KING KW65 1000/6000 Grit Combination Whetstone with Plastic Base

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.

Super nice whetstone for sharpening tools and knives. I bought this because it was made in Japan...which is great cuz all my leather tools are the same. I use this to sharpen my skiving knife and some kitchen knives. As instructed, soak in water first then use. Once it's wet, it won't move around when you put it on the stand. Mine came from Amazon and no damage at all...and I have been using this for about 1 and 1/2 years.....before writing this review. I spend about 2-3 mins sharpening my skiving knife and can use it for weeks, daily use.....because I am lazy and do wait until it's pretty dull to sharpen again. After a few mins, knife is crazy sharp and cuts through thick leather like butter.

I picked up the KING KW65 1000/6000 grit whetstone after struggling with dull kitchen knives for way too long, and honestly, it’s been a really solid investment. The combination of the 1000 and 6000 grits makes it super convenient—you can handle both sharpening and finishing without needing multiple stones. The 1000 grit side does a great job restoring a decent edge, even on knives that were pretty neglected. It doesn’t take forever either, which I appreciated as someone still getting the hang of sharpening. The 6000 grit side is where things really impressed me—it leaves a noticeably smoother, sharper finish, and my knives glide through vegetables now. The plastic base is simple but functional. It keeps the stone from sliding around too much, especially if you place it on a damp towel for extra grip. The stone does soak up water like expected, so plan ahead and give it about 10–15 minutes before use. One thing to note is that it does wear a bit over time (which is normal for this type of stone), so you may eventually need a flattening stone if you use it often. But for the price and quality, I think it’s completely fair. Overall, this is a great choice for beginners and even intermediate users. It’s reliable, easy to use, and gives really satisfying results without being overly complicated.

I want to give this 4.5 stars, but that isn't an option. If you need an all-around wet sharpening and maintaining stones for your knives, this is the one. You get two grits that are suitable for 99% of people to get their knives where they need to be. Yes there are coarser stones for getting out bigger burrs, and there are finer stones for really polishing your knives past the point of practicality. This is the best stone for all-around sharpening at anything at this price point. I use this for all my knives. I have three Japanese knives that I maintain with this stone. I resurrected my friend's straight edge steak knives (obviously this won't work on serrated knives). I once thought the Kiwi knives were disposable after a year - this proved this to be incorrect. I turned a crappy $50 katana into a fruit ninja machine. I'm not kidding - Apples, tomatoes, oranges, cantaloupes. 100% clean cut every time after a 15 minute sharpening session with this guy. Read the instructions for use. Well if you know Japanese. Else, use Google translate - You will get the gist of it. The most important thing is the angle and bevel. Put a little water on the stopper before you start and it won't budge while using it. Only reason I can't give this five stars is because you will get chipped edges. Even with the well packaged and tight bubble wrap, it will be slightly damaged. Got one for me and another for a friend and both had some damage to the edges. It most likely won't affect your sharpening, but it will be annoying when you expect to receive a perfect product.

Great everyday sharpening stones. I have a bin full of exotic waterstones (16k anyone?). This and a Shapton 2k green stone are what I actually use. Chad Ward, author of "An Edge in the Kitchen" (just for context)

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.

very good sharpening stone for knives.

Total Amateur sharpener reporting in here. I had purchased a tri-hone 3 stone combo sharpener from a local store here and gave it my best efforts. And while I could make an obvious improvement over a very very dull and chipped blade I couldn't ever get them what you'd call "SHARP." I bought myself a small collection of Wusthof classic kitchen knives last year and they were all pretty dull by now from a year of abuse and a cutting board that was too hard. After spending a good hour sharpening with both stones and following the directions to the letter I got them pretty sharp! That being said, they're not razors, and I know they were sharper when new. Hopefully more practice and I can get them back to being the truly great work of art they were when new. The angled part of the blade down to the cutting surface is now a very obvious almost mirrored like appearance, and looks the part of a truly sharp blade. In all reality, it's not quite as sharp as I'd like, but I'm chalking that up to my own skillset. That said, if you are fairly skilled at sharpening knives, this set is probably awesome for you. The stones seem to be of extremely good quality, I really like the overall width of them. With my other set they're so narrow it's hard to really sharpen anything but a small pocket knife. But these you can get a decent amount of the blade on at a time, so you're not having overlap issues nearly as much. I will admit my own lack of skill has produced on my chef's knife an area where the blade is rather razor like, surrounded by both sides of not as sharp....I'm still working that one out. The packaging is great, the little plastic stand it comes with is real sturdy. It also came with a very nice book of Japanese professional knives which I'm sure I can't afford and have no business ever owning, as well as pretty decent directions. These stones are also authentic Japanese, the packaging is 100% japanese and completely un-readable to me.