KING Toishi Sharpening Whetstone #800 Japanese

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

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 like the King stones in general, they're a really good value and last much longer than the discount/cheap water stones. I use these stones to keep all of my kitchen knives nice and sharp and haven't had an issue with these stones. I also like that these soak quickly, I let them soak for about 10-20 minutes and they're ready to use. I have to flatten these a little more often than more expensive stones but I knew that was probably going to be the case when I bought them.I don't really love or hate the plastic base that they come with, that seems to be somewhat polarizing in the reviews. I'm okay with it, and I'm fine that the stone is glued to it because I flatten the stones when I need to, but I can see why it would be nice to be able to flip the stone too. The rubber that they use for feet isn't the best at gripping when wet so get some kind of non-slip mat to put these on when you're sharpening to keep them from moving around.

Very good to hold in hand for touching up small knives. Not as soft as many people say. Unless your gouging it, it should sharpen several knives at least before really needing flattening. I always thought King stones wore at the perfect rate, to where they rarely load up much. You shouldn't need a dressing stone or rust eraser.Also just takes a min or two to soak beings its so small. I like it.

I have never sharpened a knife before it was always my husband's job. I got into making sushi and decided to learn. After some research I went with this whetstone.It is inexpensive and has good rating and feedback.I was surprised to find it glued to it's base.After I started using it I realized this helps to keep stone in place.I watched few videos on how to sharpen knifes and was able to get my dullest knife very sharp again just with this stone and sharpening steel.Not quite razor sharp but great for any slicing I do in kitchen.I guess you will need a finer grit stone to make your knife sharp enough to effortlessly slice paper.Soak it it water first for about 20 minutes,put paper towel underneath to catch water,as paper towel dampens it will also keep plastic base from sliding around your countertop.It took me about ten minutes and more then few hundred strokes on each side to sharpen my very dull knife.Moisten your stone with water often and do not lose patience.Watch few videos to help you figure out right angle between blade and stone I find that very important as well as consistency of strokes.By that I mean always sharpen your knife with similar strokes in same direction.

when I bought this it was less expensive than the others on the page because it had been opened so getting a box that was damaged was as expected.I guess I expected more from reading the item description. I thought that when it said that this was a guided system I expected that the guides would slide back and forth keeping what ever you are working on would be held at the proper angle throughout the stroke. this is not the case. you start with your blade resting on the guide at the start of each stroke but as you move across the stones you are able too lose your angle making this no different than any stone you buy and an angle finder.I am sure it will be helpful too many people but for the money with a little savvy you could make your own for less .