Smith's DBSC 6” Diamond Bench Stone - Coarse – Diamond Stone w/ Micro-Tool Sharpening Pad – Woodworking Tools, Sport/Utility & Kitchen Knives – Protective Lid – 325 Grit

Great sharpening stone. Cuts quickly and neatly; performance is top notch. Base is sturdy plastic with rubber pads. At first, the stone did not sit squarely due to one of the rubber pads being a bit "proud", but this was easily fixed by pressing it into place. Most likely came a bit loose during shipping and was no big deal. The protective top snaps firmly in place and is easily removed. The grit on this stone (and all diamond stones) starts out a bit coarse, but will "break in" over time. The eventual grit of this stone is 750; though it is listed as fine, I'd consider it more a medium grit. This stone will put a razor edge on the blade by itself; follow it with a hard Arkansas Stone and strop and you'll have a shaving sharp edge in no time.

This is the second one of these I have purchased because after 8 years of using the first one it is slightly dulled. It has sharpened all kinds of knives for multiple families and keeps on working. I mostly wanted a new one just to use on kitchen knives to get that razor edge. I have never found a knife yet that it wouldn't sharpen and have used it on scissors as well. Gave my sister one and she says it works better than anything she has ever used. Well worth the money!

I owned one of these before and it lasted more than 15 years. Happy to buy another one, IMO a quality product worth buying again.

very good product did exactly what it is intended for ,that is sharpening all of my knives,the only disadvantage in my opinion is the base which ,to me is not up to par for the actual size of the stone and feels flimsy that is why I would rate this product a 4 out of 5,now don't get me wrong it is a good product does what it suppose to ,but they could improve on the base.thank you and bye.

Bought this one as a replacement for one that's nearly worn smooth after about 5 years of regular use. This is my go-to honing stone. At first, the stone has a fairly aggressive grit, but it wears in after while, and stays worn in for years. It will handle even harder steels with no problems. I don't want a toothy edge on my kitchen knives, so I finish the edges w/ a good ceramic rod. I use it wet, with Simple Green solution as a lube, and clean it w/Barkeepers Friend & a toothbrush. If I'm fixing a completely wrecked or neglected edge, I'll use Smith's medium-grit stone, but that doesn't happen very often, unless my idiot brother-in-law uses my stuff. Anyway, I don't use Arkansas or corundum stones, as long as I have this whetstone.

Awesome sharpening stone! Paired this with the finer stone as well. For the money it would be really nice if it came with at least some sample sizes of the recommended mineral oil. Overall works like a charm!

Good for sharpening knives, but don't try to flatten chisels or plane irons in it. It was flat when it arrived, but it developed a slight dip in the middle after a while. You wouldn't care unless you were trying to get something dead flat. If you want to sharpen chisels and plane irons on a budget, try putting some wet/dry sandpaper on a piece of glass. I've hade great results with that.

UPDATE - 6 years later and now a beginner knife maker and I turn to this and the "fine" grit to put and maintain edges on all my knives. Two things I would consider before buying:1. It takes time. The first time you really put your own edge on a blade, it takes a while. About 45 min to an hour depending on steel hardness and various other factors. Once you have a hand sharpened edge however, about 10 mins with the fine grit stone is all you need. A belt sander is much faster and can produce a nice edge, but a hand sharped edge will be convex by nature leading to a slightly less sharp edge but lasting much much longer.2. I mostly sharped kitchen knives and this one is a little short. If you can afford the 12 inch model, buy it.pros- great for the first step of sharpening a knife. usually only need to use this to put my edge on it the first time i sharpen a knife because i only need the fine stone for resharpening (usually). great combo with the Smith's 6 inch fine diamond stone.cons- slides a little on the table i use. also either this one or the fine one rocks back and forth a little bit while using on a flat surface.other thoughts- i like the fine stone better and use it more, but this is the best for putting the edge on the knife for the first time. love it and recommend it.