The Internet’s BIGGEST Sharpening Stone SCAM
The amazon sharpening stone scam that people are falling for. Don't be fooled into buying these CHEAP amzn.to/45BUVDr sharpening stones. They are not what you think. Buy quality sharpening stones from a company that actually knows KNIFE SHARPENING! Stop buying junk.
As an amazon affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases
Some links referenced in the video⬇️
❌Stone in video⬇️
amzn.to/44a6ujP
Alibaba: What You’re really getting⬇️
Search alibaba "sharpening stones"
I had to remove the link due to the possibility of a company claiming Im selling counterfeit items.
✅ What sharpening stone I recommend ⬇️
amzn.to/45rNazy
My website⬇️
www.outdoors55.com/shop
FULL DISCLOSURE Some of these links are affiliate links.
As an amazon affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases
Chapters:
00:00 You Can’t find a BAD review
00:55 A little about the “BAD” sharpening stone
02:45 What these stones actually are..I have to be careful here..
03:36 How the amazon sharpening stone business actually works
09:05 What I have a major problem with!
🛑I had to remove the links to alibaba in the description, since Pete from @CedricAda ( youtube ) had one of his videos taken down for uploading a similar video under the claims of attempting to sell counterfeit items from the company. I will fight a take down attempt and will name any company specifically who trys. I did leave links to everything else referenced in the video, in the description. Everything expressed here is my own personal opinion based on my experiences. Your opinion and experience may differ. Thanks for watching. 🙂
Thanks mate.
Thank you sir, good man👍
Dang man. They really do make it hard to make a video nowadays. I like to watch videos from many different genres, gaming, bushcraft/survival, craft etc etc and every single one pf them has similar problems.
Hi Alex I’ve been a big fan of your videos sense your first knife. I’m very happy to see that you’re ok, and this video is great as usual. I still want to purchase a couple of your strops you make, how can I get them if you still make them 🇺🇸
I think the company in question taking dubious actions against Pete have realized they're messing with the wrong upside-down Aussie man 😂
Unfortunately, this is not only true for wetstones, but for almost EVERY popular product. Thanks to Amazon Marketplace, dropshipping has grown ridiculously fast and mostly uncontrolled so there's not just a few "black sheeps", but a whole flock...
Amazon has a lot more product vetting than Temu and Aliexpress at least. I just got an extension cord off of Temu that had bare, unsautered wires at one end instead of a plug. I've had a lot more success buying higher quality products used off of Ebay and Craigslist when it comes to getting what I need at an affordable price.
Spot on
This is very reason i stopped shoping on Amazon. It is littered with scam and I do not have time to check every scam offer. It should be shop responsibility.
amazon has become a landfill simulator, it is absolutely impossible to find a good product
You guys are just too lazy to do the research. Besides, there are a few trusted names out there if you are picky. If you do not know how to search and evaluate on your own, yiu deserve to get burned. Amazon does not have the staff, time or resources to check each item listed by third party. If unhappy, return it and ask for a refund. Besides, you can buy junk just as easily at your local hardware store, or any other shopping venue. Remember the old Roman saying, Caveat Emptor - Let The Buyer Beware.
I bought DMT plates starting fine then 3 others going up 8000. I learned watching your sharpening video and can do freehand mirror finish edges. People act impressed when they find out i don't use a guided system. I have been using those plates for about a year and my dad is happy with one I recommended to him for his chisels. Thanks for not selling out on us.
The newer DMT plates have a few QC issues... Gouges in the plates, or inconsistent grit ( occasionally you'll get one with a strangely out-of-place bigger grain of diamond on it... They leave nasty scratches).
@scottcrawford3745 I think breaking them in first helps. I start off using the plates on some tools and cheaper knives. After they have been used alot they are much better in my opinion.
Dmt is the best. I dont use over 1200 then go to leather, I carve sharpen everyday
Honestly I’ve used and own a ridiculous amount of DMTs, the course and fine are by FAR my favs, leave extremely keen edge. The extra fine HC (hardcoat version) simply can’t be broken in, leaves terrible scratches and doesn’t put a great edge on due to the lack of uniform particle sizes. That said, it’s oddly good for lapping other things flat (wouldn’t lap stones with it cuz it wouldn’t leave a surface with enough bite) If your method uses a strop, try stripping straight from the coarse and straight from the fine, you might be incredibly surprised by the quality and durability of the edges these stones provide! They nailed the particle size and density distribution on those 2 specific plates for sure Cheers
@@BenCase88We aren’t acting, homie. We truly ARE impressed. 😊
The satire had me laughing my tail end off. Great info on the stones the good, the bad, and the ugly. As a rule, I avoid items on Amazon that have too many look alike competitors, all sharing similar reviews, written in poorly executed English. Subscribed because I like your delivery!
I took your advice on your "beginner sharpening" video and went with a steel back diamond stone so I didn't need to worry about dishing and because many of my knives have very tough steels like 20CV, Magnacut, S90V, etc. Really glad I took your advice because I almost bought an identical looking 1k/6k stone. Your advice helps.
Unless you cut meat for a living or sharpen lawnmower blades with your water stone, it will not dish for many years. Rubbing it on a sheet of 180 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper every year will keep it flat as new.
@@Bob_Adkins To be honest I'd rather just stick with steel stones I now have that has a better sharpening medium (damond). I'd also rather not need a flat reference like a sheet of glass or steel with the 180 grit to see where the low spots are and make sure I'm actually improving the stone flatness. I'm also not sharpening lawnmower blades, but like a guy with a truck, when you have a stone you're not the only one using it so it does get some extra table time. I appreciate the solution, especially for those still using them, and especially to know for my old stones so thank you, but remember that this was from a video to corect mistakes from newbies.
The cheap diamond plates can be very curved! Look out for that
@@karelenhenkie666 Luckily I'm a buy once cry once kind of guy (only took me 5 years to get that TRM Neutron in stock, lol) but I honestly didn't even know that was possible, TYVM. Learn something new every day. Do you run a bubble level on it or flat edge, just in case the good factory was rushed on a late Friday that slipped out the door or whatever?
@@sqeeye3102 I have a flat piece of plane steel that ik take across it, baseball on the scratchen ( outside edges or inside) I can see immediatley if they are flat enough for my plane blades
This was amazing. And COMPLETELY explains why I have never been able to sharpen my own knives. My brother has a bushcrafting YT (Half-Insane Outdoor Guy) and recommended the stone grit to use but probably didn't know about this sham. This is my second video of yours I've seen. So glad I found it.
