diamond sharpening stone

[Size: 6 in. x 2.5 in. / 325&1200 Grit]
I liked mine enough to buy a bunch of these for xmas presents. Plus I'm making strops to go with them.

[Size: 6 in. x 2.5 in. / 325&1200 Grit]
OMG....what can I say? Not enough good for sure. This stone has some serious weight to it. I've been looking for a new stone for over a year - read about this one many times and I just took a shot on it. So happy I did. The storage box is excellent quality - a wired hinge and it works great. It doubles as a means to hold the stone while used and the non slip pad on its bottom really works well. Measured for flatness and my stone was flat within 3 microns. Pretty dang flat IMHO. I didn't get any instructions with the stone, but the box has information on it. I didn't check the video on the box indicated by the QR code, but looked on line for information. Didn't find anywhere that said to wet the stone or oil it so I'm using it dry. Let me tell you, after all the experience I've had sharpening things (over 60 years worth) I've not seen anything finer to work with at any price point. By the time I get set up for other devices I use, I have 2 or 3 sharp edges with just the stone. Stropping an edge might finish the job, but man, I'm VERY satisfied with just using the stone. I thought I lost my touch with hand sharpening, but with this stone, this was dispelled in short order. Oh, the little angle gizmo for edge angle? To me, it's worthless. Might be ok for a beginner to get an idea of how to get started, but overall, I don't care for it. I'm a bit bewildered with this being called a WHETSTONE as I've not put in in water or oil it for sharpening like I've done with my Arkansas stones and other stones I've used over the years.

[Size: 6 in. x 2.5 in. / 325&1200 Grit]
I got the small one to keep in my kitchen and it is a really nice plate. the plate fits into the case to become a holder. Once on the holder it give me a nice elevation over my table. Plenty of height to do what I want with out my knuckles hitting the table. the base/case is nice and secure, it has some kind of rubber on the bottom that grips the table keeping it from moving. it has 2 grits, what I would call a medium and a fine. which is great for kitchen knives. this and a strop and my knives will shaving sharp. the only real negative is the plate didn't fit very well into the case when using it as a base. I had to use a knife to cut off a little of the lip. Outer wise now that it fits, it's really good.being the small one it is fits into a draw and is easy to take out for a few quick swipes. and yet big enough to have plenty of space for kitchen knives. sure a bigger plate would be nice but I don't feel crowded on the the small one and it is so much easier to keep in a draw and take out on a whim. It's great for quick touch ups and a decent size to do a full sharpening.

[Size: 6 in. x 2.5 in. / 325&1200 Grit]
5 stars. Awesome sharpener. The plate is nice and flat, the coarse side removes material quickly, and the fine side refines the edge really well. I still finish on a strop, but this stone gets the edge where it needs to be fast. The case is well made and the included angle guide is actually very helpful. Great setup overall.

[Size: 6 in. x 2.5 in. / 325&1200 Grit]
This is the best sharpening stone I have ever had. The stand is really useful as it stays in one place while sharpening and does not move at all. I don't have much use for the angle guide but it is nice to check every now and then. The rough side of the diamond Stone feels smooth to the touch, but I am able to grind out and resurface knives with chunks out of them or fix knives that have had the tips broke off. The smooth side really can make these knives razor sharp. It loses all its bite making it feel less sharp because of the smoothness , you don't even know it's cutting you bringing your knife to a new level of sharpness similar to surgical steel. I will say that I think there is a large gap between the rough and the smooth side, so I do use an additional diamond Stone of the same size that fits in the stand that is a 800 grit. The combination of the 3 stones is perfect for me. But you can still use the sharper stone it comes with as a stand-alone set. The fine side of the stone feels so smooth to the touch with your finger, but if you rub your fingernail on it, it feels like it will grind it down to nothing! It basically does the same thing to your knife, making an edge so smooth that it's easy to underestimate how sharp it really is. Like I said, surgical !! Would definitely recommend, 100% worth the money

[Size: 6 in. x 2.5 in. / 325&1200 Grit]
This has been a great addition to my kitchen and workbench. The course side is just right for profiling and getting that apex when needed with reasonable stroke passes. The fine side de-burs very well and also can hone with a light touch. This is sooo much easier to get right than the wet stone sets I have. It is also much better quality of diamond surface and construction than other cheap versions I have purchased. This is the real deal. The case and angle guide that comes with it are a very nice touch. Downside, the case holder on the outside is a bit tight. The stone is also a bit too short, I prefer to have a longer stroke

