SuehiroJapanese Sharpening Stone, Dual-sided #1000 and #3000 Grit with Rubber Base, Compact

I have natural Arkansas stones, diamond stones, aluminum oxide stones and I use wet/dry sandpaper and leather strops. Sharpening knives for me is enjoyable and something I do quite often since I use knives daily. If my kitchen, pocket, and outdoors knives can not shave hair then I sharpen them.I bought this stone because I had never used a Japanese water stone. I knew Suehiro was good quality based on some reading I had done. So I bought this smaller stone as a way to try one without a large investment. I really don't need more stones. After my initial use and some subsequent use, I think I'll find a need for more of these stones. Don't let the small size dissuade you from buying this little gem (pun intended). I have used and do use a 3" stone to sharpen an 18" machete. It isn't the size of the stone but the technique that is most important. This stone is more than adequate to sharpen any knife. It is also an excellent stone. These two grits will allow you to sharpen the knife and then hone the knife to a very polished edge. The 1000 grit is great for putting the edge back to hair shaving sharp and the 3000 grit will polish the edge and remove any bur that formed in the previous step. I really would like to give this stone 6 stars for both the quality of the stone and the combination of grits. I am convinced that I will be buying more Japanese water stones to add to my already large supply of sharpening stones and this stone convinced me to do so. I'll always love natural Arkansas stones since that is what I first started with more than 40 years ago but this stone will probably become my most used stone since it is much easier to replace should I actually wear it out. My first use I put a wonderful edge on a knife and then polished it to a mirror like finish with just this stone. For the price it is an extreme bargain!I will echo what others have said. The first time I soaked the stone the grit markings came off. I was prepared for this having read other reviews. I simply took a permanent marker and wrote the grit on the side of the stones beforehand and as you can see from the picture that making remains. So I avoided any questions in the future about which side was which grit.

Great for use in the kitchen. This is my first wet stone. I googled/youtubed for about 20 minutes and went to work. Now all my knives are really sharp and my wife loves it. I got a Wusthof for Christmas and was thinking of using this to keep it sharp when it needed but didn't want to learn on my new $170 knife so I started on the $25 costco multi colored set we were looking at replacing. I got that cheap set super sharp and it didn't take much learning. I even had one fillet knife that had gotten ruined by a quick sharpener with V you pull the knife through. Chipped the blade so bad it almost looked serrated. Mind you with 1,000 grit it did take some time to fix that much damage but when I was done it was as sharp as new or better. Oddly enough my wife doesn't like the Wusthof knife because she thinks its too heavy and since I now keep all of our old knifes sharp she just keeps using them and doesn't want new ones now.When you use a wet stone make sure you soak it first for 10-20 minutes minimum and keep the surface wet. My only complaint about this stone is that I want a bigger one. I did purchase a 400-800 grit stone that is for doing some rough work or reshaping before sharpening and it is bigger/wider which keeps the stone from wanting to roll. Overall this is a great stone for a great price.

Requires a lot of elbow grease. About 5 inches long, 1 and a half inches wide. Will leave dark marks on stone, regardless of saturating stone in water. Rubber hold base, doesnt hold it in place, so you need to brace the top of it against something. I use a small Faberware chefs knife, and it barely produced an edge, which I then got an adequate edge after using my honing steel. Be warned, you got at least 20 minutes of work, to put an edge on a dull knife.

I recieved this in a timely manner. I'm disappointed that it has a small chip on 3000 stone on the side you use, and has a chip where it is bonded to the 1000 stone. I'm going to keep it because I don't want to mess with the return process. I seen other reviews where others experienced chipped or broken and took a chance. I will most likely not buy this brand. Stone looks and functions very nice. So quality appears fine, just weak on quality control or could be in the handling process.

Working with really sharp kitchen knives is a pleasure! You are less apt to cut yourself and there is less scatter meaning less mess.I have been using a Chefs Choice sharpener for years. When it crapped out I decided to give this stone a shot. There is a spectacular difference in that the whetstone is considerably better (although admittedly more time consuming). I have a couple of paring knives literally razor sharp - and I am not exaggerating. I have not had the same result with by chef's knife. It's a technique that one has to learn but there are numerous YouTube videos to help you out. I'm getting there and I AM A KLUTZ. If I can - you can.Instructions are included with the stone. If you have a microscope handy and can read Japanese you're in luck. On a more serious note, though, the first time you soak the stone the labels will come off. Make a note of which stone is which. The blue side is the 1,000 grit.After considering a number of similar items I chose this for its grit selection. The 1,000/3,000 grit combo seems about right. Overall I wish it were a tad larger. I have also found that soaking a good two hours yields the best result.