Thanks for your honesty,almost got one of those(the blue & white) but they looked a bit "fishy" to me since the same stone was offered with different prices under different vendors...I will continue using my oil stone that I bought for €1.50 ($1.00) a year ago and stills flat with no wear .This type of videos are really helpfull!! Thanks!!
I fell victim to those stones when I first started out. I was able to get a good edge but they are a mess and agree they start to dish out almost right away. Based on your suggestion in one of your earlier videos I got a Spyderco Med. grit ceramic and a coarse DMT for removing metal. Very entertaining video thanks very much!
I purchased a few of these whetstones last year but never used them on anything seriously hard. I just kept them in a tupperware container of water for touching up my cheap kitchen knives. They are messy and a bit of a pain to use compared to the Spyderco stone I bought later. Thanks for pointing out the downsides to these products and being a bit of a goofball while doing it. Your sense of humor makes your videos a lot of fun to watch.
What’s so depressing a Spyderco has decided to discontinue their sharpening stones/bench stones. So hold onto those! I have the whole set and I’m not even gonna let them go. I will be keeping them dearly and making sure they’re safe.
@@markcoffman494 That's a damned shame. I only have the medium grit stone. I guess I'll have to get the diamond stones he mentioned.
@@markcoffman494Your post damn near gave me a heart attack. The bench stones are still listed on their website. Where did you get the news?
I have a ton of those stones (used them to sharpen my chisels) but I remember they were super cheap a few years ago. The business model of overpriced crap unfortunately applies to pretty much every single item sold on Amazon nowadays.
Absolutely. Amazon is a last resort/ Look elsewhere first.
@@cryptostormer2512or if you have prime, look when you’re almost out of time and need something now
The last few minutes had me in stitches. The cynicism and sarcasm was palpable. You sir are one of my new favorite people. Thanks for making my Friday afternoon. 👍
I fell for those stones a couple of years ago. I have three different ones with 2 grits each. One big tip off is that many of them come w a bamboo holder and a small rubber mat, and sometimes a plastic angle guide. I must have bought mine before the price took off since I have perhaps $20-25 total in all three. And that is still far more than they are worth. Every bad thing that you said about them is spot on. One of mine even separated where the two different stones were glued together. They are extremely difficult to sharpen a blade on. I have several old stones I bought for a couple of dollars at garage and estate sales. You can also often get some nice pocket stones for only a buck or two. Most folks used oil on their stones in the past, which can be a problem if you prefer using water. I soak the oiled stones in water with dish washing soap for a couple of days. Sometimes I hit them with a brush if they are really gnarly. Then I run them through an ultrasonic cleaner a few times in water with dish soap and the warm mode turned on. After another bath in dish soap and a fresh water rinse, I let them air dry. The oil is usually gone and they work fine from then on with plain water or soapy water. Even somewhat dished out or nicked stones can be flattened with sandpaper, or on the cement sidewalk in a pinch. The side of a dismounted 8 inch grinder wheel works pretty well also, just use both sides of the wheel so that you get your stone more flat than you can by only using one side 100% of the time. In my experience any old stones made by Norton or Craftsman are usually worth buying. And many that are labeled Arkansas Stones are good also. Lansky and other name brands are usually good as well. Some of the older stones, especially natural ones, don't cut some of the new super steels that well. But you are generally better off with diamond stones for those anyway. I use two cheap Harbor Freight stones as flattening or trueing stones for garage sale finds. You'll get the best results if you have 3 stones to work against each other, rather than just two. Watch Alec's videos on sharpening with a coffee mug, or on a car window if you're still tempted to buy these crappy stones. I think you'll have better results using the bottom of a mug than these stones! Wet/dry sandpaper laid on a sheet of wet glass would also work better than these stones.
oh ffs, I bought 2 of those. I swear, can't buy anything nowadays! Not even a rock!
That's what I use for quick chisel sharpening on the job: a broken piece of glass pane and some worn down 220 grit sandpaper. I'm not building a jewelry box so it's plenty sharp enough.
I have a couple of Smith stones that I bought as a young man back in the late 1970s. One is medium grit, and the other is fine. They've held up nicely through the years and still do a great job when it comes to sharpening a knife. Somehow, they haven't gotten lost despite me moving 18 times - literally 18 times.
I wish I had seen this video a month ago. I knew all those whetstones had to have came from the same manufacturer, but I didn't realize what I'd be getting into. I know maintaining the proper angle is key, but this was nothing like sharpening my pocket knives on smaller stones. Instead, I (while using the guide that came with the stones) ended up dulling my kitchen knives even more. I should have gone with a diamond stone set like I had originally been thinking, but thought I'd save money...but I just flushed it down the drain.
A diamond sharpener ain't gonna help if you can't get a knife sharp with a wet stone. You have to know how to maintain the same angle, and how to get a burr. It wasn't the stone that dulled your knife, it was you
Pls dont flush Something Like STONES
@@dereksteele2284 I have one of these amazon whetstones and they really are garbage. I was using the 6000 grit side and a 2mm lump pops out of the surface. What caught this lump? the edge.
I've sharpened up piss dull chef's knives at work with these crap amazon stones over 100 times at work over the course of about a year. These stones really do work, they're just crap and irritating. Like the guy says, they're soft af and dish out super fast. You'll have to flatten them out constantly and they make mess all over the place. But they do work, I consistantly got low quality knives (relatively soft stainless steel) razor sharp, enough to make paper thin slices out of tomatoes. I do think these crap stones have a legit purpose. For someone wanting to learn how to freehand sharpen on a stone, get one of these crap-o stones for 20 bucks, one of those 400/1000 combo stones and a cheap food service chef's knife. Dull it up on the side walk and practice on the crap stone until you get the feel for it. Once you can consistantly raise a burr and finish it up, and get it cutting paper nicely, go get some real stones.
@@David-bc4rh he didn't say he had a lump on the stone, he just said the stone dulled his knife
Good video! Spreading discernment and truth is important in these days. You have to question EVERYTHING you see on the screens.
