific/engineering background. I am sharpening for my personal use. Here is the bottom line: The stone performed exceptionally well (above already optimistic expectations) for approximately 10 months, but then developed inconsistent cutting in the high traffic area under normal, albeit frequent, personal use and after good cleaning. Bar keeper and a good nylon brush are a must. I may revise some of my sharpening techniques when using only this particular model. My new purchase will be another SHARPAL product. Good sharpening and be safe.

I got the 8x3 model. First of all, very satisfying heft. When you pick this thing up you just KNOW it means business. I like the case/holder, too. I hone in hand only, never on a bench, so I really need as much thickness as possible to keep my fingertips out of the blade path. This holder does it, and I like that it doubles as a case to keep lint and hair and stuff off of it. The hinge is an actual hinge, with a pin, and not just thin bendy plastic that will eventually wear out and break. Like most diamond plates, this one comes new with a lot of proud diamonds that need to be knocked off before the "true" surface is accessible. Honing a couple of junky old stainless kitchen knives usually does the trick. Once the flyers are knocked off, the surface is about as expected. And like all diamond plates, this one cuts fast. Even the hardest steel has to submit to this hoss of a sharpener. Nice and flat. Flatness is very important with razors, as well as knives and particularly straight edged knives. Since you can't lap a diamond coated plate, it really needs to come flat. My straightedge held against the surface lets zero daylight underneath, corner to corner, both diagonals, and longways near the edges. If you hone a lot, diamond plates do NOT last. None of them. If you hone a thousand edges on it, it will be worn out. If you hone 20 edges on it, then it shouldn't be. So NO diamond plate actually deserves better than two stars for durability. Since I just got this, the benefit of the doubt would lead me to put three stars. Diamond hones DO NOT hold up well to high volume use. For high volume use you want a good flat lapping plate and wet/dry sandpaper which can be replaced and leave the plate flat flat flat. Or lapping film, or a synthetic stone, which can be lapped as needed and gives you a lot of abrasive to use up. So I should give it three stars out of charity for a product I have not yet had time to wear out. Nevertheless because of the size and heft and overall quality and attention to detail, I am throwing 4 stars for durability. Maybe this one won't prove me wrong, but I have worn out over a dozen DMT plates and lots of budget ones so we will see. Ease of use and value I gave 5 stars. The size is nice. DMT is way too small for me. I usually use an 11" long piece of sandpaper or lapping film on 1" thick or 3/4" thick acrylic, or a 12" long pasted balsa. I hate short stroking on an itty bitty stone. This plate is nice and wide, and nearly long enough to satisfy me. No corners have been cut. Fit and finish are above reproach. So in spite of the short expected lifespan I anticipate, I gave it the full 5 stars overall. It is just a really good product and I am quite pleased to have it. What I would like to see is diamond actually mixed into a bronze or aluminum or copper matrix, so that it has room for wear, applied maybe 1/8" thick on a steel or nickel substrate. When the diamonds are gone, they are gone. You can't bring them back. But if the diamonds are mixed into a thick layer of a matrix, you can get a lot more wear out of it. A thicker layer would not work. By the time it is wearing down to nothing, the surface is out of flat anyway, and you would never be able to lap it flat. In fact maybe 1/16" thick diamond matrix would be better. When repairing or first establishing the bevel on a razor, I don't mess around. I use fast cutting coarse media to do the heavy lifting. And so I am going to enjoy using the 325 grit side of this plate, and yeah a couple dozen laps on the 1200 side before I hit the Naniwa or Kuromoku or the 9u lapping film to bring the bevel home and set it up for the progression. The burning question is HOW LONG will I enjoy it? Time will tell. Meanwhile this is in my view a great product and PERFECT for the casual home knife sharpener guy. That dull $12 SS chef knife doesn't stand a chance against a couple dozen laps on each side of this brute. It will soon be slicing like a power saw. Same for pocketknives. Really... who wants to spend an hour touching up a pocket carried Buck folder on an Arkie when you are just gonna bitch up the edge the first time you flip it open and use it, or spend all that time sharpening it and be reluctant to use it out of respect for the fine edge? Hit this thing with your work knives and in under a minute you are done.

If you’re just getting into knife sharpening this stone is pretty awesome. You can’t get it razor sharp but that’s really a gimmick anyway. It does a great job and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, you don’t need mineral oil easy to use and it has a handy guide to teach you how to hold your knife at which angle for. I love the rubber feet they have a great grip and the stone is heavy so it doesn’t feel like you’re pushing it around the counter and trying to chase it to sharpen your knife. It’s very versatile with the different angles you can sharpen any type of cutting instrument on it

I bought this after wearing out a Trend diamond stone that cost twice as much. It cuts as well and comes with an excellent case that converts to a sharpening platform with a non-slip base. The body of the stone is nickel plated steel, not the fiber body version the manufacturer sells at a cheaper price. I have no information about the fiber body model, but I think I’d avoid it while the steel body version is still available. The case comes with an orange angle-finder gauge inside, but I’d never use it, so have nothing to say except it nests inside the case, is available if someone wants to use it, and it’s not in the way if you don’t. The stone cuts quickly at first, then a bit slower after you break it in, but this is normal, equivalent to my more expensive stone. I could not find any grit contamination on the fine side to complain of, and the fine side is capable of producing a shaving sharp edge, especially with a strop to remove the sharpening burr afterwards., I’m satisfied with its performance and modest price.

