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add details about stones and categories
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@CarsonDavis
CarsonDavis committed Aug 27, 2024
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---
title: Whetstones
title: Whetstone Buying Guide
date: 2024-08-11
last_modified_at: 2024-08-11
categories: [knives, whetstones]
Expand All @@ -20,60 +20,70 @@ Most people have never used an actually sharp knife.

## Recommendation Table

If you want to just skip all the words and explanations, here's a table of my recommendations for various budgets. There is a wide range here, from $37 to $406, with some clear tradeoffs. Although on a day to day basis, I use the $262 Pers kit, I think the $179 Alt kit is the best value for most people, giving you everything you need to be a god of sharpening.

| | Poor | Min | Comp | Alt | Pers | All |
|-----------------------|------|-----|------|-----|------|------|
| Shapton Trad 120 | | | | | | $38 |
| CKTG 140 | | | | $30 | | |
| [Atoma 140](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BN32EXY) | | | | | $60 | $60 |
| Shapton Glass 500 | | | $48 | $48 | $48 | $48 |
| King KDS 1k/6k | $37 | $37 | | | | |
| Morihei Hi 4000 | | | | | $80 | $80 |
| Stone Holder | | | | | $15 | $15 |
| Rika 5000 | | | $41 | $41 | | |
| Kitayama 8000 | | | | | | $55 |
| Naniwa Gouken 12k | | | | | | $51 |
| Balsa Strop | | $14 | $14 | $14 | $14 | $14 |
| Strop Base | | | | $25 | $25 | $25 |
| CKTG Diamond Paste | | $6 | $6 | $6 | | |
| Gunny Juice 1um | | | | | $20 | $20 |

| Total Cost | $37 | $57 | $109 | $179| $262 | $406 |
| [Shapton Trad 120](https://www.amazon.com/SHAPTON-Blade-Black-White-Rough/dp/B001TPE1PK) | | | | | | $38 |
| [CKTG 140](https://www.chefknivestogo.com/140grdistflp.html) | | | | $30 | | |
| [Atoma 140](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BN32EXY) | | | | | $60 | $60 |
| [Shapton Glass 500](https://mtckitchen.com/products/shapton-500-glass-sharpening-stone-hr) | | | $48 | $48 | $48 | $48 |
| [King KDS 1k/6k](https://www.amazon.com/KDS-Combination-Whetstone-Sharpening-Harder/dp/B01BB1ZDVW/) | $37 | $37 | | | | |
| [Morihei Hi 4000](https://carbonknifeco.com/products/morihei-suzu-whetstone-4000) | | | | | $80 | $80 |
| [Stone Holder](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NFB2MTI) | | | | | $15 | $15 |
| [Rika 5000](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JLP4635) | | | $41 | $41 | | |
| [Kitayama 8000](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3VIX0M) | | | | | | $55 |
| [Naniwa Gouken 12k](https://www.amazon.com/NANIWA-Whetstone-KAGAYAKI-NK-2091-Finishing/dp/B01JI9YPPY) | | | | | | $51 |
| [Balsa Strop](https://www.chefknivestogo.com/bamapa.html) | | $14 | $14 | $14 | $14 | $14 |
| [Strop Base](https://www.chefknivestogo.com/ristba.html) | | | | $25 | $25 | $25 |
| [CKTG Diamond Paste](https://www.chefknivestogo.com/chdipa1mi.html) | | $6 | $6 | $6 | | |
| [Gunny Juice 1um](https://www.gritomatic.com/products/gunny-juice-poly-diamond-emulsion) | | | | | $20 | $20 |

Sure! Here’s the condensed version with bullet points:


### Basics
Starting from the basics, I think an everyday sharpening kit should have at least the following components:
- coarse stone
- fine stone
Want to know what you are buying? I think an everyday sharpening kit should have at least the following components:
- flattening stone
- sharpening stone
- finishing stone
- strop

I try to include all of these in every recommendation, with differences in price reflecting a lose of convenience, speed, or quality. At the lowest levels, you have to do without a strop and flattening stone.

### Buy it All
$406 is an atrocious amount of money. But it represents the highest quality option in every category and has every stone you could possibly need.
#### Stone Flattening
As you use your stones, they will wear unevenly. You use a flattening stone to keep them flat and to resurface them. This makes sharpening easier, more consistent, and more pleasant, improving the feedback of the stone, and often increasing the quality of the results.
- [Atoma 140](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BN32EXY)
- The atoma 140 is the name of the game for flattening stones. It's fast, it's easy, it's effective, and it simply doesn't get any better than this.
#### Flattening Stone
As you use your stones, they will wear unevenly. You use a flattening stone to keep them flat and to resurface them. This makes sharpening easier, more consistent, and more pleasant, improving the feedback of the stone, and often increasing the quality of the results. I recommend two different flattening stones, depending on budget.
- [Atoma 140](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BN32EXY): This is what I personally use. It's fast, it's easy, it's effective, and it simply doesn't get any better than this.
- [CKTG 140](https://www.chefknivestogo.com/140grdistflp.html): I don't own one, but at half the price this is supposed to be a more than acceptable substitute for the Atoma.

