Don't Waste Your Money On The Wrong First Sharpening Stone
Knife sharpening stones, and what to buy first, so you don't waste money as a beginner freehand knife sharpener. Watch this before you buy your first sharpening stone!
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INSTAGRAM alexgarland_outdoors55
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LINKS for everything talked about in the video (affiliate links, at no additional cost to you, see full disclosures, and personal statements, in the bottom of description)⬇️
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These are Amazon affiliated links.
As an amazon affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.
S SATC 400/1000 grit stone⬇️
amzn.to/4bq6st0
best CHEAP diamond stone⬆️
Made in USA coarse diamond stone DMT extra coarse⬇️
amzn.to/3OEdMHY
Link to strop video⬇️
• What Does a Strop Actu...
Diamond compound I recommend ⬇️
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Look for 6-12 micron
1000 grit stones in video⬇️
Shapton Kuromaku 1000 amzn.to/3Uuy2zo
Shapton Glass stone 1000 amzn.to/3OErZ7B
DMT Fine amzn.to/3ODdaCa
2000 grit shapton kuromaku⬇️
amzn.to/3HTGaSj
Naniwa resin bonded 1000 grit diamond⬇️
amzn.to/3T3Gogp
5000 Shapton kuromaku⬇️
amzn.to/488aLGt
General shapton page if you one of the links don't work or is out of stock⬇️
amzn.to/3uE8u8h
Knives in video⬇️
Current every day carry⬇️
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s110v knife⬇️ (love this knife as well)
amzn.to/3SRdhN5
A good budget knife (I carried this for almost 10 years)
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Ive tested a bunch of these, and they usually come in at around 60 hrc (ive never tested one below that)
VIDEO LINKS⬇️
STROP VIDEO • What Does a Strop Actu...
S SATC diamond stone review • S SATC Diamond Sharpen...
Shapton kuromaku 1000 review • The Best VALUE Sharpen...
Shapton kuromaku 1000-5000 review • These Sharpening Stone...
How to sharpen a knife in about 5 minutes • How To Sharpen A Knife...
Personal statement⬇️
As an affiliate, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you. I bought everything in this video with my own money, and am free to link to anything I want.
Recommendations, comments, and criticisms, are based on personal experience with products. At this time, (time of video upload, subject to change) I am NOT sponsored by any company.
Thanks
Chapters:
00:00 INTRO / DISCLAIMER
00:36 FIRST thing you need to buy MOST IMPORTANT!
02:57 SECOND thing you need to buy ALSO MOST IMPORTANT!
04:34 THIRD thing you need to buy - This is luxury at this point
06:59 FOURTH thing you need to buy - ULTRA LUXURY
11:13 Recap of EXACTLY what you need as a beginner
I am not a beginner and a experienced machinist/ mechanic I am starting all over at 65 to be a better sharpener because of your videos. YOU ARE THE BEST ON KZhead IMO !!
Thanks! Really appreciate it🙏👍
You’re right about these being the best sharpening reviews on KZhead. Straight up honest opinions from a guy who’s actually using the products/techniques and paying for them out of his own pocket. Not some shill that’s getting a kickback for suckering people into buying junk they don’t want or need. I stumbled (and subbed) onto this channel a few months ago and have found lots of good content. He seems to actually read the comments and addresses points brought up there in his videos. I appreciate that he knows and shows what does AND doesn’t work and is willing to demonstrate and experiment. My own sharpening skills and tools (found out about dmt products here) have both benefited from watching him. If you need proof that he knows what he’s doing just check out the close ups, I wish I could view my own work like that.
You'll find it a rewarding hobby/skill. Maintain the same angle for your passes would be my most important point. You'll get the knack quick and really appreciate the steels differences. It's kind of relaxing with time in on it.
I picked up the 400/1000 diamond and 1000 shapton because of you 2 weeks back, and I have some balsa wood and dmt 3 micron paste on order now. One thing you have not covered are flattening and dressing / cleaning stone. Any products there that you can recommend, especially for the shapton 1k and potentially 2k in the future?
Fuck yeah dude. Before I started watching his stuff I was dulling knives on a stone instead of sharpening them, now I can get a real nice edge with diamond stones
I picked up the Koramaku 1000, 2000 and 5000 on your recommendation. I use them with my Japanese kitchen knives of various steels up to HAP40 and they do a great job. Thanks for your videos, they seem like good honest advice from someone who knows what they're talking about, and not just intended to sell a product.
