Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

These King Stones are legitimate Japanese Water Stones made in, you guessed it, Japan. They are extremely versitile and are the highest quality stones I have used. However, there are a few more good companies out there. Water stones are true to the craft of knife honing and sharpening and is a useful skill to teach yourself. I highly recommend watching virtuovice (YouTube Name) on YouTube for excellent tutorials on how to sharpen with stones. The lower grit stones like the 250 and 400 are great for taking out chips in the blades or reprofiling the edge to fit your needs or preferences. As a camper who beats on knifes and axes, I really need this benefit to take out those chips and these stones do so beautifully. A good stone grit to breach the gab between the lower grits and the finishing stone is the 1000 grit. This will help smooth out the edge and give it some great sharpness. It also makes finishing the edge with a 3000 or 4000 grit stone an easier and less time-consuming step in the process. 6000 and 8000 grit stones are not needed at all in my opinion. Finally, you should use a leather strop with a green and black compound to really get a good edge. Bottom Line and Reccommending Sharpening System: 1.) 250/1000 grit King Water Stone 2.) 3000 or 4000 grit King Stone 3.) Leather strop with compound You only really need the 250, 1000, and 3000 (or 4000) grit stones with the strop. I have seen the strop put a better edge than 8000 grit stones. Keep in mind a strop is only 30 bucks or so, and you could almost spend $100 on an 8000 grit stone. This reccommended sytem will make a butter knife scary sharp if you wanted it too. However, the stones are expensive and will loose shape over time depending on how much you use them. But the time you use them will definitely yield better results than a spyderco Sharpmaker (I have one). I also reccommend some sort of a stone holder like the Steelex Sharpening Stone Holder. This works well and makes it easier to work with.