Sharpening Stone reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 166 Reddit reviews across 16 subreddits and 53 posts to rank the best Sharpening Stone brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/sharpening, r/knives, r/knifeclub, r/Bushcraft, r/Axecraft. Top-rated brands include Shapton (4.6/5), Lansky (3.9/5), DMT (4.5/5).
Stats
Reviews166
Subreddits16
Posts53
Brands45
Products94
166 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Shapton
4.6
(17)
"One more for shaptons. I have the 1k 5k 8k and 12k stones."
"I really like the Shapton whetstones."
"Buy A Shapton 1000"
"Probably get something like an Atoma 140, Shapton Rockstar 500 or 1000."
"Absolute best overall imo is shapton rockstar 500."
"Shapton glass or Rockstar 500 is the answer. I have found it to be the most effective stone for soft stainless like Globals."
"I like my shapton stones."
"They’re pricey but those Shapton stones are awesome."
"I use shapton professionals. I really enjoy them. They are splash and go, great feedback and great prices on Amazon."
"If you've got the money, Shapton's are the tits."
#2
Lansky
3.9
(20)
"Lanksy Blade Medic is all you need. Carry sharpening stones out a field is not the way to go"
"Second the Lansky. Takes the guess work and having to "feel" for the angle out of sharpening. I love mine and it keeps my knives splitting hairs sharp."
"Lanksy D-Sharp Diamond Knife Sharpening System"
"Yeah the lanksy is super simple to use there no skill involved."
"I run a Lansky puck along with a small diamond plate (and a small bastard file)"
"Lansky makes a great sharpening system that is very affordable."
"A lot of guys prefer the Lansky Puck. It seems to be the most popular"
"I’ll second the lansky puck."
"Second this. Also use it wet so it doesn’t gunk up on you."
"I use a lansky puck. Works well."
#3
DMT
4.5
(13)
"DMT Diamond stone in fine grit. $30 and with that and a leather strop you can get just about anything shaving sharp."
"I personally recommend diamond plates for beginners, since they are basically impossible to damage."
"DMT for diamond stones."
"Atoma or DMT diamond plates are the best way to go."
"Agree that if you can afford it, the DMT plates are fantastic."
"I recently switched to the DMT Diamond plates."
"Look in to DMT. I have not seen anything that is of low quality."
"DMT and Atoma are both reputable brands for that price range."
"I like the dmt stones for the convenience. Specifically the diafold ones."
"Depends on exactly what you want, but I find the DMT Diafold sharpeners to be quite good and also convenient."
#4
King
4.1
(14)
"King Deluxe 300 is my favorite stone for large chip repairs."
"If you're just looking to get started and learn freehand for a good price probably King 300 is the best option."
"Best value king 300."
"The best value/most versatile stone imo would be the king 1000."
"That's what I do with my king 1k, which is now essentially a splash and go stone."
"It leaves a nice toothy edge and is very reasonably priced. I like mine a lot."
"King 1000. Go with the deluxe if you can. 30 bucks."
"King Deluxe 300 splasher and 1200 soaker are reputable value stones."
"King deluxe 300, arato-kun aka Imanishi 220, and shapton kuromaku 220 or 320."
"I started with a 1k/6k King. Great starting stone."
#5
Worksharp
4.5
(10)
"The worksharp guided field sharpener is amazing!!!!"
"I quickly outpaced my freehand sharpening friends with my worksharp lol it does require a little bit of practice."
"Yeah I’ve loved mine, comes with 2 grits, a rod and a pretreated leather strop."
"Worksharp Precision Adjust does one hell of a job and requires little training."
"It is also a great system, especially for the price!"
"I’ve reprofiled like 20 knives on the basic worksharp precision adjust I bought for $40."
"Worksharp guided field sharpener works great!"
"For most people the Worksharp Precision Adjust is all they will ever need."
"If you want a guided system that’s cheap and easy to use go with a Work Sharp Precision adjust. $50 and you can easily get great results."
"The worksharps a lot better"
#6
Norton
4.4
(8)
"If I had to choose one stone for the rest of my life it would be the double sided Norton India stone."
"Norton Crystolon JB-8 combo stone. This is a 120/320 ANSI grit silicon carbide oilstone. This will make quick work of reprofiling pretty much any steel."
"An excellent starter stone is the Norton 4000/8000 combination stone."
"If you want under $30 the Norton crystolon is a solid option."
"Diamonds if you have supersteels, a double sided Norton (crystolon or india) will do the job if not."
"Second the norton india stone."