I got the 320, 1000 and 2000
@@kristianandersen5732i went 320, 1000, 2000, 5000, and 12000. I'm really new to using whetstones, and for the knives i use, I'm pretty much going with the 1k or 2k to finish the edge. But in my job i use wood chisels, so the 5000 and 12k are nice to give it a super fine edge and that mirror look
Would you mind making a video focused on kitchen knife sharpening (not only on what setup to use, but what angle favours secondary geometry and edge retention and how to homogenously sharpen a long blade)
A common mistake beginners make is pressing too hard while sharpening. This is most important when using diamond stones.
As a beginner my beginner advice would be: buy a course stone. I had recently bought the shapton koramaku 1000 as my first stone, mostly because of your recomendation. I started out on the dull kitchen knives I had because I didn't have any experience yet and didnt want to dull my knives that where decently sharp. Couldn't figure out why I could not get a burr to form. I thought I must be doing something wrong. Turns out my knives where just extremely dull and after two hours(!) of sharpening I finally got a burr and eventualy got it shaving sharp. The correct grit to start on probably would have been 100. I think a lot of beginners who have never sharpened before are likely to have extremely dull knives that they continue using until they decide to buy a new one and chuck the old one in the drawer.
The burr is the key. No burr, no sharp. Once people get a burr, the world will never be the same. I'd always get coarse diamond first, though, since they cut much faster.
When I started out, I did not take the advance of buying just a single 1000 grit stone. I'm pretty familiar with abrasives due to my experience in different trades, mostly sandpaper, files, scotch pads, and cutting compound. Nobody goes out and buys 1000 grit sandpaper and uses it for every job out there. Giving the advice to only buy a 1000 grit whetstone and use it to sharpen every knife you have is like telling someone to buy a spade and use that to dig every hole you need. Or to buy a single general purpose hammer and use it for every job that needs a hammer. Some jobs need a drilling hammer or a sledge, and some jobs need a ditch witch or an excavator. A lot of people also recommend buying cheap whetstones like Kings, which wear fast and dish, and then move to a better quality. That doesn't make sense to me; why spend $30 on a whetstone, only to replace it when you wear through with another higher quality stone that costs $50. You just spent $70 when you could have just bought the quality stone at $50, learned to care for it and benefited from the higher quality, the harder wearing, the feedback and the better performance. So, I think the most appropriate advice to give to a beginner is to buy a set of quality whetstones to start. Buy a coarse, a finer grit and something in between. I've had luck with 320, 500, and 2000 on the Shapton Rock Star line. Shapton Kuromaku 220 or 320, 1000 and the 2000 are a good set. Naniwa S2 Advance 220, 400 and 1000 are another. These are great because you can repair a damaged knife and set a new bevel with the 220/320 grit stones, or quickly sharpen a very dull knife with the 400, 500, and sharpen to a good cutting edge with the 1000/2000. If you have to start at the 220/320, it's good to have an intermediate step to make it to the end. Some knives don't need 320 and can benefit by starting with 400/500 or even 1000. Some of these stones are also not truly at their marked grit and may be more or less coarse/fine. I would also encourage beginners to buy a bunch of cheap knives from websites or at sporting good stores to practice technique before sharpening or repairing good, expensive knives.
Definitely get the diamond cheap stone he recommended. I also have the 1000 stone and the cheap whet stones. I got a burr so fast with the diamond, it really was an eye opener. He's totally right that that's the stone to learn from starting out. Now i have a strop and need to work on getting hair shaving results.
Good that you didn’t give up. Get the Alex recommended diamond plates and it will be fast. I have used mine at a family member’s house who wrecks knives and it cuts well. I want to get the dmt. Good luck.
@@testboga5991You dont need a burr to get a knive sharp. You need to align two bevels at the apex, not to overgrind them making a burr which youll have to remove later.
Hello from France, images with the microscope are better than a big speech. Thank you for your super technical videos
Man, I’ve just found you like a week ago. You, Sir, are a gem, when it comes to quality info about sharpening. If or whenever you’ll get all the scratch marks out of this topic , just keep the attitude in whichever endeavours you choose next. I wish you well.
Man I've been watching you for years and I just gotta say that your videos have come a really long way. As far as communication, production quality , and just everything in general. Good job on always improving yourself and your product
Holy shit Alex! Another gem to the knife-sharpening community! Super straight to the point, easy to understand and as always incredibly good advice.. Please keep blessing us with your knowledge/experience!
