The grit and type of whetstone best for your needs will often be influenced by the type of knives you have and the level of sharpness you need on the blades. Going too cheap for lower quality stones may take longer to achieve a good edge, if you manage at all, and could even ruin the edge of the knife completely. Balancing the quality of the stone with the cost and selecting the right grit progression is key when buying your whetstones. This is where the best whetsones come in. While sharpening your knives is certainly a chore, it can be made easier with a solid, quality whetstone. Whetstones, which are also called sharpening stones, are the perfect DIY sharpening tool. Made out of a variety of materials like ceramics, aluminum oxide, or even diamond, a few swipes along one of these stones can restore your knives’ sharp, finely-tuned blades in no time at all.

Fixing a damaged edge on a knife generally requires a level of expertise beyond that of normal sharpening skills. However, it is worthwhile having a coarse stone of 300 grit available for some heavy-duty sharpening tasks. When To Use Medium Grit Whetstones For rough sharpening – to remove chips along the edge or to restore an unusually dull blade – you will need stones from 120 to 400 grit. We recommend stones from 120 and 240 grit in this case. Ultrafine whetstones between 2000 and 6000 grits are generally considered polishing stones in most knife sharpening circles, although there are still higher whetstone grits for polishing. Our large selection of stones from many well-known manufacturers will allow connoisseurs to find the ideal stone for their needs. Because all manufacturers formulate their stones to emphasize a different mix of qualities, and because these qualities can vary widely between different stones, most woodworkers choose stones from several manufacturers to build up an optimal set of sharpening stones. Then again, once you get to know the characteristics of certain types of stone, you may find one supplier who will provide all the stones you need. Sometimes this can be an advantage. But there is no one size that fits all; each stone must fit your needs and work style. High grit rating stones have a much finer abrasive and are less aggressive in the amount of material they remove from the cutting edge. Extremely high grit whetstones can be used to polish the cutting edge of a knife and leave a mirror-like finish on the blade.Oil stone is the most used & traditional form of Whetstones. The reason behind naming such is Oil works as its lubricant. Oil stone may come from a natural source like crypto-crystalline quartz (Arkansas Stone) or synthetic materials such as Aluminum Oxide stone (Al2O3) or Carborundum Stone (SiC). Carborundum stones are less effective on modern-day steel. Because the matrix of this stone is so soft that the crystal breaks and rolls ahead of the edge while you’re sharpening it.

Whetstones, also known as knife sharpening stones, come in a range of grits, with the number simply referring to the density of the particles and how the whetstone should be used. For repairing knives with chipped edges, a coarse grit whetstone with less than 1000 grit is typically used whereas a whetstone with a grit grade between 1000 to 3000 is best for sharpening dull and well-used knives. Finishing whetstones, or fine grit whetstones, have a grit grade of around 4000 to 8000 and are great for refining your knife's edge and polishing the surface. What is a Whetstone? The whetstones that fall into this polishing category are stones that are of 4000-grit and above. The higher the grit number of the stone, the more the edge will be polished to a mirror finish. The mid-range grit rating whetstones will be less aggressive than low grit stones but more aggressive than high grit stones. These stones do not remove large amounts of material from the cutting edge and are used to refine and hone the cutting edge. Hold the knife in your dominate hand with the blade facing away from you. Place your fingertips on top of the blade face.

Dos and Don’ts of using a whetstone:

To properly use a whetstone, it must first be soaked in water. The stone should be submerged in the water for 10-20 minutes before use, every time that you use it. The water acts as lubrication, allowing the knife to easily glide across the surface of the stone whilst sharpening, without too much friction. Sharpening the knife

A: The choice of grit depends on the condition of your knife and the desired sharpness. Use a coarse grit (below 300) for repairing damaged edges, a medium grit (300-600) for general sharpening, and a fine grit (600-1000) or higher for refining and polishing the edge. If you are unsure of how to use a whetstone or what angle you should sharpen your knives to, all our staff members are professionally trained and can show you the best knife sharpening techniques in our stores. Without applying too much pressure, slide the blade down the length of the steel in a sweeping motion, from the heel to the tip.These whetstones are not commonly used by most people who want sharp knives. Commercial knife makers typically use these high-grit whetstones to make the knives ultra-sharp with the added aesthetic value of a gleaming mirror-like finish on the cutting edge. The 400-grit stone can be used to set the geometry of the knife edge, the 1000-grit can be used to refine the edge, and the 6000-grit stone will put a medium mirror finishing on the edge. Experience with sharpening does matter when choosing a whetstone. If you are only starting or use whetstones only occasionally, you’d better get a combination of between 1000 and 6000 grit. The combination of these two will do the work for many years. Now you will start sharpening Side B as well. Until the burr aligns in the center, keep sharpening each side, couple more times, with uniform angle & pressure. When the burr comes to the center, move onto the finishing stone and sweep a couple more times. When you feel your knife is well-sharpened now, try cutting a piece of paper. Cutting through a paper smoothly confirms that you have done successful work. If this is your first time, work S L O W L Y. We cannot stress this enough. Keeping the angle consistent is the most important factor in whether or not your knife will end up super sharp. Also you are working with a knife after all, and a dull knife can still be dangerous.

For this reason, we recommend a combination stone that is 400-grit on one side and 1000-grit on the flip-side of the stone. We need to be consistent in the angle we are sharpening the knife throughout. We need to make sure the burr is consistent in the size formed on one side before sharpening the other. Always cut on a cutting board. Surfaces like your granite or marble kitchen counter-top are too hard for your blade. To keep your knives sharp, use a wood cutting board! Plastic is fine, too. Each manufacturer will have their own instructions, so always read their guidelines before sharpening. We recommend using a whetstone; however, our sharpening rods are also fantastic and can be used with many of our knives.

Other knife sharpening methods

If you sharpen blades only occasionally, and know that you will not need to remove a chip along the edge of the blade, a combination stone will suffice. The size you choose depends mostly on a trade-off between cost and speed. The bigger the stone, the faster you can work. Smaller stones work just as well, they simply take a little longer. How much money do I need to spend? Sharpening knives on a whetstone can be a satisfying experience if you have the right whetstone grits to do the job properly. You also need to choose whether to use dedicated water stones or oil stones, silicon carbide stones, aluminum oxide stones, or natural stones. Oil Stones or Water Stones Having said that, if you need to use whetstones more often, go for 2000 and 3000 grit since they are less coarse. However, this doesn’t really mean that you should sharpen your knives on a daily basis, but just a bit more often, because they aren’t designed for maintaining the edge, but for sharpening.