🛑I had to remove the links to alibaba in the description, since Pete from @CedricAda ( youtube ) had one of his videos taken down for uploading a similar video under the claims of attempting to sell counterfeit items from the company. I will fight a take down attempt and will name any company specifically who trys. I did leave links to everything else referenced in the video, in the description. Everything expressed here is my own personal opinion based on my experiences. Your opinion and experience may differ. Thanks for watching. 🙂
Dang man. They really do make it hard to make a video nowadays. I like to watch videos from many different genres, gaming, bushcraft/survival, craft etc etc and every single one pf them has similar problems.
Hi Alex I’ve been a big fan of your videos sense your first knife. I’m very happy to see that you’re ok, and this video is great as usual. I still want to purchase a couple of your strops you make, how can I get them if you still make them 🇺🇸
Unfortunately, this is not only true for wetstones, but for almost EVERY popular product. Thanks to Amazon Marketplace, dropshipping has grown ridiculously fast and mostly uncontrolled so there's not just a few "black sheeps", but a whole flock...
Amazon has a lot more product vetting than Temu and Aliexpress at least. I just got an extension cord off of Temu that had bare, unsautered wires at one end instead of a plug. I've had a lot more success buying higher quality products used off of Ebay and Craigslist when it comes to getting what I need at an affordable price.
This is very reason i stopped shoping on Amazon. It is littered with scam and I do not have time to check every scam offer. It should be shop responsibility.
You guys are just too lazy to do the research. Besides, there are a few trusted names out there if you are picky. If you do not know how to search and evaluate on your own, yiu deserve to get burned. Amazon does not have the staff, time or resources to check each item listed by third party. If unhappy, return it and ask for a refund. Besides, you can buy junk just as easily at your local hardware store, or any other shopping venue. Remember the old Roman saying, Caveat Emptor - Let The Buyer Beware.
Great video! I fell for these stones off Amazon initially as well and spent more time trying to flatten them after one use than actually sharpening my knives. I recently went with a better diamond stone, after doing some light research and have been really happy with it.
I got a pack of 4 stones slightly used for 30€. They are ok for chisels and planes in my workshop. Honestly for knives they work ok too. But like you said, they are way to soft, if you keep them in water they get worse.
Yup, I’ve been using a set of smaller diamond stones from DMT with their guided setup. Their plastic clamp works, but it’s not great. However, I have no problem with their stones.
You can get really good "curadon" stones a lot cheaper than diamond stones. They work good when you know how to use them the right way. You put to much water on yours. What's donne the sharpening is the "messy" paste that's created while using them...
Finally someone who shares my idea that if living beings from another planet could build a spaceship capable of traveling several light years they would probably design it so that it could land in one piece before sending it to other planets... unless there is an alien version of Elon Musk 🤭
I bought DMT plates starting fine then 3 others going up 8000. I learned watching your sharpening video and can do freehand mirror finish edges. People act impressed when they find out i don't use a guided system. I have been using those plates for about a year and my dad is happy with one I recommended to him for his chisels. Thanks for not selling out on us.
The newer DMT plates have a few QC issues... Gouges in the plates, or inconsistent grit ( occasionally you'll get one with a strangely out-of-place bigger grain of diamond on it... They leave nasty scratches).
@scottcrawford3745 I think breaking them in first helps. I start off using the plates on some tools and cheaper knives. After they have been used alot they are much better in my opinion.
Honestly I’ve used and own a ridiculous amount of DMTs, the course and fine are by FAR my favs, leave extremely keen edge. The extra fine HC (hardcoat version) simply can’t be broken in, leaves terrible scratches and doesn’t put a great edge on due to the lack of uniform particle sizes. That said, it’s oddly good for lapping other things flat (wouldn’t lap stones with it cuz it wouldn’t leave a surface with enough bite) If your method uses a strop, try stripping straight from the coarse and straight from the fine, you might be incredibly surprised by the quality and durability of the edges these stones provide! They nailed the particle size and density distribution on those 2 specific plates for sure Cheers
The satire had me laughing my tail end off. Great info on the stones the good, the bad, and the ugly. As a rule, I avoid items on Amazon that have too many look alike competitors, all sharing similar reviews, written in poorly executed English. Subscribed because I like your delivery!
You might find this interesting. I worked in China for about 10 years in manufacturing. The prices you see on Alibaba are much higher than directly from the manufacture. About manufacturers, what may seem like a manufacturer is in fact what is called a "trading company" which is a independent sales company buying product to export from the real manufacturer. Some manufacturers do not have a export license to export so they use a trading company or companies. Ok now you're dealing directly with the manufacturer who has an export license, does that mean you're getting the lowest price? No, not at all, because you are say an American importer "you're rich so I can charge you more". In addition an export company will have the Chinese sales tax refunded to them so the "export price" is BS. Back to the sharpening stones being sold for +$50 the real price from a manufacturer, based on my experience, and my Chinese wife who also works in manufacturing would be around 50cents, based on quantity.
That’s true, if I say I’m from UK the china seller or manufacturer will give me a higher price, however the same product you can buy from India or Philippines etc from a seller for cheaper, and they bought it from china and imported and made a profit and it’s still cheaper then me buying direct from Chinese manufacturer as I’m from UK
I fell victim to those stones when I first started out. I was able to get a good edge but they are a mess and agree they start to dish out almost right away. Based on your suggestion in one of your earlier videos I got a Spyderco Med. grit ceramic and a coarse DMT for removing metal. Very entertaining video thanks very much!
I just never bought into water stones - big waste of time. So many are coming around including here,he even pointed out you are more likely to keep an angle free hand for 50 blade passes over with a diamond/oil stones than 400 passes it will take for the 2-3-4 stones these so called water stone purists prefer
I wish I had seen this video a month ago. I knew all those whetstones had to have came from the same manufacturer, but I didn't realize what I'd be getting into. I know maintaining the proper angle is key, but this was nothing like sharpening my pocket knives on smaller stones. Instead, I (while using the guide that came with the stones) ended up dulling my kitchen knives even more. I should have gone with a diamond stone set like I had originally been thinking, but thought I'd save money...but I just flushed it down the drain.
A diamond sharpener ain't gonna help if you can't get a knife sharp with a wet stone. You have to know how to maintain the same angle, and how to get a burr. It wasn't the stone that dulled your knife, it was you
@@dereksteele2284 I have one of these amazon whetstones and they really are garbage. I was using the 6000 grit side and a 2mm lump pops out of the surface. What caught this lump? the edge.
I've sharpened up piss dull chef's knives at work with these crap amazon stones over 100 times at work over the course of about a year. These stones really do work, they're just crap and irritating. Like the guy says, they're soft af and dish out super fast. You'll have to flatten them out constantly and they make mess all over the place. But they do work, I consistantly got low quality knives (relatively soft stainless steel) razor sharp, enough to make paper thin slices out of tomatoes. I do think these crap stones have a legit purpose. For someone wanting to learn how to freehand sharpen on a stone, get one of these crap-o stones for 20 bucks, one of those 400/1000 combo stones and a cheap food service chef's knife. Dull it up on the side walk and practice on the crap stone until you get the feel for it. Once you can consistantly raise a burr and finish it up, and get it cutting paper nicely, go get some real stones.
I took your advice on your "beginner sharpening" video and went with a steel back diamond stone so I didn't need to worry about dishing and because many of my knives have very tough steels like 20CV, Magnacut, S90V, etc. Really glad I took your advice because I almost bought an identical looking 1k/6k stone. Your advice helps.
Unless you cut meat for a living or sharpen lawnmower blades with your water stone, it will not dish for many years. Rubbing it on a sheet of 180 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper every year will keep it flat as new.
@@Bob_Adkins To be honest I'd rather just stick with steel stones I now have that has a better sharpening medium (damond). I'd also rather not need a flat reference like a sheet of glass or steel with the 180 grit to see where the low spots are and make sure I'm actually improving the stone flatness. I'm also not sharpening lawnmower blades, but like a guy with a truck, when you have a stone you're not the only one using it so it does get some extra table time. I appreciate the solution, especially for those still using them, and especially to know for my old stones so thank you, but remember that this was from a video to corect mistakes from newbies.
@@karelenhenkie666 Luckily I'm a buy once cry once kind of guy (only took me 5 years to get that TRM Neutron in stock, lol) but I honestly didn't even know that was possible, TYVM. Learn something new every day. Do you run a bubble level on it or flat edge, just in case the good factory was rushed on a late Friday that slipped out the door or whatever?
@@sqeeye3102 I have a flat piece of plane steel that ik take across it, baseball on the scratchen ( outside edges or inside) I can see immediatley if they are flat enough for my plane blades
Just a tip re the links below Alex: Huusk took down my videos for selling counterfeits because I linked in my pinned comment the other alibaba versions of their garbage kitchen knives. I tried to appeal saying it was for information re the scam etc but the youtube robot didn’t listen and I lost the whole video 🤕
I know, thats why i didn't include any copyrighted content / all original. If they file a claim I'll fight it and re upload another video actually naming them. 👍
yeah, just to be on safe side. in my new video i just showed them on screen so people couldnt actually click through to them and havent had an issue so far. They’ll probably claim for other stuff they can warp the claiming form to match but we take each day as it comes 😺
I have a ton of those stones (used them to sharpen my chisels) but I remember they were super cheap a few years ago. The business model of overpriced crap unfortunately applies to pretty much every single item sold on Amazon nowadays.
True, but there's a different problem. If a shady company doesn't like your video, they can issue a takedown notice anyway. Even if it's bogus, you still have to go through RUclips's slow ass appeal process (hell YT might ignore you anyway). So, you either have to get lucky and hope a human employee at RUclips sees you, or you raise a big stink with a bunch of followers on social media to get RUclips's attention, just to get the false copyright strike removed. And it only takes one shady company to decide they don't like your video and strike you.
I've seen this with several content creators who provide news from er, Eastern Europe that a certain propaganda factory doesn't want propagated... It takes weeks and lots of subscriber noise to get the lies from the bots dealt with.