This was an awesome "decision making selection" video, honest and without the prejudice of sponsorship. Best wishes from here in the UK.
i like two how he showed different brands
Your channel is great and has been super inspiring in educating myself on sharpening. Also love your approach for giving advice and testing products, including clever DIY and budget options.
It certainly feels like there is a big interest in the community for this knowledge - myself included! Love the videos and this exact one is a must watch. I was just about to order some stuff based on your other videos and this just made the decision process so much easier. Thank you. Seriously.
Just subscribed! Was going down the rabbit hole for knife sharpening stones and your content was so helpful. Thank you! I know what to buy first :)
As usual, Outdoors55 never fails to deliver a super entertaining, informative, useful and detailed video.👍🏻
Thanks for the honest talk. You are awesome.
Thank you for your video i never thought about knife sharpening until i saw a couple of your vids and im become more and more interested in it as a skill to have thanks to you
Your channel is by far the very definition of essential, clear and honest information on sharpening. Simply put, you made a very saturated topic abundantly clear for this viewer and you've gotten yourself another subscriber. Keep it up and power through
Thank you for this video. Very interesting and informative. I especially appreciated the microphotographs.
Thank you for your videos! I have been sharpening knives all my life. At first a little carborundum stone and a strop loaded with jewlers rouge. With my father's instruction circa 1972. Moved to moon stick and then later diamond stones. A couple of months ago I purchased Koramaku 1000 and 5000 stones. Holy smokes they work better than anything I have ever used. I just ordered a 2000 grit. Should be here next week. BTW the diamond paste strop is working great for me as well !
Thank you so much! I'm trying to learn and take better care of my equipment myself.
Thank you so much! This is extremely helpful! I'm only beginning to learn to sharpen and your videos have been great for trying to get oriented.
I've made all of the mistakes you've said to avoid and this advice rings very true and accurate. I still make the jump from the 1000 Shapton Kuromaku to the 5000, but I agree that an in-between stone would make the 5000 much easier. I've been looking to replace my very cheap and messy coarse stone and you've convinced me to go with a diamond plate. Awesome video. Thank you!
Naniwa pro 3k is amazing stone. Smooth, lots of feedback, slow wearing, fast to make a burr. It's really good.
I was so nervous when I saw this video because I just got a stone I ordered yesterday, but then it was the one you said you recommend buying first and I was relieved! I am pretty good at sharpening, I was raised doing it, but I really don't know much about stones. Love your videos!
This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!
I've been trying to learn how to sharpen my own kitchen knives instead of paying other people to do it, and your videos have been very educational. Thank you for your hard work.
This is gold! Very informative! I know what I am buying now without a doubt. Thank you!
I got the double sided near perfect Sharpal you recently recommended and I am very happy and amazed with the results I'm getting as a beginner. The key has been locking my wrists and turning with my body as you have demonstrated. Thanks!
Your videos showed up in my algorithm and now I have another high precision craft/hobby to get into...
hearing how important a strop is was the gold i needed from this
Found your channel a week ago, And I have to say I just love your videos man
I wish I knew this 15 years ago. I had to learn the expensive way. Great information.
Same here!! Learn from expensive way!!!!!!
Great advice, clearly and logically presented. Thank you, Sir! Refreshing and honest which is why I always view all of Outdoors55 videos. Keep up the great work. (Love your 'under the microscope' shots)
I really enjoy watching your videos very informative. Thank you so much.
Just had 0.5 and 0.1 micron paste arrive yesterday, in the process of making 2 better strops than my last strop. your advice and macro lens closeups are amazing, and I also picked up that jewellers' loupe a couple years back too! You're a legend
Exactly what people starting out need😊
You are becoming the best knife channel. Congratulations! Suggestion: edge geometry, thickness behind the edge, practical uses of either...
Excellent summation. I couldn't agree more. Well done.
This is a great video for anyone who is starting out... I remember when I was learning how to sharpen I would frequently end up with a beautiful mirror-polished bevel on a knife that wasn't properly apexed so it was still rather dull.
THANK you, Alex, for this series of sharpening videos! Although I use a KME, I find your videos to be incredibly informative, well structured, and very well presented. I ALWAYS learn new things when I watch your videos. Plus, they are entertaining, as well!!
