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.

This was my first wet stone. I chose the king stone because I wanted a good product but didn't feel like spending a small fortune to learn a new skill. I spent some time watching YouTube videos which helped me pick up the process quickly.The 1000 grit soaking side is easy to use. Just soak the dark half for 3 mins or so. This side gives feedback and seems pretty resilant to novice hands.The 6000 grit is side splash and go. Just add water every few passes. It gives a nice polished edge for sure but this side takes a bit more skill to master. Holding the angle is a bit more important or else you get some gouges in the stone so go slow and try to get the feel and dont go for speed.After using both sides for about 20-30 mins total, my vg high carbon steel knife was pretty sharp.After doing 2 knives, I found using the 1000 grit side takes too long to get my harder steel knives to develop a decent burr. While this is a good stone and I recommend it, depending on your knives' hardness level you may need a coarse stone. Mine are 59 Rockwell hardness rating.To fix this, I have ordered the whetstone cutlery 400/1000 stone to get a dull knife in shape quickly. I just finished using the other stones 400 side then this king stone's 1000, then 6000 on the same two knives and now both have a very sharp edge and the knives slice paper (horizontally, not vertically but that's good enough for me.)So after using this stone 4 times now over the last 2 days, I'm happy with the purchase and do not notice any bad wearing or bowing on the stones but I made sure to use the full stone. An added bonus of buying a 2 sided coarse stone is I am able to use it to keep this king stone in level. I use the 400 side to level the 1000 king stone and the 1000 side to level the king's 6000 side.

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.