I purchased a few of these whetstones last year but never used them on anything seriously hard. I just kept them in a tupperware container of water for touching up my cheap kitchen knives. They are messy and a bit of a pain to use compared to the Spyderco stone I bought later. Thanks for pointing out the downsides to these products and being a bit of a goofball while doing it. Your sense of humor makes your videos a lot of fun to watch.
What’s so depressing a Spyderco has decided to discontinue their sharpening stones/bench stones. So hold onto those! I have the whole set and I’m not even gonna let them go. I will be keeping them dearly and making sure they’re safe.
The last few minutes had me in stitches. The cynicism and sarcasm was palpable. You sir are one of my new favorite people. Thanks for making my Friday afternoon. 👍
this is why when it comes to buying things on amazon I look at 5 things. 1. who is selling it 2. if it has multiple user reviews from multiple different websites 3. number of reviews has to be over 100 buyers 4. the 5 star rating has to be over 80% 5. read all the negative reviews only to find if there are common problems with the item. this gives me a better picture of the item in question. I will never buy anything under 100 reviews that has lower than 80% 5 star rating that has 2 or more negative comments about the same problem.
I appreciate the video. In my view, every stone has certain characteristics and limitations. Japanese stones for instance are very very soft and wear quickly, they use a big slurry, etc. Many many stones need to soak thoroughly, mainly for the same reason we need water for wet sanding. And I wonder about how much pressure people are exerting, and if they are expecting to use a stone to renew an edge or just polish. Also many professional people in kitchens and street stalls worlwide use deeply dished stones, especially for knives.... if it degrades so quickly, then flattening will be a cinch, if you feel that's what you need. Just as an example, the very best woodworking can be found in periods 200 years ago where you could not get a stone so easily, and when getting a truly flat stone meant extraordinary effort, so the stone you described for 15 bucks or so isn't so terrible. I come from Cleveland area where there is a long sandstone tradition--try that sometime for an interesting experience. I think there is something to be said for how you use it and what you expect from it. I have used a wide range, from found/hand prepared stones to Arkansas, diamonds, dollar store stones... They all have a place if you approach it knowing what to expect. Better to have more reviews so people know what to expect. So for that i commend you. I'll add my best bang for buck is the Norton India stone, black and orange. Very very good hard oil stone that can be a splash and go with water.
Have you ever tested the Masters of synthetic japanese stones? Companies like Naniwa, Suehiro, Shapton, and King? Especially the Splash and Go stones that dont need soaking? Thanks for great content.
Naniwa professional/chosera and Shapton glass are absolutely phenomenal stones. So long as you are dealing with steels that are 66 or less hrc and have no vanadium or tungsten carbides both of those stones I just spoke of are AMAZING. I'm more of a super vitrified diamond and Metallic bonded cbn stone girl my self and those two types of stones are mostly what I do edges with (along with the atoma 140 that is what I do most reprofiling on) but I mostly deal with hard steels with very high carbide volumes so that's where they shine. When im dealing with carbons and more simple stainless alloys then I do most of those edges for customers on either shapton glass or Naniwa professionals. The edge quality those water stones are capable of on steels like super blue, 10xx, super gold, 14c28n, vg10 etc etc is pretty much untouched by any diamond or cbn abrasive. I find that the naniwa pros stop cutting efficiently on low carbide steels that are around 64hrc and the shapton glass do pretty well up until about 66hrc but those are pretty much the limits of the steel matrix hardness before the aluminum oxide abrasives in the stones just can't handle cutting the steel any longer. For the right steels you will love them, if you mostly deal with high performance high carbide ratio steels then don't spend your money on them as they will not do the job you need them to. A great option is resin bonded diamond, that's the best in between that feels closer to water stones yet has the cutting power to handle any steels you throw at it. They are more expensive BUT they will last an extremely long time and have the cutting power to handle any steel yet with a more refined water stone type edge rather then the typical highly aggressive diamond plate type edge.
I know im old school but buying anything from a nebulous source such as Amazon is an unnatural act. I want to lay my hands on the product and judge its quality from my tactile senses, not by the number of stars or thumbs up icons. Like i said, im sort of old school.
The big gap in Amazon reviews, which are excellent for the stones you are criticizing, is background knowledge of the user. Dang, I've got one of those stones you're describing, ha ha.
I learned to sharpen on a 10$ Chinese stone from aliexpress very much like the one in the video. It can get knifes reasonably sharp and after about 2 years it's still not really dished out due to regular flattening. Idk about "sharpening experience" but it seems like pretty good value for the money. I don't think a regular home cook needs anything more.
I've used them too, only paid 20 & while it isn't the greatest sharpener it absolutely gets my large kitchen knives sharp enought to easily go right through a tomato.
Yeah, I just sharpened my two knives up yesterday and they cut just fine. I guess I just don't know any better, but I've been using it for a couple years without an issue. I bought it just because it was cheap and I didn't know if I would be able to get the hang of it or not. If it does wear out on me, I'll get a nicer one next time.
If all you're sharpening is kitchen knives the stones don't have to be all that flat. If you're sharpening expensive wood chisels and plane irons the dead flat is very important.
His review is BS, I paid exactly what he did and got: "Knife Sharpening Stone Set , Includes 4 Side Grit 400/1000 3000/8000 Whetstone Knife Sharpener Kit,Safe Whetstone Knife Sharpener,Non-Slip Bamboo Base, Angle Guide,Polishing Compound，Leather Strop, Flattening Stone,Razor Strop,Rubber Holder and Honing Guide". And I got it in Canada. Normally stuff here is not available, or twice the price. Plus if i didn't like the product, I get "free" returns.
@@tacticalskiffs8134 None of that is related to anything he said in the video. So I cannot trust you about anything. OK it might be the same price but its clearly not the same product.
I fell for those stones a couple of years ago. I have three different ones with 2 grits each. One big tip off is that many of them come w a bamboo holder and a small rubber mat, and sometimes a plastic angle guide. I must have bought mine before the price took off since I have perhaps $20-25 total in all three. And that is still far more than they are worth. Every bad thing that you said about them is spot on. One of mine even separated where the two different stones were glued together. They are extremely difficult to sharpen a blade on. I have several old stones I bought for a couple of dollars at garage and estate sales. You can also often get some nice pocket stones for only a buck or two. Most folks used oil on their stones in the past, which can be a problem if you prefer using water. I soak the oiled stones in water with dish washing soap for a couple of days. Sometimes I hit them with a brush if they are really gnarly. Then I run them through an ultrasonic cleaner a few times in water with dish soap and the warm mode turned on. After another bath in dish soap and a fresh water rinse, I let them air dry. The oil is usually gone and they work fine from then on with plain water or soapy water. Even somewhat dished out or nicked stones can be flattened with sandpaper, or on the cement sidewalk in a pinch. The side of a dismounted 8 inch grinder wheel works pretty well also, just use both sides of the wheel so that you get your stone more flat than you can by only using one side 100% of the time. In my experience any old stones made by Norton or Craftsman are usually worth buying. And many that are labeled Arkansas Stones are good also. Lansky and other name brands are usually good as well. Some of the older stones, especially natural ones, don't cut some of the new super steels that well. But you are generally better off with diamond stones for those anyway. I use two cheap Harbor Freight stones as flattening or trueing stones for garage sale finds. You'll get the best results if you have 3 stones to work against each other, rather than just two. Watch Alec's videos on sharpening with a coffee mug, or on a car window if you're still tempted to buy these crappy stones. I think you'll have better results using the bottom of a mug than these stones! Wet/dry sandpaper laid on a sheet of wet glass would also work better than these stones.
That's what I use for quick chisel sharpening on the job: a broken piece of glass pane and some worn down 220 grit sandpaper. I'm not building a jewelry box so it's plenty sharp enough.
Have a feeling this is for people that sharpen knives a lot. I only use my whetstone for kitchen knives very occasionally so I haven’t had an issue, but for people that would use it more often, I can see why a relatively soft whetstone could be an issue
I must be old, old school - all I use in the kitchen is a good old fashioned Sheffield sharpening steel - couple of swipes and my knives are sharp enough for anything I'm likely to be doing. Now in the workshop,....that is a whole different matter
I also bought a similar 1000/3000 grit water stone for $50. I would like to know about your videos before buying this junk. This problem is not limited to water stones. In the same way, they buy cheap junk lamps, screwdrivers and everything else on Alibaba, then sell them to us for a lot of money. I have to spend several days to buy a new keyboard or headphones. Because 90% of goods on trading platforms are Chinese useless trash.
While I wouldn't buy the expensive stones you are referring to, the cheap stones do have a place. I have been using them along with really cheap knives from charity stores to teach people how to practice angles. Getting a "high" grit amazon stone is only a few $ and they work well enough to tell when you get the right angle. You can get your knives to shave hair with them and it builds confidence in the people learning. It is cheaper than having them dig pits into my nicer stones, I only use King import water stones as I have a literal pallet of different grits from a liquidation sale so maybe teaching on a diamond might be better I haven't used 1. Just never buy any stones under 800 grit as they are all basically 120 grit or worse in reality and will eat cheap knives.
you payed 60 dollars for that one? I payed 15 for a similar one and it did me fine. you just have to keep it flat and it will do you fine. and strop after then you are golden
Thanks for your honesty,almost got one of those(the blue & white) but they looked a bit "fishy" to me since the same stone was offered with different prices under different vendors...I will continue using my oil stone that I bought for €1.50 ($1.00) a year ago and stills flat with no wear .This type of videos are really helpfull!! Thanks!!
Haha. Its funny cause I bought these. But to be fair, my IKEA knifes have never been that sharp - ever. May be true that they wear out fast, but since I'm no pro and I will not use these more than twice a year, I think I'm fine tbh. My kitchen knife even passes the tomato test now.
Yeah, I tried that stone, I have the exact one. Has all the problems you pointed out. My biggest issue is it dishes out really fast, and if your buying this cheap stone you (like me) probably aren’t looking to shell out more for a flattening stone then your actual stone cost, to keep it flat. And the one they give you is tiny and would never work. Just garbage.