I just got the DMT extra course off the back of one of your other videos. Absolute n00b beginner here. Excited to give it a try when it arrives. Thanks so much for your help, you are a fantastic educator and your knowledge is the best kind, that gained through trial and error.
Arguably, your most helpful video.
Just wanted to say thanks for the videos! I've learned a lot from you. Keep it up!
This is the best sharpening advice on the internet!
I've bought all your recommendations, up to Number 3! Also made my own strop. I don't use high end steels, mainly basic carbon steel. I am bringing all my knives, including kitchen knives, up to an enjoyable sharpness. Thanks for all your advice! Take care, Eddie.
It's nice to see a more comprehensive video about stones Burrfection recommended years ago.
Great job, again, thank you. Short yet detailed, to the point but thoroughly explained. Much appreciated. Here is an idea, you made diy strop video, what about strop maintenance one? Cleaning, reapplying, when to do so, how, why... ?
Incredible! Love your videos, man, hilarious delivery!
I picked up that course diamond stone you recommended. It's literally night and day. I would spend an hour sharpening my knives before, and never realised that having a good course stone to apex first was key. I spent about a minute and got hair whittling results. That's really what I wanted, something to quickly get a good edge and do some cooking. Thank you for making this great content
as others have mentioned, appreciate your help, I'm struggling to hold the angle and did watch your video on locking your wrists, keeping at it
You made me finally achieve a hair whittling edge. I watched you videos on strops and said ok you talked me into it. I got 6 and 1 micron diamond powder so I cleaned my strops and took the time to do it. I got it to cut and whittle hair but not with the ease you show. So I went back and watched a few more of your videos. I didn't bother to follow my scratch patterns so ill be doing that next. Your dragging me into the hair whittling sharp realm. My hair is pretty short. My niece was over who has long red hair...😅
Some good reccomendations. A good strop is absolutely critical to getting a keen edge that lasts.
Excellent stuff - highly appreciated. Thank you.
I started out freehand and bought most of these recommendations and had great results. I'm glad I learned to freehand sharpen. I did finally get the newest version Work Sharp Professional Precision Adjust Knife Sharpener Tool, complete angle adjustable knife sharpening system. Being able to use the digital angle finder to the exact degree you want has been a game changing. I rarely use the freehand stones anymore. So now looking back I would just get this newest Work Sharp Professional Precision Adjust or the KME. This is just my personal opinion after trying everything mentioned and more. The newest digital guided Sharpeners are more precise at exact angles and also faster in my opinion. Stick with what works best for you. Also have fun and enjoy your knives while building skills.
Thanks! Great info. I have the stuff and now I just need to practice until I'm good.
Thanks for these excellent suggestions!
You are responsible for my most recent $100 Amazon order! Thanks for your awesome, technical, in depth videos. I know it takes a lot of time to produce something of this quality!
I have used all the stones you mention here and may others. I think you are spot on with your recommendations. I may replace the 400 diamond with the Atoma 400, but it's a lot more expensive, and not necessary. Those Naniwa resin bond plates are amazing. If they made one at 10,000 grit I would use them exclusively for my woodworking tools. What you say about getting an edge on the 400 grit before moving on is key. Took me a while to learn that. Excellent informative and accurate video.
Excellent video. I especially appreciate the simplicity and directness. Thank you. P.S. Would you consider doing a video on sharpening convex edges just using strops? I have a bunch of knives that are in CMP 3V with convexed edges.
Brilliant advice, I havebeen that person who thought better stones would produce better results, rather than better technique !!
👍👍 Excellent advice and very clear explanation. Thanks !!
Thank you for the great information.
Alex really good video thanks for sharing it’s really appreciated
Thank you for this video! Very helpful.
Great info! I bought Norton wet stones years ago. They will work, but at not worth the headache… I will be getting the diamond you recommend!
Sharpening stones can be a rabbit hole. I learned how to sharpen on a little pocket stone. I have many stones, even one I found on the ground I flattened it and it works great on the small Texas toothpicks and similar sized blades. Cool video!
Always love your advice sir, it's the best out there. Diamond and homemade strope all the way for me...I have yet to find a reson to go beyond those two.
Just good old fashion common sense No BS. Thank you, sir!
I bought the 400/1000 yesterday and is arriving tomorrow can’t wait to take my first step into sharpening! all thanks to your videos 🤩
I really believe that the strop is necessary you should take the next step soon.
