DMT W6EFC Deluxe Diamond Whetstone Knife Sharpening Kit with Wood Box, Set of 3 Sharpening Stones, 6" x 2"

Excellent!I have been using Japanese water stones for years on my plethora of chisels and plane irons. My set goes from 320 to 8000 grit and they allow me to achieve an absolute mirror finish. So why am I reviewing diamond stones? Well, all water stones dish (cup) in with use and are soft enough to gouge easily. They also groove easily i.e if you re-bevel a 1/4" chisel and move on to a wider one next over the same tract, you can observe the lack of cutting on the chisels bevel. Obviously there are workarounds - start with widest first, do run along same path). While this is especially true of the lower grits, even the 8000 which is relatively hard will require resurfacing, which can be a time consuming task. So I decided to give diamonds a try. I have used small diamond cards for touching up router bits but this was my first time on my chisels and irons.I got this set for several reasons: DMT's reputation for quality, a good spread of 3 different grits, and a great price for a 3 stone set. I was worried about the 6x2 inch size as I always use a Veritas jig (never developed the skill of hand holding) resulting in a shorter stroke, and my irons are 2" wide (easy to miss the edge on a 2" stone).Results:* They cut is very fast. I chose not to use the word `aggressive' as it may imply a coarser than expected cut, I compared the surface scratch pattern left from these to ones left by comparable water stones and they matched up well. The difference was how fast I got there, it required approximately 1/3rd as many strokes on the diamond stones to achieve the same result!* They are ready for use instantly, you should allow 30 minutes of soak time prior to using Japanese water stones.* Virtually no mess (comparatively speaking). Water stones generate a lot of slurry quickly and must be washed down constantly. These diamond stones only need a light misting and the "polka-dot" design does a good job of capturing the particles making clean up fast, easy, and infrequent, all it requires is a wipe down with a damp rag. I think I would prefer a continuous surface on anything smaller than ¼" (DMT has other products that provide this).* The finest grit in this set is only 1200 and the coarsest is 325. I can see and feel the difference in performance when I polish the final bevel with my 8000 water stone but for most work and most users the 1200 finish is fine. Note that DMT does make 2200 and 8000 grit stones but I have not tried them (yet). If you need to do a major repair of change the bevel angle, it will take you awhile with the 325 stone. DMT should think about offering a 4 or 5 stone set, but these 3 grits are sufficient for a wide variety of sharping.* Very light weight. The diamond plate is laminated to a hollow thin plastic box. This is a bit of a disappointment as it gives it a cheap feel (may be one reason for the set being so economically priced). Heavy downward pressure can/will deform, running surface flatness. However, as they cut so well you only need a slight down force. The big disadvantage is that you really cannot use them out of the wood box as they move around easily. The box does do a good job holding them in place.* The Box. It is a nice holding fixture and has rubber feet on the bottom. For many things (like chisels) it is convenient to have all three stones held alongside each other so you can quickly go from one to the next. However it is a pain for things like long knives. The lid just sort of sits there, allowing it to fall off easily. Some sort of latch or magnets to hold it on would be an improvement.* DMT uses a color code to identify grit. While I don't mind this it really would be nice if they printed the grit number on the stone or the holder.Unknowns: How long will they last? Japanese water stones can last several life times, resurface (flatten) it and you have a new stone, I am still using the ones I got 15 years ago and only the very coarsest ones are showing their age (thinning from flattening). How long these DMT's will maintain their cutting ability remains to be seen but from everything I have read, they should last a very long time. However the small diamond hones (brand x not from DMT) I use on router bits have not lasted, so I remain a skeptic. I will update this review down the road and let you know.I highly recommend these as a starter set for anyone looking to try diamond sharpening stones and I will likely be buying additional DMT products. I do not think you can find a better value for the price of this set.

These are the best DMT diamond sharpening stones!Coming in extra coarse, medium course and fine.Will easily sharpen anything that requires a good sharp edge.

Maybe it’s because i don’t have a vice to hold the stones or maybe i suck at sharpening but a couple of my knives i just cannot get an edge on with these stones. Especially my ESEE 6. But my 4max scout takes a hair popping edge with these stones

This is an excellent set of sharpeners with a handy wooden container that should last a lifetime.The design eliminates wear spots that you see on corundum stones and maintains a perfectly flat surface for all of your sharpening needs. The three sharpeners do come out of the box easily for surface mounted or handheld sharpening, and have enough edge to grip so that you are unlikely to cut yourself with the blade that you're sharpening.Upon receiving this set, I immediately sharpened an old axe, starting with the coarsest and moving up to the finest, which gave me an excellent edge that is easily maintained. I then sharpened all of the knives in the kitchen. I was able to reshape a straight shaving razor, but even the finest of these three were not fine enough to put a true razor edge on it--you'd need to get an extra extra fine sharpener. That all being said, this set will fit the bill for 98% of your needs, but you may want to add an extra coarse or extra extra fine sharpener if you need to remove a lot of material or need to get a true razor's edge.Top quality, I would definitely purchase this again.

All right this may be a long review. I first started using diamond sharpening system, sharpening stones 20+ years ago. The first two stones that I bought were the red and blue stones. I’ve always kept them in my hunting bags because I would sharpen all my knives plus everyone else’s knives who were at camp.After I would get home, I would sharpen all the knives and my wife’s kitchen, I would also sharpen my work tools, and of course, friends and family kitchen, knife set who were dull and needed a good edge put on their knives. In 2024 I finally bought this new set of diamond sharpening stones because the old set finally gave out. I would highly recommend these stones to anyone who wants to keep their knives and work tools sharp. I would say I would buy another set, but at 50 yrs old these may outlast me.I highly recommend getting at least one full set. They are every bit worth the money.