Here's a low cost trick for flattening soft stones like that: glue a sheet of coarse sandpaper (60-80 grit) on a piece of window glass, than stick the glass (on the opposite side) to a table with double sided tape to keep it in place. Grind the sharpening stone on the sandpaper in a circular motion, applying just enough pressure to keep good surface contact. You may need to brush or blow away the accumulated dust a few times so it doesn't clog the sandpaper, but the whole job shouldn't take more than 10 minutes or so.
@@Dr_VIf you wet the glass before you put the sandpaper down it often doesn't move. No glue needed! :-) Some tile and countertop stores have 1ft square samples of their counter top material that they will give or sell you very cheap. Those samples are pretty thick and heavy. I also bought a 1 ft by 2 ft granite tile at a flooring store for a flattening project. These tiles are around 3/8 -5/8 in thick. These pieces of granite aren't as flat as a special machinist stone, but they work for sharpening blades, or polishing up a flat surface on many items.
Dang that sucks.. I saw good reviews, bought it as my first ever to learn. I don’t have much disposable income right now so i’m pretty disappointed… mine are red and white though not blue and white
1:53 I am that person, you can pity me 😭I literally found this video as I'm taking a break from sharpening my kitchen knives with a set of stones very similar to this one, and my experience has been deteriorating with every moment 🙃
@@gbennett58 It also depends on how many knives you're sharpening in one sitting. If you're just doing one or two, it's not that bad, but if you try to do an entire collection at once (like I was when I made the original comment), it very quickly turns everything in the immediate area into a damp, slurry splattered mess.
I commonly tell people to get a 1k/6k and a stick of buffing compound to practice with but never spend more than $18 delivered for the setup. These stones are GREAT for learning what you're doing wrong because they _will_ actually produce very sharp edges once you learn to do everything right. I use my 1k/6k to polish maring and burn-on out of steel baking sheets and to do rough-in on knives before using my good stones... work fine for that. You can just use a mopping towel to clear the grit between sweeps and none of them have to be soaked before use.
I agree that these stones are good for learning. I have a cheap one, and it's much more obvious when the angle is off compared to a cheap diamond stone.
I don't mind these types of stones too much, a bit messy but I've gotten stuff shaving sharp without all that much misery. That said, I appreciate you clarifying things so that at least people know what they're getting! I'll definitely upgrade to something proper once these wear out or I get tired of them.
@@truthhurts2149exactly. It’s possible to get things sharp with a brick and some cardboard, so these stones work too. But the quality is in the 10 dollar range. If a waterstone is your thing, For less than 50 bucks you can get a King 1000/6000 with a plastic stand. It’s a budget take on their much harder/better stones, but still great quality from a well known brand, and good bang for your buck.
Yup, I feel sorry for people that are just getting into any sort of craft. I settled on water stones a long time ago and I am not changing from my king stone, but I would be very interested how a cheap stone like the one you show would compare to a premium brand of similar grits.
I found this video because I wanna know the difference between a good and a bad (soaking) whetstone, but he just jumped right on to diamond plates. Still trying to find some good info on the subject
Would that be the 1000/6000 combo stone? I love that thing, so cheap compared to other options, but since I've used it I never felt the need to upgrade.@@That_one_and_only_username
@@themindset3329 I have the same DMT diamond impregnated stones the guy in video has. Using them is a very different animal from those whetstones. Those diamond blocks do not play, they will shred metal right off the blade with ruthless efficiency. If I remember correctly, the package inserts state, "Let the diamonds do the work". You use very little pressure and run across it dry. You use a plastic veggie scrubber under some running water to clean it off, all that runs off it is metal from the blade. Zero dishing, no need to flatten, ever.
This was amazing. And COMPLETELY explains why I have never been able to sharpen my own knives. My brother has a bushcrafting YT (Half-Insane Outdoor Guy) and recommended the stone grit to use but probably didn't know about this sham. This is my second video of yours I've seen. So glad I found it.
I got the cheap stuff for my cooking knives in my country just under 3$ and it just work, of course not for knive geeks, I would rather get expensive and good quality stone for my expensive knive
I've got a couple of stones like the one in this video. It gets the job done. But your point about it being messy is correct. I usually just watch TV and mindlessly sharpen my knives. I usually get them more than sharp enough to shave with. So like you said they do work. Just they're messy. I would like something that works a lot better but I'm not sure what to buy.
I go with king stones for sharpening. I don't typically use it on high wear resistant steels but once flattened I will use it to set the bevel on some straight razors and then progress from there. Good video overall. I think even for less than $10 I would skip those blue&white stones. They just LOOK like garbage.
I fell for this one, it was my first time buying a sharpening stone and i wanted something good. Since they were all built like this I assumed it must be the ideal build. It felt absolutely terrible to use! Because of it I thought sharpening was supposed to be messy and awful. There were no negative reviews and loads of positive so I thought it was just me having an issue.
Same here. Got one labeled "Amazon Basics" which was the top seller in the category. Was only 15 bucks though.Said it was 400/1000 but I doubt it. terrible usage and experience. Needs constant rewatering and the water seems to go through it immediately. Rating 4.7 out of 5 stars LOL. Stay away!
I got one of these for like $4 brand new at a thrift store. It works for my kitchen knives and it hasn't dished out yet. It's very cheap compared to my dad's but when I'm just sharpening 2 knives every few months it gets the job done. I would never pay $50-60 for one of these
I originally bough "Japanese water stones" off of Amazon years ago and didn't care for them much. Later I bought the cheap plastic DMT diamond "stones" that worked better, but did not last at all. Years later I found your channel and bought some ceramic stones that you recommended and I liked them, but I still wasn't getting a great sharpening (I guess I just suck at using a stone.) A bit later I bought a ceramic rod and I absolutely love it. I can get a very sharp blade on any of my knives with very little effort or time.
@@redangrybird7564 I honestly get a lot of use and success out of the Spyderco Sharpmaker set, and bought the extra coarse diamond rods, and the extra fine ( red tips) rods for it. In a pinch they will zip up almost any knife in a jiffy. I keep mine in the kitchen right beside my knife blocks ( yes, I have 2 blocks). I also pack it with my on every hunting trip, fishing trip, or any time I visit friends or relatives and zip up their knives too. Does 30 and 40 degree bevels, and can mount a single "stone" out the end for doing scissors ( this one will take you a bunch of practice/ trial & error, but can scissors Very sharp if you keep your angles true). They run about $75 CDN. ALWAYS use the safety guide rods that come with it... they're not hard to put on/take off, and WILL prevent a lot of slips... I also have a little pad of harh rubber that I rest mine on when I'm using it. Keep it secure. Do Not go too fast. Do not Push hard. Just take your time and they will do their job.
@@redangrybird7564 I've used the IOXIO white ceramic and the Cook's Standard ceramic rods with success. Don't expect these to remove nicks, or sharpen a dull knife, or perform other tasks requiring lots of metal removal; get a coarse/fine combo DMT diamond stone for that. These rods are best used to maintain an existing sharp edge. Don't be tempted to get a coarser rod; you may end up with a wavy edge over time because of inconsistencies in the pressure you apply to the edge as it passes over the rod. It is easier to maintain a straight edge using a large, flat stone. Like an 8" DMT diamond stone, for example... Ceramic rods are fragile; dropping one will likely break it. A ceramic rod is very hard. It's also round. The contact patch between a blade and the rod is TINY. All pressure focuses through that very hard, tiny point on the rod, making it very easy to deform an edge. Knocking your blade against a ceramic rod does bad things to your edge. Using too much pressure also does bad things to your edge. So don't get the idea you can sharpen / hone your knife the way the way you see "pros" do it on TV, slapping your blade up and down the rod at high speed. Use light, consistent pressure. I use the lightest pressure I can apply that still allows maintenance of consistent edge angle and pressure as the blade is drawn down the rod. If the bevel of your knife is rounded, chances are you'll end up making the knife duller rather than sharper because of the difficulty of maintaining the correct angle. If the bevel of your knife is hollow, ha ha ha... either dump your wheel sharpener or don't bother with any other sharpening or honing mechanism, because the correct angle is achievable only with the wheel sharpener that created the bevel. Use a DMT coarse diamond stone to regrind rounded or hollow bevels flat, followed by fine, then finish off with your ceramic rod. Good luck.
Rods don't sharpen. They align the edge. Next time you sharpen on a stone, try to align the edge on the stone itself. Your knives will get dull eventually, doesn't matter if you use the rod or not as the sole purpose of the rod is to align the edge and not to be abrasive, so you will always need to use a stone to carve a new, sharp edge.
@@sacoto98 steel rods may not sharpen, you are right, but he mentioned ceramic ones. Aren't Japanese ceramic whetstones made of ceramic, same as ceramic rods?
I've beeen a butcher for over 23 years and recently I bought a few of those sharpening stones for home use. I instanly notice that feeling not right. I will never ever buy them again
Good for you! Authenticity brings long term support ❤ It takes longer to grow but we don't go anywhere :) and we feel safe to trust your recommendations. Keep up your quality content, i love your honest style. I particularly like your content geared towards amateur makers (like me) with limited power tools and an oven (like me) hahaha
I don't have a problem with these stones. Just dont overpay. I bought a kit that had 3 types of these stones, a flattening stone, a nonslip stand, 2 types of honing jig, a strop, and compound, all for $30. That's a lot cheaper and better than using wetdry sandpaper if you don't want to invest n expensive stones. I get hair whittling edges with these things. They work great and they're cheap if you buy them from the right source. They are very messy though!
I think the price he paid was the real problem. If you are past 20 bucks or so per stone, the alternatives look mighty better, but at maybe 10 per stone there are not many options like these. Only low grit SiC combo stones.
Wish you told me this years ago :P. Great stuff :) You should have an online store I'd buy your stuff. You're a trusted honest voice and that's a rare valuable thing
Well done. I wish more knife people out there were raising awareness about these junk stones. I do the best l can to educate new sharpeners about why it's best to avoid them.