So glad you posted this one man, thank you. While I've not graduated to diamond stones just yet I can say I haven't went down the road of cheap stones this video was about. However, I have looked at several and read several reviews from eBay and Amazon on them, and came really close at times with them in my "checkout basket" but never pulled the trigger on them:) I have 3 stones one Smith's as my course one, because I've always heard the course one doesn't much matter. Spyderco Bench Stones, the medium grit and the (white) fine grit one makeup the rest. Still practicing on those and really enjoy them and maybe not top tier quality, but I def could've done worse and I do get a sharp knife out of it:)
Wish you told me this years ago :P. Great stuff :) You should have an online store I'd buy your stuff. You're a trusted honest voice and that's a rare valuable thing
Great video. Thank you. Also thank you for calling these bogus companies out trying to sell something at 3000% mark up
I appreciate the video. In my view, every stone has certain characteristics and limitations. Japanese stones for instance are very very soft and wear quickly, they use a big slurry, etc. Many many stones need to soak thoroughly, mainly for the same reason we need water for wet sanding. And I wonder about how much pressure people are exerting, and if they are expecting to use a stone to renew an edge or just polish. Also many professional people in kitchens and street stalls worlwide use deeply dished stones, especially for knives.... if it degrades so quickly, then flattening will be a cinch, if you feel that's what you need. Just as an example, the very best woodworking can be found in periods 200 years ago where you could not get a stone so easily, and when getting a truly flat stone meant extraordinary effort, so the stone you described for 15 bucks or so isn't so terrible. I come from Cleveland area where there is a long sandstone tradition--try that sometime for an interesting experience. I think there is something to be said for how you use it and what you expect from it. I have used a wide range, from found/hand prepared stones to Arkansas, diamonds, dollar store stones... They all have a place if you approach it knowing what to expect. Better to have more reviews so people know what to expect. So for that i commend you. I'll add my best bang for buck is the Norton India stone, black and orange. Very very good hard oil stone that can be a splash and go with water.
Love this channel! It's hard to know what is the best balance for quality/cost these days, and this helps us navigate.
I really enjoy the informative and instructional nature of your videos. I always appreciate honest reviews too. Please keep up the good work.
I bought a very similar cheap white/blue stone and had the same problems. Immediate cupping after the first use and it became strangely gritty and wavy. I attempted to fix it with a flattening stone and sandpaper but eventually realized it was just poor quality. There are decent 400/1000 stones for cheap but with anything else I think it's best to look at higher quality brands.
Yeah, I tried that stone, I have the exact one. Has all the problems you pointed out. My biggest issue is it dishes out really fast, and if your buying this cheap stone you (like me) probably aren’t looking to shell out more for a flattening stone then your actual stone cost, to keep it flat. And the one they give you is tiny and would never work. Just garbage.
Here's a low cost trick for flattening soft stones like that: glue a sheet of coarse sandpaper (60-80 grit) on a piece of window glass, than stick the glass (on the opposite side) to a table with double sided tape to keep it in place. Grind the sharpening stone on the sandpaper in a circular motion, applying just enough pressure to keep good surface contact. You may need to brush or blow away the accumulated dust a few times so it doesn't clog the sandpaper, but the whole job shouldn't take more than 10 minutes or so.
@@Dr_VIf you wet the glass before you put the sandpaper down it often doesn't move. No glue needed! :-) Some tile and countertop stores have 1ft square samples of their counter top material that they will give or sell you very cheap. Those samples are pretty thick and heavy. I also bought a 1 ft by 2 ft granite tile at a flooring store for a flattening project. These tiles are around 3/8 -5/8 in thick. These pieces of granite aren't as flat as a special machinist stone, but they work for sharpening blades, or polishing up a flat surface on many items.
I know im old school but buying anything from a nebulous source such as Amazon is an unnatural act. I want to lay my hands on the product and judge its quality from my tactile senses, not by the number of stars or thumbs up icons. Like i said, im sort of old school.
“But I have a conscience.” Yeah I love to hear that. That’s what makes me keep coming back for these videos. Thank you for the correct information. 👍👍
I'd think some ceramic plates or rods shouldn't be ruled out (particularly for finer grit), but the price mark-up thing is still something to watch out for.
You might find this interesting. I worked in China for about 10 years in manufacturing. The prices you see on Alibaba are much higher than directly from the manufacture. About manufacturers, what may seem like a manufacturer is in fact what is called a "trading company" which is a independent sales company buying product to export from the real manufacturer. Some manufacturers do not have a export license to export so they use a trading company or companies. Ok now you're dealing directly with the manufacturer who has an export license, does that mean you're getting the lowest price? No, not at all, because you are say an American importer "you're rich so I can charge you more". In addition an export company will have the Chinese sales tax refunded to them so the "export price" is BS. Back to the sharpening stones being sold for +$50 the real price from a manufacturer, based on my experience, and my Chinese wife who also works in manufacturing would be around 50cents, based on quantity.
Wow. Thank you. Good info.
Great job! Brutally honest and informative video with unexpected comedy at the end.
Have a feeling this is for people that sharpen knives a lot. I only use my whetstone for kitchen knives very occasionally so I haven’t had an issue, but for people that would use it more often, I can see why a relatively soft whetstone could be an issue
Naw, if you know what you are doing then these generic stones work just fine in a professional environment.
Yup, I feel sorry for people that are just getting into any sort of craft. I settled on water stones a long time ago and I am not changing from my king stone, but I would be very interested how a cheap stone like the one you show would compare to a premium brand of similar grits.
I found this video because I wanna know the difference between a good and a bad (soaking) whetstone, but he just jumped right on to diamond plates. Still trying to find some good info on the subject
Im glad that i just bought a king stone instead of the amazon basics kit with every same stones.....
Would that be the 1000/6000 combo stone? I love that thing, so cheap compared to other options, but since I've used it I never felt the need to upgrade.@@gautierfiack8608
@@themindset3329 I have the same DMT diamond impregnated stones the guy in video has. Using them is a very different animal from those whetstones. Those diamond blocks do not play, they will shred metal right off the blade with ruthless efficiency. If I remember correctly, the package inserts state, "Let the diamonds do the work". You use very little pressure and run across it dry. You use a plastic veggie scrubber under some running water to clean it off, all that runs off it is metal from the blade. Zero dishing, no need to flatten, ever.