"I love my Norton Crystolon, it does work."
"An excellent starter stone is the Norton 4000/8000 combination stone."
#7
Chosera
4.7
(6)
"The Chosera 3000 really stands out for kitchen knives. It has the perfect balance of cutting speed and refined edge."
"I use the chosera 800 then 3000. Most often I just do a couple of stropping passes on the 3000 for my gesshin uraku 300."
"For a one-n-done splasher stone, Shapton Kuromaku 1000 or Chosera 800."
"Chosera 400 and Shapton Pro 2000 are premium splashers."
"If I had to only use one stone for the rest of my life, then I'd want a Chosera 600. Good cut, good finish, good everything."
"With soft stainless like your Germans the Chosera 800 will work very well."
#8
Naniwa
4.5
(6)
"I like Naniwa wet stones. Great quality and they have a nice case that doubles as a stand and storage."
"Chosera pro 400 and 800."
"If it were me I'd get the Chocera/Pro 400 and 800 for those knives."
"For blue and white steel Naniwa 1000/3000."
"Naniwa are rather expensive and only go up to ~6k."
"Naniwa for traditional stones."
#9
Spyderco
4.3
(6)
"Spyderco cbn bench stone works well for crispy edges"
"The spyderco ceramic whet stones are really good."
"Spyderco sharpmaker or worksharp precision adjust are both great introductions to the world of sharpening."
"Spyderco sharpmaker or lansky is similar but less money."
"Spyderco has a ceramic medium grit for $40 that’s gotten favorable reviews."
"My advice is the Spyderco Sharpmaker."
#10
Shapton Pro
4.3
(6)
"The Shapton Pro 1K is the least expensive Japanese splash and go option for most people. It's a very dense slow-wearing stone with nice feedback."
"Chosera 400 and Shapton Pro 2000 are premium splashers."
"If they're really blunt, Shapton Pro 1000 is the finest stone worth considering."
"I second the Shapton pro 1500, good for all knives I have."
"Shapton pro 1500 or 2k, naniwa pro 800 or 1k, Suehiro Debado 1k."
"All the reputable Japanese brands have a nice 1000 grit water stone; Shapton Pro 1500"
#11
Work Sharp
4.8
(5)
"Work sharp field sharpener
Hands down
It's light. It works beautifully.and it's so simple for even a beginner to use efficiently"
"I have had mine for years. Excellent tool."
"Work sharp field sharpener, hands down the best field sharpener around for 30 bucks."
"I recently bought the worksharp field sharpener and i didnt know when i bought it but it has a leather strop with green compound already on it. Its been amazing so far."
"Get the worksharp field sharpener"
#12
KME
4.6
(5)
"I have a KME now, it’s a great system, just pricey."
"With that price range, KME or the Worksharp precision adjust (with upgrade kit for reprofile and fine grits)"
"I have a kme system that works really well unless it is a pronounced recurve."
"KME"
"I have this and like it. I’d go with this, add a extra corse diamond stone, a Sapphire stone and a leather strop."
#13
Diamond stones
5.0
(4)
"I use diamond stones on a wicked edge. I as well recommend diamonds on really all CPM steels."
"I might buy some diamond stones for my lansky then."
"I do find 20cv/M390 to be relatively easy to sharpen on the diamond stones in my KME."
"Diamond stones all the way."
#14
Fallkniven
5.0
(4)
"DC4 stone"
"DC4 and wear a leather belt is how I go as well."
"I’d still recommend the DC4 for a field sharpener, but as others mentioned, the Worksharp Field Sharpener has angle guides on it."
"DC4. Amen."
#15
Atoma
4.3
(4)
"Atoma or DMT diamond plates are the best way to go."
"Atoma diamond plate for re-flattening dished stones."
"Go atoma if you want diamond plates better than dmt in every way and roughly similar prices."
"Ultra sharp diamond stones on a budget. Atoma diamond stones preferred."
#16
DMD
5.0
(3)
"I have the set of DMD stones, they were $145 for the set of 4, including shipping from China. I like what they can do so far."
"Last but not least are the DMD stones which you can get."
"Million pocket diamond tools on Amazon/ebay for super cheap."
#17
Shapton Pro Kuromaku
4.0
(3)
"No way, naniwa pro 3k is too fine for a single stone and too fine for most kitchen tasks anyway. Listen to the wiki. Shapton pro/kuromaku 1k, by itself."
"In case you missed it, shapton pro/kuromaku 1k. This topic has been debated back and forth over and over, and this is the stone that I believe is the best first for the most people."