@zeauz Anyone with some skill and experience can get a blade sharp on most anything. But l don't recommend these crappy tools to any beginner when they can get a couple really decent stones for less and have nice tools to learn on.
I have one of these and I have blamed my technique for not getting razor sharp blades. I saw your review of the Sharpal doublesided and bought that and a Sharpal strop and now the back of my hand is completely hair free. Thank you for the advice.
I bought a very similar cheap white/blue stone and had the same problems. Immediate cupping after the first use and it became strangely gritty and wavy. I attempted to fix it with a flattening stone and sandpaper but eventually realized it was just poor quality. There are decent 400/1000 stones for cheap but with anything else I think it's best to look at higher quality brands.
what you said applies to so many products on amazon. so many cheap products bought from china online shops and resold on amazon at 10x the price. it's an epidemic of scammers and scalpers
I really enjoyed this video as I think that you're spot on with the truth about these sharpening stones on Amazon. I personally have not purchased them as I use the Spyderco ceramic stones and they are awesome two stones that will last a lifetime providing one doesn't drop them as they will shatter into a lot of pieces.
I have followed your channel for years because I trust you and all your advice are practical and honest. I agree with you about the cheap and nasty quality products that fills Amazon. This is why I read most of the reviews of 3 stars and below rather than 4 &5 stars. Finally I thank you for your professional advice and look forward to continue following you in the future.
I'd think some ceramic plates or rods shouldn't be ruled out (particularly for finer grit), but the price mark-up thing is still something to watch out for.
I'm not sure if it's in Europe but I've had poor luck with DMT diamond stones from Amazon. I bought like 5 of them and every single one had some quality issues - like missing places of actual abrasive or visible cnc machining tracks on the surface (and that was Extra Fine grit...). Ended up returning all of them. Finally I bought some cheaper post display ones - and those are indeed great.
Ive heard some good and bad reports stemming from the same issue. Either dmt has counterfeit items being sold in their name, or they are selling seconds themselves on Amazon. The link I left was to the item from the DMT store. I ordered mine from the same place (Amazon) 5 years ago. I reached out to dmt a couple years ago about this issue, as i was trying to become a dealer. I never got a straight answer so I decided to not become a dealer. Unfortunately I haven't had much luck with any other diamond stones either.
I think DMT qc might not be up to top standards. I’ve bought quite a few from Amazon and one of them double sided Duo sharp, had really bad quality on one side. After very little use there’s a big spot where all diamonds are just gone. But the backside (325 grit) is still in great shape after 3 years, so definitely not a counterfeit but rather as mentioned, bad quality control.
Why ever on Earth would you say it's "definitely not a counterfeit" when nearly all products on Amazon a clearly factory-seconds/thirds, obvious counterfeits, used-abused/returned then resold, outright scams, etc. Buy direct from DMT and you will likely be very pleased. P.S: I do not nor have ever ever worked for/with DMT or have any relation to them whatsoever (they are quite expensive but that seems to be the "system." Good luck, 76.
@@jess60901 well as I said, the backside of the same stone is perfect after 3 years and maybe 100-150 sharpenings, and it was bought on the DMT Store on Amazon, so yeah definately not a counterfeit but rather very bad QC…
Bought a sharpening kit off of temu for like five bucks (I knew what i was getting into, it serves me well for what it's for) and I found that using a brick is more effective for actually apexing, the temu stone just polishes
I have a couple of Smith stones that I bought as a young man back in the late 1970s. One is medium grit, and the other is fine. They've held up nicely through the years and still do a great job when it comes to sharpening a knife. Somehow, they haven't gotten lost despite me moving 18 times - literally 18 times.
While I agree with many of the points I find the whole whetstone process very relaxing, regardless of the mess and even though I'm an complete noob I was able to get super sharp knifes with this stone, later also without the guide. At the beginning yes, I felt like I was dulling instead of sharpening but once I got a nice burr on both sides which I then fleshed out with the 6000 the knifes were sharp as never before. For 25$ which I paid with shipping and a truing stone included I find this to be the perfect start into the endeavor.
I bought one of those stones i had to sharpen my knife on it so many times I am saving up for a quality stone now never again will i buy one of those cheap things
Thank you, Alex! Great video, as usual. Yeah, I bought some cheap amazon "water stones" a few years back. I spent ~$15 for a 1000/6000 combo stone & ~$18 for a 400/1000 combo stone. So ~$33 for the pair, so maybe it was over priced & I've seldom used them. Except for sharpening spokeshave irons, some chisels, & a few times on some knives. I keep 'em soaking so if needed I can pull them out & sharpen. But mostly I use some cheap thin diamond sharpeners. Based on your 'say-so' I'm about to order some "DMT 8" Dia-Sharp Diamond Stones". Then I plan on getting the ceramic stones. Barring breakage I should have my sharpening tools for the century or the apocalypse. Keep up the great job! Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!
Wow man. Integrity. Not something you see a lot of anymore online. I was about to buy one of these highly rated stones as a sharpening beginner. Mostly for my EDC, but my kitchen knives are starting to dull too. I want to do it right and I appreciate the honest feedback and realization of amazon sellers. Also, freaking hilarious with the satire towards the end of the video. This is the first video I’ve seen from you, but believe me, I’ll be watching all your uploads. Thanks friend.
Good video same goes for knife blanks on Etsy a lot of the pictures of "hand forged knife blanks" are exactly the same as the ones on Etsy by a "maker" same tang and profile, length everything.
As much as I like Neeves Knives, this guy is just a better teacher. I don’t mean to be negative. I’m sub’d to both channels. It’s just that some people are really good at putting them selves in the shoes of someone who doesn’t understand something and then crafting their lesson to fill in those gaps.
@@OUTDOORS55 I’ve heard you advise stropping with “as much pressure as you would use to click a mouse on a computer”. You’re a really good teacher, man. Sorry to break it to you.
Yep. Iwe sharpenned a knife on brick (just quick temporary solution for the day) it work and if someone is worried about how expensive sharpening stones are just buy 1 brick for fiew bucks. It wont be plesant but it will give u working edge for rest of the day xD. Still i would recommend real sharpening stones/equipment. Even on just for your guys work knives.
For 50 years I've been a fan of Norton India stones. I have a 100/320 grit combination stone that will put a shaving edge on a knife in no time. Yeah, shaving the hair on my arm at 320. And that's a very functional edge for an EDC.
The commenters from my sharpener review videos want you to know you can only sharpen by pulling and not pushing because that’s how these stones are designed and that you can only sharpen in one long stroke from heel to toe and that theses stones shouldn’t be soaked in water and they’re actually VERY GOOD STONES and that they only fall apart because you sharpen “like an idiot” 😂 (great review)
Until I watched this video, I was sure the problem was me. Now I know that I need some better stones if I am going to be able to actually sharpen (kitchen) knives. I just watched your video about ceramic (and how to sharpen) that included you using, then discarding a honing steel. (And that made the light in my brain come on.) So, THANKS!
🛑I had to remove the links to alibaba in the description, since Pete from @CedricAda ( youtube ) had one of his videos taken down for uploading a similar video under the claims of attempting to sell counterfeit items from the company. I will fight a take down attempt and will name any company specifically who trys. I did leave links to everything else referenced in the video, in the description. Everything expressed here is my own personal opinion based on my experiences. Your opinion and experience may differ. Thanks for watching. 🙂
Thanks mate.
Thank you sir, good man👍
Dang man. They really do make it hard to make a video nowadays. I like to watch videos from many different genres, gaming, bushcraft/survival, craft etc etc and every single one pf them has similar problems.
Hi Alex I’ve been a big fan of your videos sense your first knife. I’m very happy to see that you’re ok, and this video is great as usual. I still want to purchase a couple of your strops you make, how can I get them if you still make them 🇺🇸
I think the company in question taking dubious actions against Pete have realized they're messing with the wrong upside-down Aussie man 😂
Unfortunately, this is not only true for wetstones, but for almost EVERY popular product. Thanks to Amazon Marketplace, dropshipping has grown ridiculously fast and mostly uncontrolled so there's not just a few "black sheeps", but a whole flock...
Amazon has a lot more product vetting than Temu and Aliexpress at least. I just got an extension cord off of Temu that had bare, unsautered wires at one end instead of a plug. I've had a lot more success buying higher quality products used off of Ebay and Craigslist when it comes to getting what I need at an affordable price.
Spot on
This is very reason i stopped shoping on Amazon. It is littered with scam and I do not have time to check every scam offer. It should be shop responsibility.
amazon has become a landfill simulator, it is absolutely impossible to find a good product
You guys are just too lazy to do the research. Besides, there are a few trusted names out there if you are picky. If you do not know how to search and evaluate on your own, yiu deserve to get burned. Amazon does not have the staff, time or resources to check each item listed by third party. If unhappy, return it and ask for a refund. Besides, you can buy junk just as easily at your local hardware store, or any other shopping venue. Remember the old Roman saying, Caveat Emptor - Let The Buyer Beware.
This kinda dropshiping via amazon plagues the entire site. It goes beyond sharpening stones. heaps of electronics or LED lights etc.
Videos like these are so great to see compared to the endless videos that are just ads for products the content creators are given
Great video! I fell for these stones off Amazon initially as well and spent more time trying to flatten them after one use than actually sharpening my knives. I recently went with a better diamond stone, after doing some light research and have been really happy with it.
This is exactly the one I have and now I know why I can never get my knife sharp when I can get them sharp on another stone at home country..
I got a pack of 4 stones slightly used for 30€. They are ok for chisels and planes in my workshop. Honestly for knives they work ok too. But like you said, they are way to soft, if you keep them in water they get worse.
Keep them for cleaning and dressing resin bonded diamond plates
I never knew the Titanic wreck looks like a poorly lit garage.
I like negative reviews it fuels my hate for crappy stones.
Yup, I’ve been using a set of smaller diamond stones from DMT with their guided setup. Their plastic clamp works, but it’s not great. However, I have no problem with their stones.
