Diamond Machining Technology (DMT) W6EP Diamond Whetstone Sharpening Stone With Plastic Case, Extra Fine, 6 Inch , Green

In the past I used a fine diamond stone to get a respectable edge on my knives. Followed by a finishing Arkansas Stones of varying hardness from medium to hard depending on just how much work needed to be done to achieve a good edge. This stone takes allot of time out and hassle out of my traditional process by getting the edges on my knives either at or very close to the final stage. In fact for the knives in my kitchen this does everything I need, on my 12 piece set of Mundial high carbon knives I can get a very useable edge with a minute or so devoted to each blade, no additional steps needed. As for as my collection of EDC, hunting and tactical this stone can get these knives dangerously sharp. It even puts a sharp edge with little effort on high tech steels like SV-30 ATS-34 and 1326 Sandvik in a minute or two on each.To get to a final edge (or at least very close) I use this stone these day's. Normally I'll use it wet to finish sharpening a knife. Sometimes with extremely dull edges I'll start off with a coarse diamond stone then go to a fine diamond stone depending on what is needed, then finish with this stone. I do use it dry often, mostly to get to a get to a finished edge or touching up an edge.In my opinion the method of using traditional methods is still going to produce the best edge possible, but for most of us this sharpener is a small investment for the results and time saved. If this stone doesn't get you to what you consider a finished edge, it will get you close, and save you allot of time.Over all This sharpener does a great job on everything I've tried to sharpen with it. Until recently the only way I found to get the edge on a blade to my satisfaction was with a couple Arkansas Stones, which can get you a scalpel type edge on your blade, but it takes time a great eye and patience. This stone will not get you same results, but will get you close. These days I just don't have the time get that edge on my knives with a traditional stone, and the diamond stones get me close to that edge in minutes instead of hours.I would recommend this sharpener to anyone and everyone trying to save time and still get great results on your knives. This is a perfect stone to clean up the edge on a semi-sharp knife, or to put a good edge on a new knife sharp in minutes. Great product and highly recommended.

I bought this product to sharpen my reed-making knives (I study the oboe at my university, and we're expected to make our own reeds). I got the extra-fine because the reviews I read seemed to indicate that "fine" wasn't quite fine enough for my needs -- we measure cane thickness to the fraction of a millimeter when we're making reeds, so the edge of my knife has to be very sharp and very precise. The knife needs to peel away the cane without any added pressure that might cause the cane to split -- I can't tell you how many times my reeds split down the middle because of a slightly dull knife. Not cool when so much work goes into getting the cane to that stage in the first place.This whetstone performs as well as the $60-70 diamond stones that some of my peers have purchased. I ordered 2-day shipping so it would arrive in time for a big oboe seminar we were hosting for high school students, and the day I took it out of the box it was passed around to sharpen 4-5 knives and performed exactly as needed on its very first test drive. My professor tried it and approved, too, especially at the price -- what a deal! I love this sharpener! What a huge difference it makes compared to the old whetstone I used. My reeds aren't splitting as I work on them anymore, because my knife is always sharp and slices the bamboo away effortlessly. If you're looking for a sharpener to give you a precise, exact edge like I was, this stone was a good choice for me and I highly recommend it for you.

I already own the DMT FWF Diafold Diamond Whetstone Sharpener Fine which is a great place to start with a very dull knife. But it's a little course for everyday sharpening. If you do the finish honing with this extra fine stone and a couple of strokes on a steel and your kitchen knives will be really, really sharp! In fact the first time using a resharpened knife my wife went right through a lemon and nicked her finger. I had warned her but it's been a long time since I've had a decent whetstone so the knives had languished a bit and were not as sharp as they should have been in a long while.The plastic box it comes in is pretty useless. I suppose you could screw it to a workbench, but I don't have the space for that in my shop area. I do use it for storage.Why buy a tabletop stone vs the folding version? Well the folding version is nice but the hinges are a bit flimsy and so it bends a bit toward the end of the stone. It's easier to use this larger block even if you have to hold it down at one end to the counter while honing. The diafold versions are nice for camping where you have to carry stuff, but the tabletop versions are much easier to use in the shop or kitchen with your big chef's knives.