Thank you very much for doing this video. I was just about to buy one of these. I think I'll go with your recommended diamond sharpener. Do you recommend that we buy all 3 grits? And do you have any recommendations for axes? And compact/portable sharpeners for knives/axes? Those would be great future videos if you already haven't done them.
Just a tip re the links below Alex: Huusk took down my videos for selling counterfeits because I linked in my pinned comment the other alibaba versions of their garbage kitchen knives. I tried to appeal saying it was for information re the scam etc but the youtube robot didn’t listen and I lost the whole video 🤕
I would hope cos these stones are a tad more generic looking than the Huusk knife they’d have less of a leg to stand on but just FYI 😊
I know, thats why i didn't include any copyrighted content / all original. If they file a claim I'll fight it and re upload another video actually naming them. 👍
Re read the comment...I'll remove the links👍
yeah, just to be on safe side. in my new video i just showed them on screen so people couldnt actually click through to them and havent had an issue so far. They’ll probably claim for other stuff they can warp the claiming form to match but we take each day as it comes 😺
I removed the links. Thanks for the heads up👍 I completely forgot you had that issue on that video!
I've got a couple of stones like the one in this video. It gets the job done. But your point about it being messy is correct. I usually just watch TV and mindlessly sharpen my knives. I usually get them more than sharp enough to shave with. So like you said they do work. Just they're messy. I would like something that works a lot better but I'm not sure what to buy.
Well done. I wish more knife people out there were raising awareness about these junk stones. I do the best l can to educate new sharpeners about why it's best to avoid them.
there's nothing wrong with any of the cheap stones, its usually a lack of user experience.
@zeauz Anyone with some skill and experience can get a blade sharp on most anything. But l don't recommend these crappy tools to any beginner when they can get a couple really decent stones for less and have nice tools to learn on.
Like many around, I started with the cheap investment in sharpening stones. I wish that you had this video years ago. Never to late to learn a lesson. Thank you for your honest presentation. Same level of fake enthusiasm you can find in the videos on knives. On the other hand I like your work and the level of craftsmanship!
I can attest to this . Constantly having to straighten out these stones with a flattening stone to the point both stones are almost wedge shaped now with wearing more at one end . Have spent hours trying to get to a decent sharpness with no success . I have better results with a bog standard oil stone with a fine and course side that doesnt dish out much . Glad I came across this video and will definitely be looking at your recommendation of diamond stones.
Great video as always Alex 😁👍 The honesty, integrity and conscientiousness that you posess is very rare, both on YT and in "The Real World", and that, along with your bone-dry sense of humour is why, as a knife enthusiast for over 40 years, yours is one of only 3 knife channels that I subscribe to*, and the rest of them leave me pretty cold to be honest... So, please keep on being you and making your excellent videos, and please can we have a quick update on how your house is coming along before too long because I really enjoy seeing people doing jobs properly, even if it's a huge PITA , rather than cutting corners and taking the easy route, and you should be very proud of yourself for being that way because there aren't many who will go the extra mile, and look where the World is heading as a result... 😖😤😭💩 *If you're interested, the other 2 channels are Dutch Bushcraft Knives (because I've spent a lot of time in Holland and they're some very funny guys 😜) and Melissa Backwoods (because she's purty 😍😘 and she likes knives 🥰👍)
Melissa is awesome DBK are awesome and Outdoors55 is the goat. He much like my self (I have a strong instagram presence in the knife and free hand sharpening world) are very very tell it how it is personalities. Most of the knife "reviewers" here on YT are nothing more then China knife shills that are opening a box on cam, flicking the knife, looking at the steel that's marked on it and then calling that a review... it's nothing more then shilling 40 to 400 dollar China made knives and I have zero respect for it. Melissa is a pretty to the point chick just like I am, I don't beat around the bush when it comes to knives, steels or sharpening products and tell it exactly how it is. Even when the companies offer me free items to talk about they get slammed if the product isn't excellent for the price they are asking. There isn't any knife or stone coming buying this girl right here. If the product isn't quality and or I don't see the value in the product for the price they are demanding then all that will be pointed out in absolute detail. I used to have a little bit of respect for some of the knife reviewers but then China brands started getting in their pockets when the knife youtube started to massively gain subs about 2 years ago due to tons of new people coming in to the hobby because of quarantine. One that happened and all the reviewers start doing unboxing and "full reviews" all in the same video (how the hell you gonna "Review" a knife that you haven't done anything with but slice a piece of paper???) Of endless 40 to 80 dollar QSPs, Civivis, Kizers, cjrb etc etc that killed knife youtube. They become shills to get all those free 50ish dollar knives so they can make a bunch of videos and drive people to their links... it's sad really as a couple of the long timers I really enjoyed but once the shilling started this girl had to go. Alex and Pete (Cedric and ada) is literally the only bigger channels that have maintained ture to their viewers and haven't allowed the big China knife companies to get in their pockets and turn them in to 50 dollar Knife shills. DBK of course doesn't do the shill game neither (except for their DBK knife and I respect that because it's a well done knife). But out of all the main channels that do mostly folder videos Alex and Pete are the only two that didn't sell out for a bunch of free budget knives and some checks from the Chinese big OEMs. Alex you are pretty freaking badass and I truly respect you for how you have handled your channel and your tell it how it is personality! Please don't ever change my friend as you and Pete are the only two real knife channels left out there!
I really enjoyed this video as I think that you're spot on with the truth about these sharpening stones on Amazon. I personally have not purchased them as I use the Spyderco ceramic stones and they are awesome two stones that will last a lifetime providing one doesn't drop them as they will shatter into a lot of pieces.
Thank you so much for this video! I thought I was the issue when it came to these products. I picked up whittling a year ago and wanted to try my hand at sharpening with a stone. Ruined my favorite knife with something similar to what you described. I was under the assumption I just got the wrong grit. I almost purchased exactly what you described. I will continue educating myself before I buy the proper sharpening equipment for my whittling knives. Thank you again for your input!
A good shapton stone is SO much better it's insane. And for the price they are extremely affordable 👍
Thanks for sharing Alex. I always look forward to your content. Yes, expose them!
I have followed your channel for years because I trust you and all your advice are practical and honest. I agree with you about the cheap and nasty quality products that fills Amazon. This is why I read most of the reviews of 3 stars and below rather than 4 &5 stars. Finally I thank you for your professional advice and look forward to continue following you in the future.
Amazon is now just another front for Chinese crap, but then priced to its max.