You can get really good "curadon" stones a lot cheaper than diamond stones. They work good when you know how to use them the right way. You put to much water on yours. What's donne the sharpening is the "messy" paste that's created while using them...
Finally someone who shares my idea that if living beings from another planet could build a spaceship capable of traveling several light years they would probably design it so that it could land in one piece before sending it to other planets... unless there is an alien version of Elon Musk 🤭
@@lVl_A_L_B_O_R_O 🤣
I bought DMT plates starting fine then 3 others going up 8000. I learned watching your sharpening video and can do freehand mirror finish edges. People act impressed when they find out i don't use a guided system. I have been using those plates for about a year and my dad is happy with one I recommended to him for his chisels. Thanks for not selling out on us.
The newer DMT plates have a few QC issues... Gouges in the plates, or inconsistent grit ( occasionally you'll get one with a strangely out-of-place bigger grain of diamond on it... They leave nasty scratches).
@scottcrawford3745 I think breaking them in first helps. I start off using the plates on some tools and cheaper knives. After they have been used alot they are much better in my opinion.
Dmt is the best. I dont use over 1200 then go to leather, I carve sharpen everyday
Honestly I’ve used and own a ridiculous amount of DMTs, the course and fine are by FAR my favs, leave extremely keen edge. The extra fine HC (hardcoat version) simply can’t be broken in, leaves terrible scratches and doesn’t put a great edge on due to the lack of uniform particle sizes. That said, it’s oddly good for lapping other things flat (wouldn’t lap stones with it cuz it wouldn’t leave a surface with enough bite)
If your method uses a strop, try stripping straight from the coarse and straight from the fine, you might be incredibly surprised by the quality and durability of the edges these stones provide! They nailed the particle size and density distribution on those 2 specific plates for sure
Cheers
@@BenCase88We aren’t acting, homie. We truly ARE impressed. 😊
The satire had me laughing my tail end off. Great info on the stones the good, the bad, and the ugly. As a rule, I avoid items on Amazon that have too many look alike competitors, all sharing similar reviews, written in poorly executed English. Subscribed because I like your delivery!
You might find this interesting. I worked in China for about 10 years in manufacturing. The prices you see on Alibaba are much higher than directly from the manufacture. About manufacturers, what may seem like a manufacturer is in fact what is called a "trading company" which is a independent sales company buying product to export from the real manufacturer. Some manufacturers do not have a export license to export so they use a trading company or companies. Ok now you're dealing directly with the manufacturer who has an export license, does that mean you're getting the lowest price? No, not at all, because you are say an American importer "you're rich so I can charge you more". In addition an export company will have the Chinese sales tax refunded to them so the "export price" is BS.
Back to the sharpening stones being sold for +$50 the real price from a manufacturer, based on my experience, and my Chinese wife who also works in manufacturing would be around 50cents, based on quantity.
That’s true, if I say I’m from UK the china seller or manufacturer will give me a higher price, however the same product you can buy from India or Philippines etc from a seller for cheaper, and they bought it from china and imported and made a profit and it’s still cheaper then me buying direct from Chinese manufacturer as I’m from UK
you are a literal elf
I need further explanation I don't see it. But I've never seen an elf before so idk what I'm looking for
the ears are pointed! @@andrewgiunta2182
@@andrewgiunta2182brother the ears 😂
Elf on the shelf
Fuck now that i see it, I can’t undo it
I fell victim to those stones when I first started out. I was able to get a good edge but they are a mess and agree they start to dish out almost right away. Based on your suggestion in one of your earlier videos I got a Spyderco Med. grit ceramic and a coarse DMT for removing metal. Very entertaining video thanks very much!
I just never bought into water stones - big waste of time. So many are coming around including here,he even pointed out you are more likely to keep an angle free hand for 50 blade passes over with a diamond/oil stones than 400 passes it will take for the 2-3-4 stones these so called water stone purists prefer
I wish I had seen this video a month ago. I knew all those whetstones had to have came from the same manufacturer, but I didn't realize what I'd be getting into. I know maintaining the proper angle is key, but this was nothing like sharpening my pocket knives on smaller stones. Instead, I (while using the guide that came with the stones) ended up dulling my kitchen knives even more. I should have gone with a diamond stone set like I had originally been thinking, but thought I'd save money...but I just flushed it down the drain.
A diamond sharpener ain't gonna help if you can't get a knife sharp with a wet stone. You have to know how to maintain the same angle, and how to get a burr. It wasn't the stone that dulled your knife, it was you
Pls dont flush Something Like STONES
@@dereksteele2284 I have one of these amazon whetstones and they really are garbage. I was using the 6000 grit side and a 2mm lump pops out of the surface. What caught this lump? the edge.
I've sharpened up piss dull chef's knives at work with these crap amazon stones over 100 times at work over the course of about a year. These stones really do work, they're just crap and irritating. Like the guy says, they're soft af and dish out super fast. You'll have to flatten them out constantly and they make mess all over the place. But they do work, I consistantly got low quality knives (relatively soft stainless steel) razor sharp, enough to make paper thin slices out of tomatoes. I do think these crap stones have a legit purpose. For someone wanting to learn how to freehand sharpen on a stone, get one of these crap-o stones for 20 bucks, one of those 400/1000 combo stones and a cheap food service chef's knife. Dull it up on the side walk and practice on the crap stone until you get the feel for it. Once you can consistantly raise a burr and finish it up, and get it cutting paper nicely, go get some real stones.
@@David-bc4rh he didn't say he had a lump on the stone, he just said the stone dulled his knife
I took your advice on your "beginner sharpening" video and went with a steel back diamond stone so I didn't need to worry about dishing and because many of my knives have very tough steels like 20CV, Magnacut, S90V, etc.
Really glad I took your advice because I almost bought an identical looking 1k/6k stone. Your advice helps.
Unless you cut meat for a living or sharpen lawnmower blades with your water stone, it will not dish for many years. Rubbing it on a sheet of 180 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper every year will keep it flat as new.
@@Bob_Adkins To be honest I'd rather just stick with steel stones I now have that has a better sharpening medium (damond). I'd also rather not need a flat reference like a sheet of glass or steel with the 180 grit to see where the low spots are and make sure I'm actually improving the stone flatness. I'm also not sharpening lawnmower blades, but like a guy with a truck, when you have a stone you're not the only one using it so it does get some extra table time.
I appreciate the solution, especially for those still using them, and especially to know for my old stones so thank you, but remember that this was from a video to corect mistakes from newbies.
The cheap diamond plates can be very curved! Look out for that
@@karelenhenkie666 Luckily I'm a buy once cry once kind of guy (only took me 5 years to get that TRM Neutron in stock, lol) but I honestly didn't even know that was possible, TYVM. Learn something new every day.
Do you run a bubble level on it or flat edge, just in case the good factory was rushed on a late Friday that slipped out the door or whatever?
@@sqeeye3102 I have a flat piece of plane steel that ik take across it, baseball on the scratchen ( outside edges or inside) I can see immediatley if they are flat enough for my plane blades
Just a tip re the links below Alex: Huusk took down my videos for selling counterfeits because I linked in my pinned comment the other alibaba versions of their garbage kitchen knives. I tried to appeal saying it was for information re the scam etc but the youtube robot didn’t listen and I lost the whole video 🤕
I would hope cos these stones are a tad more generic looking than the Huusk knife they’d have less of a leg to stand on but just FYI 😊
I know, thats why i didn't include any copyrighted content / all original. If they file a claim I'll fight it and re upload another video actually naming them. 👍
Re read the comment...I'll remove the links👍
yeah, just to be on safe side. in my new video i just showed them on screen so people couldnt actually click through to them and havent had an issue so far. They’ll probably claim for other stuff they can warp the claiming form to match but we take each day as it comes 😺
I removed the links. Thanks for the heads up👍 I completely forgot you had that issue on that video!
I have a ton of those stones (used them to sharpen my chisels) but I remember they were super cheap a few years ago.
The business model of overpriced crap unfortunately applies to pretty much every single item sold on Amazon nowadays.
Absolutely. Amazon is a last resort/ Look elsewhere first.
@@cryptostormer2512or if you have prime, look when you’re almost out of time and need something now
Copyright laws do not prevent you from copying material for the purposes of review or commentary, which is considered "fair use".
True, but there's a different problem. If a shady company doesn't like your video, they can issue a takedown notice anyway. Even if it's bogus, you still have to go through RUclips's slow ass appeal process (hell YT might ignore you anyway). So, you either have to get lucky and hope a human employee at RUclips sees you, or you raise a big stink with a bunch of followers on social media to get RUclips's attention, just to get the false copyright strike removed.
And it only takes one shady company to decide they don't like your video and strike you.
I've seen this with several content creators who provide news from er, Eastern Europe that a certain propaganda factory doesn't want propagated... It takes weeks and lots of subscriber noise to get the lies from the bots dealt with.
I purchased a few of these whetstones last year but never used them on anything seriously hard. I just kept them in a tupperware container of water for touching up my cheap kitchen knives. They are messy and a bit of a pain to use compared to the Spyderco stone I bought later. Thanks for pointing out the downsides to these products and being a bit of a goofball while doing it. Your sense of humor makes your videos a lot of fun to watch.
What’s so depressing a Spyderco has decided to discontinue their sharpening stones/bench stones. So hold onto those! I have the whole set and I’m not even gonna let them go. I will be keeping them dearly and making sure they’re safe.
@@markcoffman494
That's a damned shame. I only have the medium grit stone. I guess I'll have to get the diamond stones he mentioned.
@@markcoffman494Your post damn near gave me a heart attack. The bench stones are still listed on their website. Where did you get the news?
The last few minutes had me in stitches. The cynicism and sarcasm was palpable. You sir are one of my new favorite people. Thanks for making my Friday afternoon. 👍
this is why when it comes to buying things on amazon I look at 5 things.
1. who is selling it
2. if it has multiple user reviews from multiple different websites
3. number of reviews has to be over 100 buyers
4. the 5 star rating has to be over 80%
5. read all the negative reviews only to find if there are common problems with the item.
this gives me a better picture of the item in question.