"Shapton pro (kuromaku) Splash&go stones are pretty versatile stones and price is quite moderate."
#18
Rika
5.0
(2)
"Rika 5000 is a fast, great feeling stone."
"Cerax 1000 and Rika 5000. Is my current go to setup."
#19
SHARPAL
5.0
(2)
"It has two grits and is highly recommended."
"Sharpal 162n. 320/1200. Doesn't require flattening."
#20
Shapton Kuromaku
4.5
(2)
"For a one-n-done splasher stone, Shapton Kuromaku 1000 or Chosera 800."
"Shapton Kuromaku 1000 gets thrown around here all the time for good reason."
#21
Cerax
4.5
(2)
"Cerax 1000 and Rika 5000. Is my current go to setup."
"All the reputable Japanese brands have a nice 1000 grit water stone; Cerax 1K"
#22
TSProf
5.0
(1)
"Five stones in the set, not four like the typo says. Perfectly fine diamond plates. Will sharpen any steel, and last thru hundreds of sharpening sessions."
#23
Nano-Hone
5.0
(1)
"The stones are amazing, the sink bridge and holder work like magic, and the diamond flattening stone is by far, the easiest, fastest, most pleasurable to use I’ve ever used."
#24
Shapton, King, Suehiro, Naniwa, Norton
4.0
(1)
"Any brand name will do, shapton, king, Suehiro, naniwa, Norton, for example."
#25
KME, Tsprof
4.0
(1)
"If your budget is 200 go for a kme or a tsprof if they make them that cheap"
#26
Norton, King
4.0
(1)
"Master one fast durable stone (Norton IB8 or King 300). Finish with strop or ceramic."
#27
Workshop
4.0
(1)
"I’d go with this, or workshop precision adjust. It’s $89 cad. Same concept as this but beefier system."
#28
Norton, Smiths, Shapton
4.0
(1)
"Norton crystolon or smiths tri hone for around 20 but if you are feeling like spending a bit more go with the shapton kuromaku 1000"
#29
Dianova
4.0
(1)
"I think any diamond file would work. I use one for my scredrivers and my tweezers. Works well :) i use this one."
#30
Arkansas
4.0
(1)
"A fine Arkansas stone from the hardware store will do."
#31
Venev
4.0
(1)
"Venev diamond stones have multiple layers like a hard stone."
#32
DMT, Atoma
4.0
(1)
"Dmt work great. Atoma also work great. All diamond stones are very agressive at first, have a pretty quick drop off period, then seem to settle in without much change over time."
#33
DMT, SK-11, Eze-lap
4.0
(1)
"DMT XC is great for heavy work. Aggressive. DMT Fine when completely broken in functions like a 5k-7k stone. Produces great edges."
#34
DMT, Eze-lap, Ultra Sharp, Atoma
4.0
(1)
"DMT is excellent for the money, the 6x2" ones anyway. Eze-lap and ultra sharp are also on par and good for the money. Atoma if you want to bump the price up a lot."
#35
Gritomatic
4.0
(1)
"Gritomatic Boride CS-HD series stones are made of silicon carbide and are designed for the hardest steels (up to 63 HRC)."
#36
Atoma, JKI
4.0
(1)
"I do have an Atoma 140 that I really like... One thing I wanted to suggest is checking out the JKI diamond stones."
#37
Whiskey River
4.0
(1)
"The whiskey river arctic fox puck is pretty solid."
#38
Boron/Ruby Combo Stone
4.0
(1)
"People around here have been saying that the boron 800/ruby 3000 combo stone on aliexpress is a good deal."
#39
Helko Werk
4.0
(1)
"I have a Helko Werk puck that works well on my Saxon Splitter."
#40
Diasharp
4.0
(1)
"Used the brand for about twenty years. Haven't personally had issues. Have the full grit range of diasharps."
#41
Amazon
4.0
(1)
"The cheap Amazon stones I used when I first started worked absolutely fine."
#42
Baryonyx
4.0
(1)
"Baryonyx makes some really neat stones in many shapes."
#43
King/Suntiger
4.0
(1)
"Look for water stones. King/Suntiger is a common affordable brand."
#44
Ken Onion Work Sharp
4.0
(1)
"Ken onion work sharp with a blade grinder attachment"
#45
Worksharp Precision Adjust, Edge Pro Apex
4.0
(1)
"For that price, the worksharp precision adjust will be the best budget option... you could go Edge Pro Apex; they have some kits that go under 200."
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