@@BloodSprite-tan YES! im having a hard time finding a diamond compound paste like used in the videos in Amazon UK. not sure what micron should i buy first as my first paste?
@@nicosalfos like the video suggest you should look for 6 micron diamond, it doesn't have to be paste you could get it from any available source. like spray powder etc. If you can't find anything you could always just use the green chromium oxide, but I wouldn't bother with a nice strop if you do so. you could just put green compound on mdf or other porous soft wood surfaces. since it needs to be scrapped off and replaced more often.
i had the 400/1000 in my cart yesterday and now it’s sold out lol
@@MortalMayonnaise It sold out after his video lol, but the American one that costs 2x more is in stock so ima prob get that.
Thanks for your advices 👍🏻
Alex you are the real deal! I wish I could trust other channels half as much. I bought the S SATC stone, made a strop out of some belt leather, and use some polishing compound on it. That and your tips on keeping the wrists locked have made so much difference in my sharpening ability. I was hardly ever able to get shaving sharp after a ton of work, but now I've been able to sharpen most of my knifes to shaving sharp in a few minutes. My next investment is definitely going to be the diamond compound.
Awesome! Glad to hear 👍👍
Very very good information!!! Could not agree more.
Awesome advice as always! I'll check em out!
Solid advice. The Koramaku set with an original Outdoors55 strop, my knife game is strong....lol. Thanks for showing the ol dog new tricks.
I just need to get my blade sharp enough for bloodlettings. I'm looking forward to giving some of these a try!
Great Video! After having these two-sided sharpening stones from amazon for quite some time, I now got the Shapton Pro 1000 and it works great! Next up will be a cheaper 400/1000 diamond stone. One suggestion for an upcoming video: it would be nice if you could show how to keep the correct angle on longer knives, especially ones that have more of a curve to them like traditional chefs knives. I struggle a bit there on the rounded part. Also it would be interesting to do some comparison of all the tricks that are floating around: using a stack of coins/using an angle guide etc. I made myself some wooden ramps in the correct angle to make sure I am consistent. For the coin/thumb trick I suspect that this might work on some knives but not ones with a wide or narrow blade.
Best video so far.
Thanks for the great videos! My first sharpening purchase about 5 years ago was a king 1000/4000 whetstone, which is fine, but looking back MAN. I wish I had learned on the S SATC instead. I picked one up recently for 20 bucks after seeing one of your other videos, and the difference in how long it takes to get a good starting edge is insane. To be honest the 1000 side of the king is absolutely terrible compared to both sides of the SATC, constantly went out of being flat, catching the blade on the stone, etc. The 4000 is fine and I will probably still use it as it does put a mirror finish on, but as far as sharpness goes, the diamond stone alone got my knives sharper than the whetstone ever did, and in much less time. Just picked up the stuff to make a strop too, which unfortunately ran me closer to 40$ on amazon, so I will see how that goes when the stuff gets here. I had been planning on picking up a higher grit glass stone at some point too, but I think I will wait to see how well the strop meets my needs.
Great video. Thanks for sharing 👍🏼
I went backwards a bit as i bought the DMT Fine plate before i purchased the DMT extra coarse plate. I am still breaking in the extra coarse plate, but I am really liking how fast I can get a burr i can feel with the extra coarse plate. I also found one of your older videos on cleaning strops so I cleaned all the gunked up green compound off the strop, gave it a quick sand with 150grit sandpaper and loaded it with 6 micron DMT diamond paste. That old strop works so well that i almost cant believe it.
Sharpening!!! my dude you are so weird and Im here for it. im glad your back after that long break
Good practical advice, thanks
Great recommendations! Spyderco 400/800 CBN bench stone is also a good one and done (with a strop of course:)
I just bought the 240 grit Shapton glass stone and I was not disappointed. I also put some lapping film on the glass and bam, I got a lapping plate!
Thku for you're help and recommendation. Ive been struggling with my next purchase to go with some expensive knives I just picked up. Tops bob, jeo tech#1. An so on great video
Great video and sage advice!