Because of the coarseness, you can theoretically use your flattening stone to do thinning or major repairs on damaged knives, however I do not recommend this, as you may now be unevenly wearing your flattening stone.

#### Major Repairs
I use this infrequently, but when you need it, you need it. It's a coarse stone that can remove a lot of material quickly, such as fixing a broken tip or thinning a blade.
- Shapton Traditional 120
I only include a major repair stone in the most expensive category, because I think most people will never need it. I only have one because I occasionally restore old knives. It's a coarse stone that can remove a lot of material quickly, such as fixing a broken tip or thinning a blade.
- [Shapton Trad 120](https://www.amazon.com/SHAPTON-Blade-Black-White-Rough/dp/B001TPE1PK)

#### Sharpening Stones
This is the first stone you use on a dull knife. It's not for minor touchups; it's for establishing the initial bevel or removing micro chips.
- [Shapton Glass 500](https://mtckitchen.com/products/shapton-500-glass-sharpening-stone-hr): This is my all-time favorite stone. It is an effortless splash and go that is an absolute joy to use. It plows though steel while still having feedback and control and leaving a great edge. This is one of the most famous and well loved stones you can buy, and it well deserves its reputation. For maximum ease of use, I recommend buying a [Stone Holder](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NFB2MTI) with this stone, although you can certainly make one easily out of scrap wood.
- [King KDS 1k/6k](https://www.amazon.com/KDS-Combination-Whetstone-Sharpening-Harder/dp/B01BB1ZDVW/): The 1000 grit stone in this combo is perhaps a little strange to compare with the Shapton 500, as it is a soaking stone that cuts slower and leaves a finer edge. However, if you are willing to give it time to soak and don't have the budget to buy both the Shapton and a second finishing stone, this King 1000 will take you a long way.

#### **Initial Sharpening**
- Shapton Glass HR 500: Simply my favorite stone for setting the initial bevel on a knife. It's fast, it's hard, it's consistent, and it's a joy to use.
- Stone Holder: The shapton is too thin to use comfortably without a holder
#### Finishing Stones
I have multiple stones in this category, depending on how your sharpening goals. For fine work such as straight razors, you will want to go all the way to the Naniwa 12k. However for kitchen knives, I stop sharpening at the Morihei Hi 4000 or the Rika 5000.

#### **Finishing**
Morihei Hi 4000
Kitayama 8000
Naniwa Gouken 12k
- [Morihei Hi 4000](https://carbonknifeco.com/products/morihei-suzu-whetstone-4000): This is a wonderful feeling splash and go that blends synthetic and natural grinding agents. I use it as my primary finishing stone for kitchen knives.
- [Rika 5000](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JLP4635): This is a soaking stone that leaves a nice matte finish, silky smooth and feels awesome to use. Often said to be more like a 3000 grit in cutting speed. I've developed a suspicion that mine leaves occasional deep scratches, which is irrelevant for the kitchen but matters for razors. It benefits from long soaks, think 15+ minutes, which is the only reason it is not my primary finishing stone.
- [King KDS 1k/6k](https://www.amazon.com/KDS-Combination-Whetstone-Sharpening-Harder/dp/B01BB1ZDVW/): The 6k side of this stone is the cheap alternative to the Morihei Hi 4000 or Rika 5000. To perform best it will need a long soak.
- [Kitayama 8000](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3VIX0M): This is another famous stone with a well-deserved reputation. It has a silky smooth feel and benefits from a couple minutes of soaking. It is excellent for minor touchups or in a razor progression.
- [Naniwa Gouken 12k](https://www.amazon.com/NANIWA-Whetstone-KAGAYAKI-NK-2091-Finishing/dp/B01JI9YPPY): This is a relatively expensive, single purpose stone. I literally only use it for razors and nothing else.

#### **Polishing**
Balsa Strop
Strop Base
Gunny Juice 1um
Diamond loaded strops are an absolute game-changer for maintaining a razor edge in between sharpenings. I will often go months without sharpening, only using a strop. They can also make up for leaving a small burr after the finishing step, often allowing you to remove it to get your final egde.
- [Balsa Strop](https://www.chefknivestogo.com/bamapa.html)
- [Strop Base](https://www.chefknivestogo.com/ristba.html)
- [CKTG Diamond Paste](https://www.chefknivestogo.com/chdipa1mi.html)
- [Gunny Juice 1um](https://www.gritomatic.com/products/gunny-juice-poly-diamond-emulsion)

### Personal Everyday Kit
Having every stone possible for every use case is great, but you can save $150 and get only what I actually use for 95% of my sharpening tasks.
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