@@rogierius I noticed that recently too
I learned to sharpen on a 10$ Chinese stone from aliexpress very much like the one in the video. It can get knifes reasonably sharp and after about 2 years it's still not really dished out due to regular flattening. Idk about "sharpening experience" but it seems like pretty good value for the money. I don't think a regular home cook needs anything more.
I've used them too, only paid 20 & while it isn't the greatest sharpener it absolutely gets my large kitchen knives sharp enought to easily go right through a tomato.
Yeah, I just sharpened my two knives up yesterday and they cut just fine. I guess I just don't know any better, but I've been using it for a couple years without an issue. I bought it just because it was cheap and I didn't know if I would be able to get the hang of it or not. If it does wear out on me, I'll get a nicer one next time.
If all you're sharpening is kitchen knives the stones don't have to be all that flat. If you're sharpening expensive wood chisels and plane irons the dead flat is very important.
His review is BS, I paid exactly what he did and got: "Knife Sharpening Stone Set , Includes 4 Side Grit 400/1000 3000/8000 Whetstone Knife Sharpener Kit,Safe Whetstone Knife Sharpener,Non-Slip Bamboo Base, Angle Guide,Polishing Compound，Leather Strop, Flattening Stone,Razor Strop,Rubber Holder and Honing Guide". And I got it in Canada. Normally stuff here is not available, or twice the price. Plus if i didn't like the product, I get "free" returns.
@@tacticalskiffs8134 None of that is related to anything he said in the video. So I cannot trust you about anything. OK it might be the same price but its clearly not the same product.
Wow, I am impressed as always! Great writing, awesome editing and sick jokes with dark humour on top, perfect!
Really interesting video, and handy to know as I had definitely been considering one such tone as a "beginner" stone. Accepting that you like to use the diamond stones, could you do a review/is it worth it type video for those Tumbler rolling sharpeners that Instagram won't stop trying to sell me? I can't imagine how they work as well as their videos claim they do.
They will ruin your edge 💯
Have you ever tested the Masters of synthetic japanese stones? Companies like Naniwa, Suehiro, Shapton, and King? Especially the Splash and Go stones that dont need soaking? Thanks for great content.
Naniwa professional/chosera and Shapton glass are absolutely phenomenal stones. So long as you are dealing with steels that are 66 or less hrc and have no vanadium or tungsten carbides both of those stones I just spoke of are AMAZING. I'm more of a super vitrified diamond and Metallic bonded cbn stone girl my self and those two types of stones are mostly what I do edges with (along with the atoma 140 that is what I do most reprofiling on) but I mostly deal with hard steels with very high carbide volumes so that's where they shine. When im dealing with carbons and more simple stainless alloys then I do most of those edges for customers on either shapton glass or Naniwa professionals. The edge quality those water stones are capable of on steels like super blue, 10xx, super gold, 14c28n, vg10 etc etc is pretty much untouched by any diamond or cbn abrasive. I find that the naniwa pros stop cutting efficiently on low carbide steels that are around 64hrc and the shapton glass do pretty well up until about 66hrc but those are pretty much the limits of the steel matrix hardness before the aluminum oxide abrasives in the stones just can't handle cutting the steel any longer. For the right steels you will love them, if you mostly deal with high performance high carbide ratio steels then don't spend your money on them as they will not do the job you need them to. A great option is resin bonded diamond, that's the best in between that feels closer to water stones yet has the cutting power to handle any steels you throw at it. They are more expensive BUT they will last an extremely long time and have the cutting power to handle any steel yet with a more refined water stone type edge rather then the typical highly aggressive diamond plate type edge.
@@EDCandLaceNice to see a women loving the hobby (and knowing her facts)!
I don't mind these types of stones too much, a bit messy but I've gotten stuff shaving sharp without all that much misery. That said, I appreciate you clarifying things so that at least people know what they're getting! I'll definitely upgrade to something proper once these wear out or I get tired of them.
Hope you didn't pay more than 10 bucks
The dmt fine stone was the best purchase i have ever made
@@truthhurts2149exactly. It’s possible to get things sharp with a brick and some cardboard, so these stones work too. But the quality is in the 10 dollar range. If a waterstone is your thing, For less than 50 bucks you can get a King 1000/6000 with a plastic stand. It’s a budget take on their much harder/better stones, but still great quality from a well known brand, and good bang for your buck.
I wouldn't pay more than $5, I got a couple of cheap ones for $2 at the dollar sense store in Australia.
@@truthhurts2149 If he is happy with them and his purchase, it doesn't matter how much he paid.
I started out with the crappy Amazon stones and then found your channel and decided to give the dmt stones a try and my sharpening skills really improved so much that i don't even touch the wet stones anymore. I will also say that ultra sharp makes some really good full sized stones 8" in a set of 3 that are just as good as DMT stones I like the bigger ones and the smaller ones is nice to. I have a set of each but the one down side to diamonds is that the fine grits above 1200 do not last very long so it would be nice if you could recommend a good whetstone for honing as right now I'm using ceramic rods which I feel you lose some geometry of the knife when using rods. But as for now the 600 and 1200 diamond stones work awesome for me along with the leather strop
Thanks for this video, I've been eyeballing the stones on amazon for a while now. It's nice having sharp kitchen knives, but the current sharpener I have is leaving a lot to be desired. I kinda figured it was cheap crap. Be good for sharpening a lawnmower blade or something, but yeah.. 50 bucks for the kit I was looking at.
I go with king stones for sharpening. I don't typically use it on high wear resistant steels but once flattened I will use it to set the bevel on some straight razors and then progress from there. Good video overall. I think even for less than $10 I would skip those blue&white stones. They just LOOK like garbage.
1:53 I am that person, you can pity me 😭I literally found this video as I'm taking a break from sharpening my kitchen knives with a set of stones very similar to this one, and my experience has been deteriorating with every moment 🙃
I have felt your pain!
On the other hand, I'm using one of those cheap stones with no problems. Your mileage may vary.
@@gbennett58 It also depends on how many knives you're sharpening in one sitting. If you're just doing one or two, it's not that bad, but if you try to do an entire collection at once (like I was when I made the original comment), it very quickly turns everything in the immediate area into a damp, slurry splattered mess.
@@resurgam_b7 My cheap Amazon stone was made in Japan, perhaps that makes a difference.