First impressions are great, I bought this to sharpen my wood carving knives and it raises a burr very quickly, I’m glad I bought this. I was also surprised by the weight and the quality of the base/ storage box. Very nice.

Wonderful diamond sharpening plate. #320 makes quick work for re-profiling and #1200 finish the job and you got a good working edge! Been using it for months and the diamond grit seems to be quite durable..I'm happy about this products!

Super

This has so many other reviews it hardly seems worth reviewing it, but just to add to the chorus, this is an excellent package, get it, you won't regret it (Unless, I suppose, you're a hand-sharpening newbie and aren't prepared to put the practice in.) I originally saw this being tested and recommended by a YouTuber who is, it's fair to say, very obsessive about hand sharpening and testing knives, as well as being a maker of knives. He seemed to know what he was talking about, and got excellent results really quickly using just this stone and a diamond strop. I'd been struggling with a set of the ubiquitous Chinese two-sided whetstones, so I bought one of these, and since then the whetstones have stayed in their box. I've in fact bought two of these now, one for me and, after I tried it, another one as a gift. The price I originally paid - £60 - is very good value, especially compared with some other brands, the second one was even better value as it was discounted. You can go cheaper and still get good results, especially in coarser diamond plates, but the very cheap ones are usually flimsy and need bonding to stable bases, don't come with the combined non-slip working stand and storage box (itself well worth at least ten quid, arguably somewhat more). The finer grit cheapies tend to have too much grit contamination, though there are some bargains that are very similar to this Sharpal, albeit without the box and so on. The angle guide covers a useful range of bevel angles and very handy for getting your eye in. I also bought the well-finished leather strop that Sharpal offer, and some 1 micron diamond emulsion (Enzo brand, from Amazon, which seems to have a decent percentage of diamond) and I have to say that after a bit of practice, to my surprise and pleasure, I was able to get a blade to "hair whittling" sharpness using just these things. Generally, though, so long as the last few passes are light and on alternate sides, knives come off the 1200 side pretty much shaving sharp, albeit not "comfortable" shaving without a little refinement on a strop. Certainly more than sharp enough for kitchen use, though, or for field knives. Being diamond, this stone doesn't mind how tough a steel your knife is made from, and indeed it's not much bothered by tungsten carbide either, making it really useful for a whole variety of tools. I've not tried sharpening ceramic knives on it, and I have a strong feeling that even the 1200 side is too coarse for that, as ceramic blades sharpen (and wear) by chipping, rather than cutting. I have successfully sharpened a ceramic blade using a very fine (8000 grit) wet+dry abrasive paper flattened wet onto a glass plate and kept wet throughout, using it "backwards" like a strop. Took ages, though. I think ceramic knives could be honed on a very fine diamond strop, too - 1 micron is equivalent to around 14,000 grit, but go to 0.5µ or 0.25µ and it's more like 50,000 to 100,000 grit. However, I think if a ceramic knife needs significant re-profiling, i.e. if it's properly blunt or damaged, then the best option is going to be a fine, power driven, super-smooth wheel running in water, then maybe finish on a very fine diamond strop. At the more mundane end of the cutlery spectrum, I've sharpened some very cheap knives on this stone that, previously, have not taken or held an edge very well. A combination of a clean-cutting and properly flat stone like this, and more knowledge of how to sharpen, helps to get a clean, burr-free apex that is as good as it's going to get. My only slight reservations about this stone are the occasional review suggesting perhaps glitches in quality control once in a while, and the fact that, on mine, the mirror sides of the steel substrate have already corroded a little where I've been handling it, even though it's been kept dry and stored in its box along with silica gel. The working surfaces seem fine, though, and, as others have said, after a minimal bedding in they are nice and even, and remove metal surprisingly quickly. Summary: Strongly recommended for anyone who wants to hand-sharpen knives. As and when this stone wears out, I'll buy another one.

As many others have pointed out, I too was introduced to this stone from the Outdoors55 channel. And he's absolutely right! I have more expensive DMT Dia-Sharp diamond stones and honestly, they are pretty comparable... except for the fact that this doesn't cost you an arm and a leg. In fact the case serving as it's holder is so convenient and the fact that it's dual sided makes it typically the only stone ive been reaching for. Combine this with a nice good quality strop and diamond strop paste and you can easily get any knife to be hair popping sharp. Usually I would say that for the price this product is good, but in this case it's so good that regardless of the price this stone can compete right up there with the big dogs. Zero grit contamination, very smooth and predictable feel. I personally might have liked the fine side to have been a bit more fine but that's only because I like mirror finishes on my edges, functionally its plenty fine to give you an amazingly sharp edge. Really not many bad things I can say about this. If you're thinking about it, buy it.