I will never buy anything under 100 reviews that has lower than 80% 5 star rating that has 2 or more negative comments about the same problem.
I tend to look at the 1 and 2 star reviews firstly, as junk sellers pay for the fake reviews.
I appreciate the video. In my view, every stone has certain characteristics and limitations. Japanese stones for instance are very very soft and wear quickly, they use a big slurry, etc. Many many stones need to soak thoroughly, mainly for the same reason we need water for wet sanding. And I wonder about how much pressure people are exerting, and if they are expecting to use a stone to renew an edge or just polish. Also many professional people in kitchens and street stalls worlwide use deeply dished stones, especially for knives.... if it degrades so quickly, then flattening will be a cinch, if you feel that's what you need. Just as an example, the very best woodworking can be found in periods 200 years ago where you could not get a stone so easily, and when getting a truly flat stone meant extraordinary effort, so the stone you described for 15 bucks or so isn't so terrible. I come from Cleveland area where there is a long sandstone tradition--try that sometime for an interesting experience. I think there is something to be said for how you use it and what you expect from it. I have used a wide range, from found/hand prepared stones to Arkansas, diamonds, dollar store stones... They all have a place if you approach it knowing what to expect. Better to have more reviews so people know what to expect. So for that i commend you. I'll add my best bang for buck is the Norton India stone, black and orange. Very very good hard oil stone that can be a splash and go with water.
Have you ever tested the Masters of synthetic japanese stones? Companies like Naniwa, Suehiro, Shapton, and King? Especially the Splash and Go stones that dont need soaking? Thanks for great content.
Naniwa professional/chosera and Shapton glass are absolutely phenomenal stones. So long as you are dealing with steels that are 66 or less hrc and have no vanadium or tungsten carbides both of those stones I just spoke of are AMAZING. I'm more of a super vitrified diamond and Metallic bonded cbn stone girl my self and those two types of stones are mostly what I do edges with (along with the atoma 140 that is what I do most reprofiling on) but I mostly deal with hard steels with very high carbide volumes so that's where they shine. When im dealing with carbons and more simple stainless alloys then I do most of those edges for customers on either shapton glass or Naniwa professionals. The edge quality those water stones are capable of on steels like super blue, 10xx, super gold, 14c28n, vg10 etc etc is pretty much untouched by any diamond or cbn abrasive. I find that the naniwa pros stop cutting efficiently on low carbide steels that are around 64hrc and the shapton glass do pretty well up until about 66hrc but those are pretty much the limits of the steel matrix hardness before the aluminum oxide abrasives in the stones just can't handle cutting the steel any longer.
For the right steels you will love them, if you mostly deal with high performance high carbide ratio steels then don't spend your money on them as they will not do the job you need them to. A great option is resin bonded diamond, that's the best in between that feels closer to water stones yet has the cutting power to handle any steels you throw at it. They are more expensive BUT they will last an extremely long time and have the cutting power to handle any steel yet with a more refined water stone type edge rather then the typical highly aggressive diamond plate type edge.
@@EDCandLaceNice to see a women loving the hobby (and knowing her facts)!
That is a low quality stone indeed, but you just look clumsy in the video.
I hate this phenomenon. It's impossible to know wether a product is good because all the reviews are always positive, I hate it.
I know im old school but buying anything from a nebulous source such as Amazon is an unnatural act. I want to lay my hands on the product and judge its quality from my tactile senses, not by the number of stars or thumbs up icons. Like i said, im sort of old school.
The big gap in Amazon reviews, which are excellent for the stones you are criticizing, is background knowledge of the user. Dang, I've got one of those stones you're describing, ha ha.
I learned to sharpen on a 10$ Chinese stone from aliexpress very much like the one in the video. It can get knifes reasonably sharp and after about 2 years it's still not really dished out due to regular flattening. Idk about "sharpening experience" but it seems like pretty good value for the money. I don't think a regular home cook needs anything more.
I've used them too, only paid 20 & while it isn't the greatest sharpener it absolutely gets my large kitchen knives sharp enought to easily go right through a tomato.
Yeah, I just sharpened my two knives up yesterday and they cut just fine. I guess I just don't know any better, but I've been using it for a couple years without an issue. I bought it just because it was cheap and I didn't know if I would be able to get the hang of it or not. If it does wear out on me, I'll get a nicer one next time.
If all you're sharpening is kitchen knives the stones don't have to be all that flat. If you're sharpening expensive wood chisels and plane irons the dead flat is very important.
His review is BS, I paid exactly what he did and got: "Knife Sharpening Stone Set , Includes 4 Side Grit 400/1000 3000/8000 Whetstone Knife Sharpener Kit,Safe Whetstone Knife Sharpener,Non-Slip Bamboo Base, Angle Guide,Polishing Compound，Leather Strop, Flattening Stone,Razor Strop,Rubber Holder and Honing Guide". And I got it in Canada. Normally stuff here is not available, or twice the price. Plus if i didn't like the product, I get "free" returns.
@@tacticalskiffs8134
None of that is related to anything he said in the video. So I cannot trust you about anything. OK it might be the same price but its clearly not the same product.
*nonchalantly glances over the cheap blue/white sharpening stone I just bought…*
I really enjoy the informative and instructional nature of your videos. I always appreciate honest reviews too. Please keep up the good work.
I fell for those stones a couple of years ago. I have three different ones with 2 grits each. One big tip off is that many of them come w a bamboo holder and a small rubber mat, and sometimes a plastic angle guide. I must have bought mine before the price took off since I have perhaps $20-25 total in all three. And that is still far more than they are worth. Every bad thing that you said about them is spot on. One of mine even separated where the two different stones were glued together. They are extremely difficult to sharpen a blade on.
I have several old stones I bought for a couple of dollars at garage and estate sales. You can also often get some nice pocket stones for only a buck or two. Most folks used oil on their stones in the past, which can be a problem if you prefer using water. I soak the oiled stones in water with dish washing soap for a couple of days. Sometimes I hit them with a brush if they are really gnarly. Then I run them through an ultrasonic cleaner a few times in water with dish soap and the warm mode turned on. After another bath in dish soap and a fresh water rinse, I let them air dry. The oil is usually gone and they work fine from then on with plain water or soapy water.
Even somewhat dished out or nicked stones can be flattened with sandpaper, or on the cement sidewalk in a pinch. The side of a dismounted 8 inch grinder wheel works pretty well also, just use both sides of the wheel so that you get your stone more flat than you can by only using one side 100% of the time. In my experience any old stones made by Norton or Craftsman are usually worth buying. And many that are labeled Arkansas Stones are good also. Lansky and other name brands are usually good as well. Some of the older stones, especially natural ones, don't cut some of the new super steels that well. But you are generally better off with diamond stones for those anyway.
I use two cheap Harbor Freight stones as flattening or trueing stones for garage sale finds. You'll get the best results if you have 3 stones to work against each other, rather than just two.
Watch Alec's videos on sharpening with a coffee mug, or on a car window if you're still tempted to buy these crappy stones. I think you'll have better results using the bottom of a mug than these stones! Wet/dry sandpaper laid on a sheet of wet glass would also work better than these stones.
oh ffs, I bought 2 of those. I swear, can't buy anything nowadays! Not even a rock!
That's what I use for quick chisel sharpening on the job: a broken piece of glass pane and some worn down 220 grit sandpaper. I'm not building a jewelry box so it's plenty sharp enough.
Have a feeling this is for people that sharpen knives a lot. I only use my whetstone for kitchen knives very occasionally so I haven’t had an issue, but for people that would use it more often, I can see why a relatively soft whetstone could be an issue
Naw, if you know what you are doing then these generic stones work just fine in a professional environment.
I must be old, old school - all I use in the kitchen is a good old fashioned Sheffield sharpening steel - couple of swipes and my knives are sharp enough for anything I'm likely to be doing. Now in the workshop,....that is a whole different matter
I also bought a similar 1000/3000 grit water stone for $50. I would like to know about your videos before buying this junk.
This problem is not limited to water stones.
In the same way, they buy cheap junk lamps, screwdrivers and everything else on Alibaba, then sell them to us for a lot of money.
I have to spend several days to buy a new keyboard or headphones. Because 90% of goods on trading platforms are Chinese useless trash.
These same stones cost like $6 in Russia and I imagine they're under $3 in China (obviously much cheaper in bulk). Almost bought one just now
While I wouldn't buy the expensive stones you are referring to, the cheap stones do have a place. I have been using them along with really cheap knives from charity stores to teach people how to practice angles. Getting a "high" grit amazon stone is only a few $ and they work well enough to tell when you get the right angle. You can get your knives to shave hair with them and it builds confidence in the people learning.
It is cheaper than having them dig pits into my nicer stones, I only use King import water stones as I have a literal pallet of different grits from a liquidation sale so maybe teaching on a diamond might be better I haven't used 1.
Just never buy any stones under 800 grit as they are all basically 120 grit or worse in reality and will eat cheap knives.
you payed 60 dollars for that one? I payed 15 for a similar one and it did me fine. you just have to keep it flat and it will do you fine. and strop after then you are golden
Thanks for your honesty,almost got one of those(the blue & white) but they looked a bit "fishy" to me since the same stone was offered with different prices under different vendors...I will continue using my oil stone that I bought for €1.50 ($1.00) a year ago and stills flat with no wear .This type of videos are really helpfull!! Thanks!!
Haha. Its funny cause I bought these. But to be fair, my IKEA knifes have never been that sharp - ever.
May be true that they wear out fast, but since I'm no pro and I will not use these more than twice a year, I think I'm fine tbh.
My kitchen knife even passes the tomato test now.
Yeah, I tried that stone, I have the exact one. Has all the problems you pointed out. My biggest issue is it dishes out really fast, and if your buying this cheap stone you (like me) probably aren’t looking to shell out more for a flattening stone then your actual stone cost, to keep it flat. And the one they give you is tiny and would never work. Just garbage.