This is exactly how I felt when I bought those stones, I dished them out and couldn't get anything sharp, I was so done with trying to learn to sharpen, rather than getting a trueing stone and attempting to continuing with them which is what I considered in the first place (again thinking it was my fault for sharpening wrong and gouging out the stone) I got the 3 set of dmt stones and the 3 set of dmt paste and they're so much better, then I made my own strops, one for each grit after ordering a strip of leather from amazon after watching your video. I'm so mad about those cheap stones I bought because I thought they should be good for the price and reviews and that it was me not being able to sharpen and hold an edge. I literally took all my hours of frustration in practice onto the dmt stones and got a razor sharp knife on my mora the first time, then I took my second mora and did a true scandi and it was unreal.
It is cheap whetstone you best buy a cheap diamond plate to level it as well as clean it after sharpening. Probably okay if you are sharpening cheap kitchen knives occasionally. But if you sharpening your expensive japanese kitchen knives or collection of expensive pocket knives.. best to listen to the advice in this video.
Bought one of the kits off Amazon so came here to the University of KZhead for sharpening tips. So glad I came upon this video. One thing I noticed with my kit is I feel no difference in grit between the stone labeled as 400 grit compaired to the one labeled 8000 grit. I can feel a big difference with sand paper that is 400 grit vs even 2000 grit. Thank you for your video. I am of to shop for a few Diamond Stones per your recommondation.
Yeah… I remember that stone.. Screwed me up big time when I was trying to learn.. I won’t say the name…
I'm not sure if it's in Europe but I've had poor luck with DMT diamond stones from Amazon. I bought like 5 of them and every single one had some quality issues - like missing places of actual abrasive or visible cnc machining tracks on the surface (and that was Extra Fine grit...). Ended up returning all of them. Finally I bought some cheaper post display ones - and those are indeed great.
Ive heard some good and bad reports stemming from the same issue. Either dmt has counterfeit items being sold in their name, or they are selling seconds themselves on Amazon. The link I left was to the item from the DMT store. I ordered mine from the same place (Amazon) 5 years ago. I reached out to dmt a couple years ago about this issue, as i was trying to become a dealer. I never got a straight answer so I decided to not become a dealer. Unfortunately I haven't had much luck with any other diamond stones either.
I think DMT qc might not be up to top standards. I’ve bought quite a few from Amazon and one of them double sided Duo sharp, had really bad quality on one side. After very little use there’s a big spot where all diamonds are just gone. But the backside (325 grit) is still in great shape after 3 years, so definitely not a counterfeit but rather as mentioned, bad quality control.
@@jez76overall, Atoma is way better quality. I like DMT but Atoma are better made.
Why ever on Earth would you say it's "definitely not a counterfeit" when nearly all products on Amazon a clearly factory-seconds/thirds, obvious counterfeits, used-abused/returned then resold, outright scams, etc. Buy direct from DMT and you will likely be very pleased. P.S: I do not nor have ever ever worked for/with DMT or have any relation to them whatsoever (they are quite expensive but that seems to be the "system." Good luck, 76.
@@jess60901 well as I said, the backside of the same stone is perfect after 3 years and maybe 100-150 sharpenings, and it was bought on the DMT Store on Amazon, so yeah definately not a counterfeit but rather very bad QC…
I've been using a whetstone for a while now, its been in a big tub of water for about 15 months, and is a very messy affair when trying to sharpen my gurber strong arm, and other camping knifes. Thank you for the heads up on the diamond stone.
I had a couple of these in order until I stumbled on your channel and saw a video where you said diamond stones are best for the beginner. I cancelled my order but have yet to get a diamond stone.
I originally bough "Japanese water stones" off of Amazon years ago and didn't care for them much. Later I bought the cheap plastic DMT diamond "stones" that worked better, but did not last at all. Years later I found your channel and bought some ceramic stones that you recommended and I liked them, but I still wasn't getting a great sharpening (I guess I just suck at using a stone.) A bit later I bought a ceramic rod and I absolutely love it. I can get a very sharp blade on any of my knives with very little effort or time.
Can you pls give me the name (brand) of your ceramic rod? I'm about to buy one, your info may help. Thanks.
@@redangrybird7564 I honestly get a lot of use and success out of the Spyderco Sharpmaker set, and bought the extra coarse diamond rods, and the extra fine ( red tips) rods for it. In a pinch they will zip up almost any knife in a jiffy. I keep mine in the kitchen right beside my knife blocks ( yes, I have 2 blocks). I also pack it with my on every hunting trip, fishing trip, or any time I visit friends or relatives and zip up their knives too. Does 30 and 40 degree bevels, and can mount a single "stone" out the end for doing scissors ( this one will take you a bunch of practice/ trial & error, but can scissors Very sharp if you keep your angles true). They run about $75 CDN. ALWAYS use the safety guide rods that come with it... they're not hard to put on/take off, and WILL prevent a lot of slips... I also have a little pad of harh rubber that I rest mine on when I'm using it. Keep it secure. Do Not go too fast. Do not Push hard. Just take your time and they will do their job.
@@redangrybird7564 I've used the IOXIO white ceramic and the Cook's Standard ceramic rods with success. Don't expect these to remove nicks, or sharpen a dull knife, or perform other tasks requiring lots of metal removal; get a coarse/fine combo DMT diamond stone for that. These rods are best used to maintain an existing sharp edge. Don't be tempted to get a coarser rod; you may end up with a wavy edge over time because of inconsistencies in the pressure you apply to the edge as it passes over the rod. It is easier to maintain a straight edge using a large, flat stone. Like an 8" DMT diamond stone, for example... Ceramic rods are fragile; dropping one will likely break it. A ceramic rod is very hard. It's also round. The contact patch between a blade and the rod is TINY. All pressure focuses through that very hard, tiny point on the rod, making it very easy to deform an edge. Knocking your blade against a ceramic rod does bad things to your edge. Using too much pressure also does bad things to your edge. So don't get the idea you can sharpen / hone your knife the way the way you see "pros" do it on TV, slapping your blade up and down the rod at high speed. Use light, consistent pressure. I use the lightest pressure I can apply that still allows maintenance of consistent edge angle and pressure as the blade is drawn down the rod. If the bevel of your knife is rounded, chances are you'll end up making the knife duller rather than sharper because of the difficulty of maintaining the correct angle. If the bevel of your knife is hollow, ha ha ha... either dump your wheel sharpener or don't bother with any other sharpening or honing mechanism, because the correct angle is achievable only with the wheel sharpener that created the bevel. Use a DMT coarse diamond stone to regrind rounded or hollow bevels flat, followed by fine, then finish off with your ceramic rod. Good luck.
