WoodstockSteeleX D1130 1000 Grit and 6000 Grit Japanese Waterstone

The Woodstock SteeleX is an excellent waterstone for the money! Saw the pictures of the one that arrived broken and was hesitant to purchase at first, but when compared to the prices of Norton waterstones and others, decided I'd take my chances. I'm certainly happy that I did! My waterstone arrived fully in-tact, wrapped and sealed in plastic. This stone is perfect for putting a razor-sharp mirror edge on your knives which is all I use it for. I've read other reviews where people use it to sharpen tools, chisels, etc. and give mixed reviews of it's performance. I cannot speak for its performance in that area, but I couldn't imagine it holding up well to industrial tools as just sharpening my knives creates quite a bit slurry, which again is perfectly suited for knife sharpening and necessary to help you achieve a polished edge. The 1,000 and the 6,000grit are of equal width. The 1,000grit side gets ground down much faster than the 6,000grit side and that's to be expected as you use the 1,000grit side to hone your edge and create a burr, then use the 6,000grit side for burr removal and final polishing. I find that anything higher than a 6,000 grit is unnecessary and highly over-rated as you can get a "scary" razor sharp edge with the 6,000 grit and a leather strop (a leather belt will work too). It will smoothly, cleanly, and efficiently remove a swath of hair off your arm if you run your knife down it. You can actually hear the "pop" of each individual hair and the metal edge "sing" its metallic notes if you go slow and listen close--Truly is a beautiful thing to see and hear. Gentleman, there's no excuse for dull knives. As the old saying goes "The man who keeps dull knives, is simply a dull man." Note: This is a "maintenance stone", which means if you've been neglectful and your knife is extremely dull and needs a new cutting edge reestablished. This is not the stone for that purpose. It is possible, but will cost you a LOT of width on your 1,000grit side. Use a 250grit stone or diamond sharpener to restablish your edge, then hit it with a 400/600grit stone a few times to refine it even more before you put knife on the Woodstock SteeleX. Again, this waterstone is a great maintanence tool for the money! If you find your kitchen knives not cutting and performing like they should after you "steele" them. Soak your stone for 10 minutes (with water for the love of God) and run your blade down the 1,000grit side about 15-20 times until you can feel a slight burr with your finger nail, then flip your blade over and run it about 5-8 times through or until the burr is removed. Polish up on the 6,000grit side alternating back forth, even number of strokes on both sides. Or do like me and make the 6,000grit side work as hard as the 1,000grit side. Run your blade down the 1,000grit 15-20x's, establishing your burr, then just flip the stone over to the 6,000grit side, turn your knife edge burr side down, and run it down the 6,000grit side 15-20x's or until you can no longer feel the burr, then polish up with alternating strokes and finally a good strop. In just a few short minutes your edge will "sing" again and the spirits our long past fore-bearers will gather and thank you for reconnecting with them by practicing the dying art of shaping and polishing metal with stone.

I bought this stone for $30. It is more expensive compared to typical oil stones which only cost $3-10. However, a waterstone grinds more uniform and the resulting edges are more polished. This combination 1000 + 6000 grit Japanese waterstone is 2" wide, 8" long and 1" deep. It is an artificial water stone. A waterstone works fast and consistent because it constantly reveals new grinding surfaces. This also means it wears out fast and one must keep its surface flat by lapping the stone frequently. This stone is fairly soft even for a waterstone, so I need to lap the stone once per knife, unless I am doing a compound bevel edge, then I may do one more when I switch the angle. I recommend getting a diamond stone for lapping, like this:  DMT W6FP 6-Inch Diamond Tabletop Whetstone, Fine Grit , DMT W6CP 6" Diamond Whetstone Sharpener - Coarse With Plastic Box  or others. A diamond stone not only can work as a lapping stone, but it functions as a coarse sharpening stone. The real important point is not what you use to keep this stone flat, but the fact that you must have a mean to do so. You do not have to get a diamond stone. I have one criticism. I wish the 1000 and the 6000 grit surfaces are not equally thick. Because the 1000 grit surface wears out much faster than the 6000 grit surface, it would have been nice if the 1000 grit surface is twice as thick as the 6000 grit surface.***A short explanation of waterstone for those unfamiliar with it*** Japanese waterstones are known for its unique performance. Water is essential for the sharpening performance of these stones, thus their names. They are quick to work with. This is because waterstones are made with small abrasive particles which are loosely held together. During sharpening, the surface particles easily come loose and revealing new layer of particles for fast and consistent sharpening. The loose particles are then carried away by the surrounding water and form a slurry which also assists the sharpening process. The disadvantages of waterstones are that the stones wear out fast and the slurry can be messy.*Update on Jun 08, 2010*I have worn the 1000 grit side down to 1/8", while the 6000 grit side is 3/8". I have upgraded to a 2000 grit and a 5000 grit Naniwa Super stones. In comparison, the Naniwa Super stones are more expensive, but higher performance and larger. Although I have out grown this combination stone, I don't regret buying it. It was relative inexpensive and it is soft, which is a good stone to learn. Although a softer stone requires frequent lapping, it has a nice feel to it and provides decent feedback.