Here's a low cost trick for flattening soft stones like that: glue a sheet of coarse sandpaper (60-80 grit) on a piece of window glass, than stick the glass (on the opposite side) to a table with double sided tape to keep it in place. Grind the sharpening stone on the sandpaper in a circular motion, applying just enough pressure to keep good surface contact. You may need to brush or blow away the accumulated dust a few times so it doesn't clog the sandpaper, but the whole job shouldn't take more than 10 minutes or so.
@@Dr_VIf you wet the glass before you put the sandpaper down it often doesn't move. No glue needed! :-)
Some tile and countertop stores have 1ft square samples of their counter top material that they will give or sell you very cheap. Those samples are pretty thick and heavy. I also bought a 1 ft by 2 ft granite tile at a flooring store for a flattening project. These tiles are around 3/8 -5/8 in thick. These pieces of granite aren't as flat as a special machinist stone, but they work for sharpening blades, or polishing up a flat surface on many items.
Dang that sucks.. I saw good reviews, bought it as my first ever to learn. I don’t have much disposable income right now so i’m pretty disappointed… mine are red and white though not blue and white
Good video! Spreading discernment and truth is important in these days. You have to question EVERYTHING you see on the screens.
I got my kitchen knife into paper cutting sharp, but I don’t think is possible to get to hair shaving sharp with these.
1:53 I am that person, you can pity me 😭I literally found this video as I'm taking a break from sharpening my kitchen knives with a set of stones very similar to this one, and my experience has been deteriorating with every moment 🙃
I have felt your pain!
On the other hand, I'm using one of those cheap stones with no problems. Your mileage may vary.
@@gbennett58 It also depends on how many knives you're sharpening in one sitting. If you're just doing one or two, it's not that bad, but if you try to do an entire collection at once (like I was when I made the original comment), it very quickly turns everything in the immediate area into a damp, slurry splattered mess.
@@resurgam_b7 My cheap Amazon stone was made in Japan, perhaps that makes a difference.
One of the craziest Submarine Sharpening Conspiracy videos I have seen, the truth is out there Bro, dont you ever give up!!
I commonly tell people to get a 1k/6k and a stick of buffing compound to practice with but never spend more than $18 delivered for the setup. These stones are GREAT for learning what you're doing wrong because they _will_ actually produce very sharp edges once you learn to do everything right. I use my 1k/6k to polish maring and burn-on out of steel baking sheets and to do rough-in on knives before using my good stones... work fine for that. You can just use a mopping towel to clear the grit between sweeps and none of them have to be soaked before use.
I agree that these stones are good for learning. I have a cheap one, and it's much more obvious when the angle is off compared to a cheap diamond stone.
Ofc youtube recommends the video after I bought mine lol
I don't mind these types of stones too much, a bit messy but I've gotten stuff shaving sharp without all that much misery. That said, I appreciate you clarifying things so that at least people know what they're getting! I'll definitely upgrade to something proper once these wear out or I get tired of them.
Hope you didn't pay more than 10 bucks
The dmt fine stone was the best purchase i have ever made
@@truthhurts2149exactly. It’s possible to get things sharp with a brick and some cardboard, so these stones work too. But the quality is in the 10 dollar range.
If a waterstone is your thing, For less than 50 bucks you can get a King 1000/6000 with a plastic stand. It’s a budget take on their much harder/better stones, but still great quality from a well known brand, and good bang for your buck.
I wouldn't pay more than $5, I got a couple of cheap ones for $2 at the dollar sense store in Australia.
@@truthhurts2149 If he is happy with them and his purchase, it doesn't matter how much he paid.
I edge with Kings Japanese whetstones. Off Amasonk't.
Yup, I feel sorry for people that are just getting into any sort of craft. I settled on water stones a long time ago and I am not changing from my king stone, but I would be very interested how a cheap stone like the one you show would compare to a premium brand of similar grits.
I found this video because I wanna know the difference between a good and a bad (soaking) whetstone, but he just jumped right on to diamond plates. Still trying to find some good info on the subject
Im glad that i just bought a king stone instead of the amazon basics kit with every same stones.....
Would that be the 1000/6000 combo stone? I love that thing, so cheap compared to other options, but since I've used it I never felt the need to upgrade.@@That_one_and_only_username
@@themindset3329 I have the same DMT diamond impregnated stones the guy in video has. Using them is a very different animal from those whetstones. Those diamond blocks do not play, they will shred metal right off the blade with ruthless efficiency. If I remember correctly, the package inserts state, "Let the diamonds do the work". You use very little pressure and run across it dry. You use a plastic veggie scrubber under some running water to clean it off, all that runs off it is metal from the blade. Zero dishing, no need to flatten, ever.
I once bought one of those beginner sets. The stones are useless, but I get good use out of the strops, honing compound and honing guide!
Great job! Brutally honest and informative video with unexpected comedy at the end.
This was amazing. And COMPLETELY explains why I have never been able to sharpen my own knives. My brother has a bushcrafting YT (Half-Insane Outdoor Guy) and recommended the stone grit to use but probably didn't know about this sham. This is my second video of yours I've seen. So glad I found it.
I got the cheap stuff for my cooking knives in my country just under 3$ and it just work, of course not for knive geeks, I would rather get expensive and good quality stone for my expensive knive
I've got a couple of stones like the one in this video. It gets the job done. But your point about it being messy is correct. I usually just watch TV and mindlessly sharpen my knives. I usually get them more than sharp enough to shave with. So like you said they do work. Just they're messy. I would like something that works a lot better but I'm not sure what to buy.
These stones are worthless. I grew up using a pocket whetstone, so I know how to use one. But this is crap.
I go with king stones for sharpening. I don't typically use it on high wear resistant steels but once flattened I will use it to set the bevel on some straight razors and then progress from there. Good video overall. I think even for less than $10 I would skip those blue&white stones. They just LOOK like garbage.
Amen. These stones suck. The different grits of mine actually separated when soaking.
I fell for this one, it was my first time buying a sharpening stone and i wanted something good.
Since they were all built like this I assumed it must be the ideal build. It felt absolutely terrible to use! Because of it I thought sharpening was supposed to be messy and awful. There were no negative reviews and loads of positive so I thought it was just me having an issue.
I just got one a few days ago too. Then I found this video 😢
Same here. Got one labeled "Amazon Basics" which was the top seller in the category. Was only 15 bucks though.Said it was 400/1000 but I doubt it. terrible usage and experience. Needs constant rewatering and the water seems to go through it immediately. Rating 4.7 out of 5 stars LOL. Stay away!
I got one of these for like $4 brand new at a thrift store. It works for my kitchen knives and it hasn't dished out yet. It's very cheap compared to my dad's but when I'm just sharpening 2 knives every few months it gets the job done. I would never pay $50-60 for one of these
I originally bough "Japanese water stones" off of Amazon years ago and didn't care for them much. Later I bought the cheap plastic DMT diamond "stones" that worked better, but did not last at all. Years later I found your channel and bought some ceramic stones that you recommended and I liked them, but I still wasn't getting a great sharpening (I guess I just suck at using a stone.) A bit later I bought a ceramic rod and I absolutely love it. I can get a very sharp blade on any of my knives with very little effort or time.
Can you pls give me the name (brand) of your ceramic rod?
I'm about to buy one, your info may help.
Thanks.
@@redangrybird7564 I honestly get a lot of use and success out of the Spyderco Sharpmaker set, and bought the extra coarse diamond rods, and the extra fine ( red tips) rods for it. In a pinch they will zip up almost any knife in a jiffy. I keep mine in the kitchen right beside my knife blocks ( yes, I have 2 blocks). I also pack it with my on every hunting trip, fishing trip, or any time I visit friends or relatives and zip up their knives too. Does 30 and 40 degree bevels, and can mount a single "stone" out the end for doing scissors ( this one will take you a bunch of practice/ trial & error, but can scissors Very sharp if you keep your angles true). They run about $75 CDN.
ALWAYS use the safety guide rods that come with it... they're not hard to put on/take off, and WILL prevent a lot of slips... I also have a little pad of harh rubber that I rest mine on when I'm using it. Keep it secure. Do Not go too fast. Do not Push hard. Just take your time and they will do their job.
@@redangrybird7564
I've used the IOXIO white ceramic and the Cook's Standard ceramic rods with success.
Don't expect these to remove nicks, or sharpen a dull knife, or perform other tasks requiring lots of metal removal; get a coarse/fine combo DMT diamond stone for that. These rods are best used to maintain an existing sharp edge.
Don't be tempted to get a coarser rod; you may end up with a wavy edge over time because of inconsistencies in the pressure you apply to the edge as it passes over the rod. It is easier to maintain a straight edge using a large, flat stone. Like an 8" DMT diamond stone, for example...
Ceramic rods are fragile; dropping one will likely break it.
A ceramic rod is very hard. It's also round. The contact patch between a blade and the rod is TINY. All pressure focuses through that very hard, tiny point on the rod, making it very easy to deform an edge. Knocking your blade against a ceramic rod does bad things to your edge. Using too much pressure also does bad things to your edge. So don't get the idea you can sharpen / hone your knife the way the way you see "pros" do it on TV, slapping your blade up and down the rod at high speed. Use light, consistent pressure. I use the lightest pressure I can apply that still allows maintenance of consistent edge angle and pressure as the blade is drawn down the rod.
If the bevel of your knife is rounded, chances are you'll end up making the knife duller rather than sharper because of the difficulty of maintaining the correct angle. If the bevel of your knife is hollow, ha ha ha... either dump your wheel sharpener or don't bother with any other sharpening or honing mechanism, because the correct angle is achievable only with the wheel sharpener that created the bevel. Use a DMT coarse diamond stone to regrind rounded or hollow bevels flat, followed by fine, then finish off with your ceramic rod.
Good luck.
Rods don't sharpen. They align the edge.
Next time you sharpen on a stone, try to align the edge on the stone itself.
Your knives will get dull eventually, doesn't matter if you use the rod or not as the sole purpose of the rod is to align the edge and not to be abrasive, so you will always need to use a stone to carve a new, sharp edge.