Rods don't sharpen. They align the edge. Next time you sharpen on a stone, try to align the edge on the stone itself. Your knives will get dull eventually, doesn't matter if you use the rod or not as the sole purpose of the rod is to align the edge and not to be abrasive, so you will always need to use a stone to carve a new, sharp edge.
@@sacoto98 steel rods may not sharpen, you are right, but he mentioned ceramic ones. Aren't Japanese ceramic whetstones made of ceramic, same as ceramic rods?
Good for you! Authenticity brings long term support ❤ It takes longer to grow but we don't go anywhere :) and we feel safe to trust your recommendations. Keep up your quality content, i love your honest style. I particularly like your content geared towards amateur makers (like me) with limited power tools and an oven (like me) hahaha
Alex, great approach on this. It happens with many products from different industries, which ends up leading consumers to loose the north on the proposed quality. What do you think about the TAIDEA manufacturer in China? It seems to be offering quality whetstones for many years now. Thanks !
I’m glad I found your channel because I’m an assistant scout master of my sons troop and I purchased this exact product to start learning how to maintain my knives as well as my son and fellow scouts knives. So I will be returning it and look into some of the items you recommended. Thanks for the great content.
I commonly tell people to get a 1k/6k and a stick of buffing compound to practice with but never spend more than $18 delivered for the setup. These stones are GREAT for learning what you're doing wrong because they _will_ actually produce very sharp edges once you learn to do everything right. I use my 1k/6k to polish maring and burn-on out of steel baking sheets and to do rough-in on knives before using my good stones... work fine for that. You can just use a mopping towel to clear the grit between sweeps and none of them have to be soaked before use.
I agree that these stones are good for learning. I have a cheap one, and it's much more obvious when the angle is off compared to a cheap diamond stone.
I fell for this one, it was my first time buying a sharpening stone and i wanted something good. Since they were all built like this I assumed it must be the ideal build. It felt absolutely terrible to use! Because of it I thought sharpening was supposed to be messy and awful. There were no negative reviews and loads of positive so I thought it was just me having an issue.
I just got one a few days ago too. Then I found this video 😢
Same here. Got one labeled "Amazon Basics" which was the top seller in the category. Was only 15 bucks though.Said it was 400/1000 but I doubt it. terrible usage and experience. Needs constant rewatering and the water seems to go through it immediately. Rating 4.7 out of 5 stars LOL. Stay away!
I've got a set. I'd say they're serviceable waterstones with all of the good and bad that come with that. They sharpen my carbon steel knives just fine, but I've heard/read that a lot of the abrasion-resistant high alloy steels used in modern cutlerly really require diamond stones.
Informative and also funny! Thanks for the great info dude!
I'll stick to my scythe sharpening stones, both synthetic (manufactured) and natural ones. In my area a good quality scythe stone goes for less than half the price of an equivalent knife sharpening one (don't ask me why, they're pretty much the same product just with a slightly different shape). Also I think the ability to find appropriate river stones for blade sharpening is a worthy skill to learn for any outdoors enthusiast, both to save a bit of money and for potential survival situations.
Where I live scythe stones are 2-5$ , but knife stones are atleast 10 times the price, and often more. What are your results with using scythe stones on knifes?
@@weakest_serb They work exactly the same providing you select the appropriate grits and the slight shape difference doesn't impact sharpening technique (or maybe I'm so used to them that I don't notice it).
Love your videos bro.
Hi, Whatever happened to the Spyderco CBN benchstone you had in a previous video? looks like you went back to the DMT stone. Do you recommend DMT over CBN? Thanks!
The cbn stone is great as well just pricey 🙂
Ok, that makes sense. I got a set and thought I ruined them by soaking for too long and that's why they were falling apart. One of the stones separated too; they're just glued together.
Next, review the husk knife.
Thank you, Alex! Great video, as usual. Yeah, I bought some cheap amazon "water stones" a few years back. I spent ~$15 for a 1000/6000 combo stone & ~$18 for a 400/1000 combo stone. So ~$33 for the pair, so maybe it was over priced & I've seldom used them. Except for sharpening spokeshave irons, some chisels, & a few times on some knives. I keep 'em soaking so if needed I can pull them out & sharpen. But mostly I use some cheap thin diamond sharpeners. Based on your 'say-so' I'm about to order some "DMT 8" Dia-Sharp Diamond Stones". Then I plan on getting the ceramic stones. Barring breakage I should have my sharpening tools for the century or the apocalypse. Keep up the great job! Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!
Thank you so much for such a good video... intelligent, funny, honest and sadly so satirical of today's environment.. you rock my friend and I admire your integrity...do NOT ever change... the world needs more good people like you! Kuddos!
I love the honesty, I actually almost bought one of these stones last year, but i'm glad I do research... Forums are always nice to get semi real info.. i went with a KME sharpening system,., And I couldn't be happier. I also went with diamond stones, strope/diamond emulsions, Dans whetstones, and the KME lapping film set. Along with a few other accessories for concave/convex edges. I can pretty much sharpen all my blades with any finish and any sharpness I want.
While I agree with many of the points I find the whole whetstone process very relaxing, regardless of the mess and even though I'm an complete noob I was able to get super sharp knifes with this stone, later also without the guide. At the beginning yes, I felt like I was dulling instead of sharpening but once I got a nice burr on both sides which I then fleshed out with the 6000 the knifes were sharp as never before. For 25$ which I paid with shipping and a truing stone included I find this to be the perfect start into the endeavor.
Awesome 👍 some absolutely love the whetstone process. Glad you only spent $25 too!
Yeah they can be a cheap start to sharpening and practicing technique
mine are just ok too, and came with a flattening stone which works okayish too
Wow man. Integrity. Not something you see a lot of anymore online. I was about to buy one of these highly rated stones as a sharpening beginner. Mostly for my EDC, but my kitchen knives are starting to dull too. I want to do it right and I appreciate the honest feedback and realization of amazon sellers. Also, freaking hilarious with the satire towards the end of the video. This is the first video I’ve seen from you, but believe me, I’ll be watching all your uploads. Thanks friend.
