SHARPAL 156N Diamond Whetstone Knife Sharpener with Storage Base, 2 Side Grit Coarse 325 / Extra Fine 1200, Diamond Sharpening Stone with Non-Slip Base and Angle Guide (152 x 63mm / 6 x 2.5 Inch)

For a long time I've been using the "drag-through" style of sharpener on my kitchen knives. Some of them are quite expensive, and I've noticed two bad things happening:1. the initial edge grind that they came with is disappearing or has gone, leaving a fairly thick edge that doesn't really sharpen2. where these is an edge, it is ragged and catchy.I did quite a lot of research (meaning: I watched a lot of videos!) and initially I thought I'd get a whetstone (an oilstone or a waterstone more specifically), but I found that the good ones are expensive, you need several, and they wear away and have to be "dressed" with a special tool which wears them away further.As I'm not a knife-maker or a professional sushi chef, I looked for an alternative, and found diamond stones. These are much tougher in that they don't really wear away (although they do gradually lose their diamond coat over a long time), but they also have the advantage that they're more rigid and you only need a single (multi-grit) one to get your knives to a very good level of sharpness.(Knife-sharpening specialists will probably suggest you also get a leather strop and some grinding paste to finish off the edge, but I haven't done that and the sharpness I get to is still excellent).There are several good "how to use" and "how to choose" review videos of this Sharpal product online. It actually comes in two sizes and I bought the smaller; it works fine, but I would advise you to strongly consider getting the larger one if you have chef knives to sharpen, for a few extra pounds, as it will be a little easier.This one is fine, nevertheless, once you've mastered the technique, which took me a few hours at most.The stone comes in a very strong, quality storage box which is also the non-slip stand to hold it in when sharpening, having a large soft rubber base. It also has a magnetic angle gauge that you can attach to your knife to help you maintain any of 4 common blade angles.The instructions are fairly clear, although I would recommend looking for a tutorial video to really get the idea of how to sharpen.My other tip would be to start on a knife you're not too worried about making a bit of a mess of initially (although you will be able to adjust it once you get the hang of the technique!)Now that I am fairly practiced at using the Sharpal diamond stone, I can say that it is very fast to take even a blunt edge to a well-ground angle, and then to a razor-sharp, moderately polished cutting edge. You can probably do that in 10-15 minutes. With whetstones (which I've used in the past), you'll need several, and it would likely take 3 times as long.Remember to wash and dry the diamond stone to clean it occasionally; you can use it wet or dry. Wet will give you a satisfying metallic slurry very quickly as you use it!My tip here is to be careful not to rub your fingertips repeatedly on the stone as you sharpen, because you will literally remove your fingerprints!I've now sharpened most of my knives to better-than-new edges, and I've also sharpened scissors pretty effectively. Again, this is using the smaller model, and it would be even easier with the larger one.Overall, this has been a great purchase, and has really improved the safety and sharpness of my kitchen knives, and also improved my enjoyment of cooking because it has eased and increased the speed of my chopping and preparation significantly!I really recommend this Sharpal stone; give it a little time to learn how to use it, and you'll be cutting paper-thin slices of tomato just like they do in online videos to demonstrate how sharp your knives are!

Amazing product easy to use it has a rough side and an extra smooth side for getting your blades nice and sharp with a strong durable case with a non slip grip base and design to mount the sharper, so you get secure firm and stable sharpener with the extra safety.There is a adapter as well which sticks to both sides of the sharpening face to assist with angles to get the best edges for your blade.The device is a reasonable length so you can use it perfectly for multiple blades, I have used this to keep my work knife and my kitchens knives perfectly sharp since I purchased it... Great value for money and easy to store away in its case with little space required.

Having previously used one of the pull through type sharpeners (and wrecking a knife in the process) I decided to get a proper stone and learn the art of sharpening. It took a while to get the hang of it but my kitchen knives have never been sharper! The stone is amazing, giving a nice sharp edge to knives and the two grits are perfect for shaping and finishing a blade. The included angle finder is okay to use initially, but once you get the hang of the technique, it's not really needed.

Good stone, clever design, easy to use. Difficult to open the latch as it's very stiff. The alignment triangle fits its holding only in one position that I didn't notice. I forced it in place and I broke the plastic bits that hold it in place. Now it falls out every time I try to close the lid. I advise to check before and don't make make my mistake. You would see how to put it as there is the shape pressed in the lid. I can sharp my knives so they cut a tomato without sliding off so I'm happy.

Omg. Never knew my knifes could get so sharp. Have a fairly good santoku knife made by Zelite. Never sharpened it since I got it 5 years ago as didn’t want to ruin it. Took a chance on this and glad I did. Amazing result and really easy to do. Also my cheap meat cleaver is now razor sharp.

Very good stone.So far I have only used it on my kitchen knives and my personal knife so it's not fully broken in yet, but the sharpness and edge retention is very good.The 325 grit side quickly removes steel gives a sharp edge. Finishing off with the 1200 grit side perfectly refines the edge and also gives it a slight mirror shine.I found that if you use a ceramic stone like the Fallkniven Cc4 (specifically the super fine white side) it gives a really nice hair shaving edge.Highly recommend for beginners and experienced sharpening

Great product, even with it being super heavy for a small item. Works great on all knifes. From my chef knifes to the cheap house knifes. Little hard to use for my crooked/curved knifes for the allotment tho. But all round very nice piece of equipment. Definitely need to buy a strop with this item, or it's just a waste of time using it. Happy days !

Not too tricky to get the hang of, I'm getting a really nice edge on my knives.