Shapton Ha No Kuromaku Ceramic Whetstone Set - Medium (1000) & Fine (5000) Grit - Black

Arrived in perfect condition. It's a very versatile pair of whetstones that is a great starter set for anyone looking to sharpen their knives and tools quickly, and efficiently. They're splash-and-go stones that only need to be soaked on the first use (Shapton's recommendation) so they're quick to set up and easy to maintain. They will also rarely need truing, so they will last a long time with casual (and correct) use, and will not cause a mess as they do not slurry. I've used them to sharpen carbon steel kitchen knives as well as leatherworking skiving knives made of D2 steel. I had no problems getting that skiving knife to a mirror polish, and some fine stropping in the end brought it to a hair-splitting edge. Literally.

Good product

Machine precision whetstones. Not much left to say. Sharpening your knives will become much faster, more precise, and more enjoyable. Worth every penny for a purchase that you can pass on for generations.

Perfect. You might need a coarser stone to start if your knives are really dull.

I love these Shapton ceramic stones, I now own the 1000 grit, 2000 grit and the 5000 grit. I find that generally my kitchen knives can be kept razor sharp using 2000 grit and a strop using 6 micron diamond compound, followed by 1 micron diamond compound. If I have a particularly dull blade I use the 1000 grit followed by the 2000 grit then strop. The 5000 grit I don't use as often, but I do use it and the strops to keep my straight razor really sharp and polished. These are great stones, worth the investment, just get the stones that best suit your needs :)

The 1000 cuts really quick. The 5000 is slightly slower than the suehiro rika 5000. Both are really hard and doesn't dish quickly. I don't think there's any stone in the market that beats these in value to performance ratio.