Thanks for the kind words! Im glad someone gets my attempts at comedy😆👍
I even just went as far as using your affiliate link to buy your first suggestion even though a Home Depot is within 5 mins of me.
I used a whet stone for years and recently bought a Lansky diamond stone recently for the harder steals I have on more modern knives. But those old stones still work great and I have used a smooth river rock to sharpen axes and hatchets. Spend wisely and ask an OG knife guy what to get and most will tell you what really works
Thank you for making this video. Not knowing any better I recently bought one of these. Thanks to you I’m returning this junk and getting one of the Diamond stones.
Lisa, I want to buy your rock.
Hi, I'm looking to switch to diamond stones, but I dont know if those need any sort of lubrication like oil water or any at all, I'd love to know the answer. Thanks in advance
I bought one of these years ago. Thank you SOO MUCH I thought it was an issue with how I was using them
I have one of the cream and white colored ones I got for I think was 12 or 13 bucks on sale. Its held up pretty well but I only use it for finishing the edge after I've used my old oil stone.
Good video same goes for knife blanks on Etsy a lot of the pictures of "hand forged knife blanks" are exactly the same as the ones on Etsy by a "maker" same tang and profile, length everything.
sometime after losing track of some of my old stones in a last minute move I picked up some dmt stones and they've been my go to for everything. I've kept my kitchen knives, pocket knives, scissors, etc sharp for two years on the same two stones and a strop.
glad to see you've grown so much, a quarter million subs! congrats Lol I remember I commneted on one of your videos when your channel was small ish and you replied to me, now you're making your own diamon stones and have a pretty decent youtube channel i'm glad you're doing well.
I totally agree with the diamond plates . They work so good , no mess . Plus for the higher end spyderco steels
Been using the same Diamond plates for well over 10 years now… the speed they sharpen and the fact they stay flat just means they get used more and everything else works better. I remember struggling so much with cheap stones back in the day.
Ive run into this with a wide variety of products....I tend to stick with named brands or new/old stock or best of all vintage stock when I can find it. There is very little newly manufactured kit that isnt substandard ...even the big named are not immune. that is why videos like this are so valuable. Thanks for taking the hit
When shopping for things on Amazon, I try avoid items that are being sold by multiple vendors but look identical, unless I know that it originated from a specific company and that company is selling it on Amazon. But I don't care that much about brand names for most things that I buy and will happily buy off brand to save money unless the name brand is only a little bit more than the generic version.
@@Riceball01 yeah I must admit my brand names are few and far between, not many get a second chance to screw me over
For 50 years I've been a fan of Norton India stones. I have a 100/320 grit combination stone that will put a shaving edge on a knife in no time. Yeah, shaving the hair on my arm at 320. And that's a very functional edge for an EDC.
Just found you today. Instant subscription 😂. Don't know about your sharpening skills yet, but your comedy gold certainly comes honed with an edge.
I have the exact same one. Thought all water stones would be like that. Stayed with diamond plates
He's not wrong about the stones being re branded. In fact some. Of the stoke. Companies offer a logo printing option so you just send them the logos you want on the stone and they print it one for you. I do disagree with some of his reasons at the beginning as to why they are bad. Soaking for 10 minutes is common even in quite very Japanese water stones, a good example is the naniwa traditional stone line. The traditional stone line is also a soft stone and dishes easily and is messy. Some. Other respected brands that do the same is the suehiro ceramic and suehiro cerax line. And king stones are quite soft too. But yes the feedback and feel of these cheap rebrandes stones isn't good and they don't sharpen particularly fast either. Also some of them are really just too soft with others being not soft enough to release grit effectively.
For a budget stone I like the Missarka F150/500 by Zische. Comes out as a 150/1000 in Jis wich works for me, just a leather with some medium and fine compound afterwards give a good edge. Well bound, holds its shape long enough, great feedback and good quality overall. I really do not like diamond plates, i hate the feedback they give so this is my go to.
for my first sharpening set, I bought a set of those stones. Put me off of sharpening with stones, I moved to worksharp’s guided sharpening system and never looked back.
Daayum, OD55! These videos just keep getting better and better. The production value on this one is Off The Scale!
Thanks appreciate it!👍
I started from those cheap "stones" and I can confirm all your statements about them. Thanks for this video.
Dropped my 35 year old Norton medium bench stone. Looking to replace it I looked around. I bought the Spider medium ceramic that you recommended. A really good move, it is truly impressive. Not so good was the blue and white special I bought first.
Are you going to bring back your leather strops? Or are there any on Amazon you would recommend? Thanks for all the videos you have done!
I just realized your recommended amazon steel stone is only the 600 grit instead of the 1k version. Is that just good enough (clearly you are a great sharperner) or is it because the strop and compound handle the rest when you finish up? Genuinely curious.
The strop pulls the bur off and would still be pretty sharp on 600. It really depends on what you are trying to do and that would give a better idea if 600 would be good enough or not
Thank you for the good, honest info. Too late for me, but at least I know why I was struggling to get good results and making a muddy mess in the process.
Yes. This is a common tactic of advertisement goodie items. Basically a company in china makes cheap something and other companies buy certain something and request their brand on it. Usually it's done with USB sticks, pens, keychain flashlights, etc. Thanks for making a whole video about this as it jas become quite a big issue in the sharpening sphere. I used to learn on very cheap stones similar to this kind but bought locally in convenience or grocery stores. Gave me a good base for sharpening skills but nowadays I use trusted and recommended brands only such as Naniwa. Good videos as always !
It also happens that a Chinese manufacturer gets a legitimate order to build quality products (that they can deliver cheap compared to the competition, due to subsidies) for a respected brand. After the order is completed, the manufacturer has the know-how to make knock-off items by substituting 'expensive materials and QC' with 'cheap materials and no QC'.
@@DreadX10 maybe so. In my experience that hasn't happened yet. Always met with products built with sub par methods and technology probably because of the reason "we don't know how to make it properly but this way will work just fine". Otherwise it's blatant low quality. More often than not tho, you get what you pay for as they say.
Always enjoy your videos, keep up the good work good luck and all the best
Thank you so much for making this! I tried to view your recs on your website shop, but none of the links are working. I disabled content blockers and tried on a mobile device and pc