For me, a strop was what I was missing this whole time when it comes to making any stone work, it really does take things to the next level. I spend *less* time properly sharpening/touching up my cheapass kitchen knife now than I did using shitty pull through tools that give an edge that never lasts. Really appreciate the information you've put out
For real. Even just stropping on my cutting board changed how the knives feel right off the stone. Getting rid of that burr so it doesn't fold over is key
I'm very new to sharpening my own stuff and this helps a lot! thank you 😁 I wonder though if the same application is good for axes and big bowie knives 🤔
Thanks for the tips
Appreciate your advice. I bought the DMT course and a strop a while back on your recommendation. Took a while to get the hang of it. Can’t say I’ve got it down, but our kitchen knives can cut again! It was long over due. Thanks for the helpful info. I still need more practice to get shaving sharp though! Not quite there yet.
Such a great channel
Whenever someone asks me about sharpening stones, I will be guiding them to this excellent video. Thanks Alex, now I don't have to explain to unexperienced minds, I just send them to you.
The shapton 1000 has been awesome. Ive only ran 3 knives on it and loved it. My shapton 2000 i got hasnt been tried yet.
Amazing video Alex! I have bean watching your content for a couple of months now and I love this channel. This is what helped me learn all if my knife sharpening skills, not that I'm very good at sharpening, I'm only 13. I have a question for a set of stones, they have the same design of the 400 grit one in the video, I'd like to know if they would be usable or if they would just be cheap stones trying to be something they aren't, if you have something i could send you the links to like discord please let me know so I could send you the links. Have a great day!
About a week ago I saw a video on the Glock 78 knife. From watching a few videos about that knife I got to outdoor knives in general, then to sharpening videos which is how I got to binging your videos. KZhead already made me buy the Glock 78 and now you're about to make me get into knife sharpening haha I was thinking about buying my mother the Horl 2 on recommendation of a coworker, but now I'm thinking I whould learn hand sharpening and sharpen her knives for her
I have DMT and Arkansas stones, and man I still love the Arkansas stone feel and edge it creates. Not quite as fast but man it feels good...
DMT coarse, plus an Arkansas to do the fine work, that's a good combo.
You briefly mention clogging. Can you do a refresher on de-clogging and also on flattening? Love your content. Thanks.
Rinse with water and give it some random passes with the diamond plate. Use a pencil to scribble the top, run the plate over it, and you'll see if it's flat or not. Too easy.
@@silvermediastudio Most ppl starting out & in general don't own a diamond plate tho, they are really expensive for just flattening & are hard to rationalize buying when u can get multiple whetstones for the same price. I've been buying knives for year and don't have one. it's not needed
@@solosamuraiz1526 SATC Diamond Sharpening Stone 2 Side Grit 400/1000 Diamond Plate is $22 on Amazon. Stop making excuses. Your comment is the only thing not needed here.
Ive been sharpening by hand since around 2005 and ive owned and used all kinds of stones. I once thought that DMT was the best until i got an Atoma diamond stone. Nothing compares. Nothing. Its the best. I got a 140 and a 600 grit and within no time you can slap an edge on anything. Then i got to a 1200 grit diamond very quickly and lightly and then a 5000 grit whetstone to polish and a very light pass on a strop afterwards. Hair whittling stuff within a few minutes. Just dont make a burr with the first two diamond stones. Take it very very close tho
Love your videos! Do you by chance ever show how to sharpen woodcarving knives with more of a flat bevel? Would love to see your method.
I picked up the four stone set of Dia-sharp DMT stones from sharpening supplies and they are awesome. The kit comes with stones in 220grit, 325grit, 600grit, and 1200grit. They also have a really nice stone holder for about $35 and I also picked that up. I bought this set after spending about a year using shapton ceramic stones. I taught myself how to sharpen by hand with shapton stones, mostly using kitchen knives. As of the last few years I've gotten into higher end edc knives and that's what prompted the stone upgrade. Some of these newer super steels are just ridiculously hard and their vanadium content is high. Having said that, they are no match for the diamond stones!! In addition, I think a good strop and some proper diamond emulsion is actually far more important than most people realize. I think a quality stropping rig gets overlooked by a lot of people and that's a mistake. A two sided strop, rough on both sides, with some gunny juice is perfect. I like rough sided because it holds emulsion better. I use a 4 micron on one side and a 0.5 micron on the other and my edges will usually whittle a hair. You don't have to use Gunny Juice, that's just one option, I frequently use Jende Max, and it works just fine.
My dad showed me when i was very young how to sharpen a blade. He never mentioned a burr and apex. 50 years later I see your videos. That explains The science of proper sharp edges. Too bad KZhead wasn’t available in the sixties. 😊