@@sacoto98 steel rods may not sharpen, you are right, but he mentioned ceramic ones.
Aren't Japanese ceramic whetstones made of ceramic, same as ceramic rods?
I've beeen a butcher for over 23 years and recently I bought a few of those sharpening stones for home use. I instanly notice that feeling not right. I will never ever buy them again
Good for you! Authenticity brings long term support ❤
It takes longer to grow but we don't go anywhere :) and we feel safe to trust your recommendations. Keep up your quality content, i love your honest style. I particularly like your content geared towards amateur makers (like me) with limited power tools and an oven (like me) hahaha
I don't have a problem with these stones. Just dont overpay.
I bought a kit that had 3 types of these stones, a flattening stone, a nonslip stand, 2 types of honing jig, a strop, and compound, all for $30.
That's a lot cheaper and better than using wetdry sandpaper if you don't want to invest n expensive stones.
I get hair whittling edges with these things. They work great and they're cheap if you buy them from the right source.
They are very messy though!
I think the price he paid was the real problem. If you are past 20 bucks or so per stone, the alternatives look mighty better, but at maybe 10 per stone there are not many options like these. Only low grit SiC combo stones.
Wish you told me this years ago :P. Great stuff :) You should have an online store I'd buy your stuff. You're a trusted honest voice and that's a rare valuable thing
There’s a reason why I call it Scamazon
Well done. I wish more knife people out there were raising awareness about these junk stones. I do the best l can to educate new sharpeners about why it's best to avoid them.
there's nothing wrong with any of the cheap stones, its usually a lack of user experience.
@zeauz Anyone with some skill and experience can get a blade sharp on most anything. But l don't recommend these crappy tools to any beginner when they can get a couple really decent stones for less and have nice tools to learn on.
I have one of these and I have blamed my technique for not getting razor sharp blades. I saw your review of the Sharpal doublesided and bought that and a Sharpal strop and now the back of my hand is completely hair free. Thank you for the advice.
I bought a very similar cheap white/blue stone and had the same problems. Immediate cupping after the first use and it became strangely gritty and wavy. I attempted to fix it with a flattening stone and sandpaper but eventually realized it was just poor quality. There are decent 400/1000 stones for cheap but with anything else I think it's best to look at higher quality brands.
what you said applies to so many products on amazon. so many cheap products bought from china online shops and resold on amazon at 10x the price. it's an epidemic of scammers and scalpers
I really enjoyed this video as I think that you're spot on with the truth about these sharpening stones on Amazon. I personally have not purchased them as I use the Spyderco ceramic stones and they are awesome two stones that will last a lifetime providing one doesn't drop them as they will shatter into a lot of pieces.
I bought this stone too. It was NOT a good stone. It was so bad, that I did not even try and buy another stone of any sort for many years.
I have followed your channel for years because I trust you and all your advice are practical and honest. I agree with you about the cheap and nasty quality products that fills Amazon. This is why I read most of the reviews of 3 stars and below rather than 4 &5 stars.
Finally I thank you for your professional advice and look forward to continue following you in the future.
Amazon is now just another front for Chinese crap, but then priced to its max.
@@rogierius
I noticed that recently too
Lisa, I want to buy your rock.
I don't mind buying a miserable sharpening stone made in china but only for the price tagged on alibaba
btw diamond stones are also the same cheap price on there
I'd think some ceramic plates or rods shouldn't be ruled out (particularly for finer grit), but the price mark-up thing is still something to watch out for.
Now do a positive review of your negative review.
I'm not sure if it's in Europe but I've had poor luck with DMT diamond stones from Amazon.
I bought like 5 of them and every single one had some quality issues - like missing places of actual abrasive or visible cnc machining tracks on the surface (and that was Extra Fine grit...). Ended up returning all of them. Finally I bought some cheaper post display ones - and those are indeed great.
Ive heard some good and bad reports stemming from the same issue. Either dmt has counterfeit items being sold in their name, or they are selling seconds themselves on Amazon. The link I left was to the item from the DMT store. I ordered mine from the same place (Amazon) 5 years ago. I reached out to dmt a couple years ago about this issue, as i was trying to become a dealer. I never got a straight answer so I decided to not become a dealer. Unfortunately I haven't had much luck with any other diamond stones either.
I think DMT qc might not be up to top standards.
I’ve bought quite a few from Amazon and one of them double sided Duo sharp, had really bad quality on one side. After very little use there’s a big spot where all diamonds are just gone. But the backside (325 grit) is still in great shape after 3 years, so definitely not a counterfeit but rather as mentioned, bad quality control.
@@jez76overall, Atoma is way better quality. I like DMT but Atoma are better made.
Why ever on Earth would you say it's "definitely not a counterfeit" when nearly all products on Amazon a clearly factory-seconds/thirds, obvious counterfeits, used-abused/returned then resold, outright scams, etc. Buy direct from DMT and you will likely be very pleased. P.S: I do not nor have ever ever worked for/with DMT or have any relation to them whatsoever (they are quite expensive but that seems to be the "system." Good luck, 76.
@@jess60901 well as I said, the backside of the same stone is perfect after 3 years and maybe 100-150 sharpenings, and it was bought on the DMT Store on Amazon, so yeah definately not a counterfeit but rather very bad QC…
Bought a sharpening kit off of temu for like five bucks (I knew what i was getting into, it serves me well for what it's for) and I found that using a brick is more effective for actually apexing, the temu stone just polishes
Great video. Thank you. Also thank you for calling these bogus companies out trying to sell something at 3000% mark up
I have a couple of Smith stones that I bought as a young man back in the late 1970s. One is medium grit, and the other is fine. They've held up nicely through the years and still do a great job when it comes to sharpening a knife. Somehow, they haven't gotten lost despite me moving 18 times - literally 18 times.
While I agree with many of the points I find the whole whetstone process very relaxing, regardless of the mess and even though I'm an complete noob I was able to get super sharp knifes with this stone, later also without the guide. At the beginning yes, I felt like I was dulling instead of sharpening but once I got a nice burr on both sides which I then fleshed out with the 6000 the knifes were sharp as never before. For 25$ which I paid with shipping and a truing stone included I find this to be the perfect start into the endeavor.
Awesome 👍 some absolutely love the whetstone process. Glad you only spent $25 too!
Yeah they can be a cheap start to sharpening and practicing technique
mine are just ok too, and came with a flattening stone which works okayish too
I bought one of those stones i had to sharpen my knife on it so many times I am saving up for a quality stone now never again will i buy one of those cheap things
Thank you, Alex!
Great video, as usual.
Yeah, I bought some cheap amazon "water stones" a few years back.
I spent ~$15 for a 1000/6000 combo stone & ~$18 for a 400/1000 combo stone.
So ~$33 for the pair, so maybe it was over priced & I've seldom used them.
Except for sharpening spokeshave irons, some chisels, & a few times on some knives.
I keep 'em soaking so if needed I can pull them out & sharpen.
But mostly I use some cheap thin diamond sharpeners.
Based on your 'say-so' I'm about to order some "DMT 8" Dia-Sharp Diamond Stones".
Then I plan on getting the ceramic stones.
Barring breakage I should have my sharpening tools for the century or the apocalypse.
Keep up the great job!
Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!
Wow man. Integrity. Not something you see a lot of anymore online. I was about to buy one of these highly rated stones as a sharpening beginner. Mostly for my EDC, but my kitchen knives are starting to dull too. I want to do it right and I appreciate the honest feedback and realization of amazon sellers. Also, freaking hilarious with the satire towards the end of the video. This is the first video I’ve seen from you, but believe me, I’ll be watching all your uploads. Thanks friend.
Thanks for the kind words! Im glad someone gets my attempts at comedy😆👍
I even just went as far as using your affiliate link to buy your first suggestion even though a Home Depot is within 5 mins of me.
You opened this video like a fuckin G
Good video same goes for knife blanks on Etsy a lot of the pictures of "hand forged knife blanks" are exactly the same as the ones on Etsy by a "maker" same tang and profile, length everything.
As much as I like Neeves Knives, this guy is just a better teacher. I don’t mean to be negative. I’m sub’d to both channels. It’s just that some people are really good at putting them selves in the shoes of someone who doesn’t understand something and then crafting their lesson to fill in those gaps.
Oh come on, Jerad is way better than me!
@@OUTDOORS55 I’ve heard you advise stropping with “as much pressure as you would use to click a mouse on a computer”. You’re a really good teacher, man. Sorry to break it to you.
Yep. Iwe sharpenned a knife on brick (just quick temporary solution for the day) it work and if someone is worried about how expensive sharpening stones are just buy 1 brick for fiew bucks. It wont be plesant but it will give u working edge for rest of the day xD. Still i would recommend real sharpening stones/equipment. Even on just for your guys work knives.
Ah yes. My dad bought one of these from amazon called a sharp pebble. i threw it in the trash last week
Is it called Sharp pebble?
I bet it friggin is. God I bought one, have used it maybe 5 times, it's practically bowl shaped now.
I have a Benchmade 940 with S30v steel and it took forever to get razor sharp on the sharp pebble.
For 50 years I've been a fan of Norton India stones. I have a 100/320 grit combination stone that will put a shaving edge on a knife in no time. Yeah, shaving the hair on my arm at 320. And that's a very functional edge for an EDC.
crap
i got hosed by these
The commenters from my sharpener review videos want you to know you can only sharpen by pulling and not pushing because that’s how these stones are designed and that you can only sharpen in one long stroke from heel to toe and that theses stones shouldn’t be soaked in water and they’re actually VERY GOOD STONES and that they only fall apart because you sharpen “like an idiot” 😂 (great review)
why do I see this video after buying such stones and having a miserable first time experience? I am mad :( thanks for exposing
Until I watched this video, I was sure the problem was me. Now I know that I need some better stones if I am going to be able to actually sharpen (kitchen) knives. I just watched your video about ceramic (and how to sharpen) that included you using, then discarding a honing steel. (And that made the light in my brain come on.)
So, THANKS!