KING Toishi Sharpening Whetstone #800 Japanese

Awesome hone! I use this to set bevels on my straight razors and to freshen up my kitchen knives. I let mine soak in water for a few hours or until the bubbles stop coming off the stone. The stone can slide around as you hone so i suggest a damp rag on wood to help keep the stone still, you could also use wax,rubber, or a specialized holder but a rag and wood is usually cheapest and most available.I drizzle a few drops of water onto the stone as i sharpen the blade (if the stone soaks up the water it needs more time in the water soaking) as you hone you will get a slurry from the metal you are removing from the blade as well as from the stone. Let this slurry build for a few strokes and then slowly dilute it with a couple drops of water every ten strokes or so. This will act like going through finer progressions of sandpaper and leave a very nice finish on the edge. If you want an even finer edge repeat the process on a higher number stoneThese stones take some time to set up having to dunk them in water and they are not the fastest cutters but for the price or for someone just looking to sharpen their own knives or tools you cant beat these Japanese products ^_^

This whetstone outperforms those expensive heavily marketed Blue / white colored sets amazon keeps promoting. Bought this cheap stone and a nice looking $60 set from Kyre. Ive used cheap lanksy budget stones , lanksy sharpening system, super fine dental tool stone and this stone. Im no expert , but this stone feels so much better in quality than the appealing colored 1000/6000 grit combos. This stone is more forgiving and gives me a mirror polish in combo with a strop. I ran my Delica 4 fresh from the factory 10 times on both sides and surprisingly increased the sharpness. Ive used this for expensive custom kitchen knives , cheap ozark trail knives and expensive benchmades / spyderco knives. This is a great buy.

I recently went to a knife skills class taught by Bob Kramer and of course had to go out and purchase whetstones and a 12 in ceramic hone like he had. I purchased this whetstone and a King 6000 Grit whetstone because I didn't think my knives were dull enough to require a 250 grit stone. Now that I have sharpened all of my knives, I think a 250 grit stone would be in order also.Because I am very new to sharpening my own knives it is hard to review this whetstone too critically. However, I think it is a good stone for a good price which is why I purchased it and it has met my expectations. I am glad I purchased one with a base because it raises the stone off of the counter to more easily sharpen the knives. I didn' know when I bought it but the the stone is securely attached to the base.I have used this stone exclusively on my kitchen knives which are mostly Shun and a few Henckels.

It’s a decent stone, especially at this price point. I like generally like King stones. Works fast and wears fairly well. The slurry isn’t as lush and thick as I’m accustomed to but no biggie, and the upside is that I can see my work and am less likely to scratch my blade surface. It’s still aggressive and a little less slurry and pressure seems to make a finer edge on this 1k. I’m no expert but it could be that technique is just improving. Makes a nice bevel. Also, it flattens quickly and isn’t too soft. The unfortunate thing is that it is glued to a cheap hard plastic base and you can’t access both sides of stone. Nonsensical design, but would be tolerable if the base itself were slip resistant. It’s annoying when working on larger and/or heavy blades, thus the lower rating. I had no problems when honing a straight razor or pocket knife. Again, I do like the stone, and it’s inexpensive.

Genuine Japanese stone as far as I can tell. Grit rating accurate and cuts all the steels I’ve tried it with.

This stone is glued to it's base so you can't use both sides which was the main reason I purchased it in the first place.Also this King K-45 stone can be purchased for much less on Amazom at $12.35 / Japan Super Mall B000OTIZOC note that K-45 stone is also glued to it's base, but at least someone made note of this fact to warn future buyers of something not listed in the product description.Bottom line; I'd return this one surface sharping product and purchase a combination stone in #1000 / #4000 grit that only has one sharping surface per grit, but at least I'd know what I am buying upfront

This is my first whetstone type sharpener. I have no idea how it stacks up against more expensive ones, but it works and the base does a good job of keeping it stationary. This is a 1000 grit stone, which sharpens (a 200-range stone is for blade repair, and the 4000-range stones are for polishing).The whetstone is far better than the other types of sharpener I have tried. It only requires some basic physical coordination, and gives very good results with only a few minutes of work. There are many videos online that demonstrate good sharpening technique, and they did not guide me wrong.Moreover, the process oddly satisfying. Anyway, whetstones can be used for any blade type: kitchen, utility, santoku, even an axe. This is the way to go for sharpening.

For the price it seems to be working just fine. I would put up the extra cash and get a two sided 1000/6000 grit. But it lets me sharpen my hand tools and I can woodwork in my spare time. Seems to be wearing really fast though, hence the 3 stars