Great item for what I need

La calidad me dejo sorprendio y la piedra es excelente para poder afilar, es una piedra que se debe remojar para poder utilizarla, el acabado es muy bonito y la parte de 6000 grit si dejo a espejo el filo de algunas de mis navajas.La recomiendo mucho para principiantes como yo ya que no es muy cara y tienes los dos grits necesarios para mantener el filo de los cuchillos y pulirlos.

My first stone; I did a lot of practice with a bunch of knifes and the result is getting better and better. The 6000 grit really give a mirror polish. I used it without angle stabilizer so the edge got a little convex curved if you look extra closely at it. But with practice and the technique suitable for you, you can get a very straith edge. It has to be fully soaked before use or else any water just poured on top gets absorb and it wont create the paste used to sharpen. I place it on a wet folded towel and it doesn't move. The paste is always the same with each uses with no impurities, just ajust the amount of water when it starts to dry, a few drops will suffice.When I'm done I wrap it in a towel without cleaning it. The surface paste will be reusable when I'll need it again (no need to waste) My stone will probably last 20-30 years at that pace. Great investment.If your knife is completely dull,you might want to start with less grain, because it will take you a while at a 1000. Personnaly I sharpen my chef knife about once per 2-3 weeks on the 6000 only at an angle around 15 degrees (I guess and I don't cut bones with that angle) and use my steel multiple times a day. The steel is not for sharpenning, it's to get some teeth on that smooth edge. (I work in a production kitchen)Use google to have an idea of the angle you want for what use. I know 15 is low, but I don't mind re-sharpening regularly (more practice)You might have seen 10 000 grit on the site. I've never even seen one but it probably feels like a granite countertop finish. I don't even know for what I would sharpen my knifes to that point. Perhaps with a perfectly stable angle and a high carbon steel blade, you can reach a near perfect edge to the molecular level. I don't need a scalpel hereBy the way the grit number represent the number of particles per 2 centimeters (20000 micons). If you have 1000 grit; the particles are an average size of 20 microns (0.02mm). Same goes for sandpaper

Tremenda pieza para afilar. La utilizo para mis formones y cuchillas de cepillos, deja muy bien filo, al cortar se nota la enorme diferencia entre usar esta piedra y el solamente ocupar otro tipo de afilado.Recomendada completamente.

Hadn't compare with other product, but works terrific. I give a finishing touch with stropping and the green compound from Woodstock. Maybe useless, but works for me.I've been sharpening many knife with it so far. I use the granite plate from lee valley with sandpaper for flattening, when I need it flat, for chisel by instance.For out of order knife :1. Dmt extra coarse (or coarse) use with windex.2. Dmt fine still with windex.3. 1000 side4. 6000 side5. Stropping with compoundAbout 15 min and you got a brand new knife that can shave arm's hair.All around, it sums up to quite a few bucks for kitchen knife. BUT for hand tool woodworking (my case) : it's a must. Once the cutting edge only needs to be maintained, this waterstone alone is required, with stropping if wanted.