[Size: 6 in. x 2.5 in. / 325&1200 Grit]
Plate:I own a lot of diamond plates, including Atoma and DMT sets. Comparing plates themselves, SHARPAL has much more consistent grit than DMT and requires less wear-in before it's useful. A frequent problem with diamond plates is that they can scratch your blade first time you use them and it requires some time to "stabilize" and shear sticking diamonds away. DMT particularly suffers from that problem, SHARPAL was good right off the bat and did not require any wear-in. Grit feels surprisingly consistent. Atoma stones also have similarly high grit quality, but I personally don't like their dotted pattern because it leaves striations on blades, so SHARPAL leaves very uniform scratch pattern in comparison. Finally, it's surprisingly hard to find good two-sided diamond plates and currently SHARPAL is one of the very few ones that are actually high quality.156N vs 162N:The difference is the size (6in vs 8in) and it's quite important. Unfortunately when I was buying, only the 6in version was available and I really wish I bought a bigger one instead. Larger stones are easier to use, they're faster and they live longer (due to a larger surface area).Accessories:For some reasons most diamond stones come in nasty plastic bags or (as is the case with DMT) in those awful plastic blister packages that you can't ever reseal once opened. Come on, manufacturers. I'm paying $50+ for the stone, can you include at least a container of some sort? Anyway, SHARPAL does come with a box: it feels pretty cheap, but well designed and functional. The hinge is good, the latch works (although it's plasticky), the stone sits inside very securely and does not rattle. There's a nice grid structure that prevents water pockets from forming (which is a common problem with plastic bags). Crucially the box has a non-slip rubber base and a mounting bracket for the stone on top which is perfectly adequate and usable as a base while sharpening.Angle guide:Additionally the stone comes with an angle guide (that seats neatly in the box, by the way, don't miss it). It might seem like a gimmick, but actually it's pretty well designed and is surprisingly functional: it has a magnet that latches onto the plate and helps you develop muscle memory for what each angle feels like. Angle consistency is arguably the most important factor when sharpening a blade on a plate, and this accessory really helps you develop a muscle memory to keep it consistent.Verdict:The stone is really good when compared to the competition. Double sided diamond stones are rare, high quality grit diamond stones are rare and this is both. Accessories feel cheap, but they're surprisingly well designed and functional. 6in plate is alright, but really try to get the 8in version if you can.

[Size: 6 in. x 2.5 in. / 325&1200 Grit]
Honestly, until it was in hand, and had sharpened, quite literally, every knife I own, I was skeptical. Anyone whose a knife fan, knows that finding a quality diamond whetstone is a pain in the butt. Nine times out of ten, you’re lucky to get through a couple of pocket knives and fixed blade before the only good thing the darn thing is good for is a paperweight. Often, it’s not just the cheap junk that disappoints. From the complaints I’ve seen, and there are A LOT OF THEM, even some of the big name diamond whetstone manufacturers disappoint from time to time.I’ve put off writing the review, until I could put it through its paces, get a better feel for how tough it is and it’s potent longevity. There was one concern in particular, that I had only with Sharpal in general: you’d have better luck stealing the Hope Diamond than finding information about Sharpal. Seriously.... lol.... this not hyperbole.There are a few YouTube videos about this specific product (the make several products, but this one was the only product I researched), but of the, MAYBE, 5 total, three are by Sharpal, and one video each by extremely small channels.From what I can tell, this particular product has been out for awhile. So, it is a bit odd. Don’t misunderstand... I’m not making any accusations. I LOVE the product! But, if anyone from Sharpal sees this, I’d suggest maybe contacting several of the mid-level YouTubers, send out a few of these, have them pass it on to the next YouTube reviewer. The small channels, no one sees, the uber-big channels will either take weeks to get around to reviewing it, and quite frankly, I don’t trust the uber-big channels to be unbiased. Just a tiny constructive criticism, the product is awesome.So, after it arrived, I got all of my knives ( don’t get too excited, I only own 10), lined them up on the table, and went to work. Three of my knives are made from S35VN, and not that Chris Reeves, tempered to be soft crap. Sorry, brother... but the point of S35VN is that it’s hard and can take a beating. If you’re going to temper it down to practically 440C, why pay the extra money for it?Sorry... lol... anyway, three S35VN, super tough, and I took them from not being to shave arm hair, or slice paper, to shaving facial hair, with no pain or blood.. lol. Of course being a diamond whetstone, I tore through all three in less time than I’d been spending on one knife, to get it even half as sharp as these three combined. Next, two Cold Steel Bushman Bowies. An inexpensive knife, but I assure you, tough as nails. No problem! Five minutes, BAM, shaving facial hair, DONE! Next, two Mora Companions: one stainless, one carbon.... it was done quickly, during a “Walking Dead” commercial break. Of all my blades, they were in the best shape, but still... maybe 5 minutes total. Right on! Next, my Esee 5. It takes a beating, so it was in rough shape. But, being carbon steel, it took maybe 5 minutes total. Keep in mind, I suck at sharpening. And, I mean I SUCK! LOL... All thumbs. If I don’t check my angles every few strokes, I muck it up. So, not only was the Sharpal knock8ng them all out quickly, but it was knocking them out quickly with this idiot in control! Finally, a Swiss Army Knife and a Gerber folder/locking knife from back in the early 90s. Both used daily. I don’t sharpen smaller blades often, so that threw me off. But, once I got back into the groove, even with the errors I made initially, I was able to knock them both out in maybe 4, 5 minutes, tops.Again, I SUCK AT SHARPENING, so, if you’re someone who is proficient at sharpening, I’m guessing you can, AT LEAST, cut my times in half.Before writing this, I took my daily use SOG Pillar (one of the S35VN blades) to the fine side, passed it over a few strokes, got it back up to hair popping sharp after about three days of infrequent to moderate use.And the Sharpal?Lean and mean! Barely looks like it’s even been touched. Now, if you aren’t familiar with diamond whetstones, keep in mind that how rough it feels when you first unbox it, is not how rough it will feel after sharpening the first couple of knives. You have to pass metal over it a few times, Knick the tops off those microscopic diamonds. I don’t like using a brand new diamond whetstone (well... the really rough sides meant to remove steel quickly) on my favorite knives. I use a beater knife, maybe my machete. But that’s just me. I’m not super great at sharpening, so I rely on “the feel/feedback” a great deal, and until it’s broken in, I have problems.Now, I’ve only used to for those knives, but there are absolutely no places where the diamonds have been worn off, and it still rockin’ and rollin’. I was able to find out that Sharpal does use monocrystalline diamonds, and the diamonds are attached to the metal plate via electroplating. That is great. Both are very desirable, and there is simply not a better way to ensure quality and longevity, at least not yet.There ...