Whetstone reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 236 Reddit reviews across 10 subreddits and 74 posts to rank the best Whetstone brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/sharpening, r/chefknives, r/TrueChefKnives, r/knives, r/KitchenConfidential. Top-rated brands include Shapton (4.7/5), King (4.1/5), Naniwa (4.8/5).
Stats
Reviews236
Subreddits10
Posts74
Brands46
Products72
236 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Shapton
4.7
(70)
"For whetstones go for either Shapton pro, Shapton rockstar or Naniwa pro"
"Shapton Rockstar stones are great, same material as the glass stone series, and more affordable."
"Your going to have to spend a bit more but the shapton koramaku 1000 paired with the satc diamond stone."
"If you’re wanting truly buy once cry once I’d go with Shapton Rockstar 500 and 2000."
"Shapton rockstar 500 !"
"Excellent, cheap, practical stone."
"Shapton shapton shapton maybe naniwa shapton shapton"
"Shapton 1000"
"After that, get a [Shapton 1000](https://www.amazon.com/Kuromaku-Ceramic-Whetstone-Medium-Grit/dp/B001TPFT)."
"Just get a Shapton 1000 and a bächer leather strope."
#2
King
4.1
(46)
"A very skilled Japanese carbon steel knife maker recommended a 1000/6000 king stone to start and it’s worked great for me."
"King KDS 1000/6000 is a great inexpensive whetstone for beginners."
"I have the king deluxe 1000 and love it."
"I would definitely recommend a 1000/6000 grit Japanese whetstone for everyday usage."
"All those don't require soaking."
"It's the best cheap stone around."
"There are 2 main stones that people here generally recommend. I think for your purpose a King 1000/6000 would wo"
"The King is a real nice stone that doesn’t require a long soak."
"For sharpening, I like the King 1/6k combo."
"A king 300 at $27.98 is a good cheap stone for ya."
#3
Naniwa
4.8
(30)
"I like naniwa choseras. 400/800/3000 then strop"
"The boron side is fairly aggressive and the ruby will last a lifetime and leaves a great finish."
"If it's the boron 800 ruby 3000 combo then it's not decent it's very good if you don't need lower than 800."
"I have mix of naniwa and shapton (and a diamond plate)… very happy with my initial purchase of naniwa 400/800/3000."
"The naniwaw Chosera line are great. I’ve had the 400,1k and 3k for about ten years."
"My good VG10 kitchen knives get the Naniwa Pro 3000 and sometimes 5000 for what you describe."
"Naniwa Chosera/Pro (basically same lines) for splash and go stones."
"Naniwa are great Japanese stones. On par with shapton."
"I'd get a Naniwa pro 1000 grit. You can do everything with it."
"I have a Naniwa Chosera 1000. it is perfect, all I need to far."
#4
Shapton Pro
4.6
(19)
"Great finishing stones for Japanese kitchen knives include Shapton Pro 5000."
"I have a 1k and a 5k shapton pro that I decided to grab when it was on a decent sale on amazon."
"Shapton 1k/5k."
"I would start out with a couple. Shapton Pro, Naniwa Chosera, and King."
"All those don't require soaking."
"If you are talking kitchen knives then I highly recommend Shapton Pro 1K is all you really need."
"For splash and go stones, shapton pro sets the bar."
"Shapton pro 1000 is $40. These stones will last years if not decades longer than the $30 combo stone"
"Get a shapton pro stone"
"Shapton are very good, very easy, splash and go stones - and are available on Amazon."
#5
Suehiro
4.8
(8)
"Occasionally suehiro rika 5000 pop up at around £30-£40 in some of the UK knife shops."
"Suehiro is my favorite. You only need to spend like 50 +- each."
"Cerax 1K is the best value, and all you need. It's what we use for professional sharpening."
"I usually recommend suehiro cerax 1k for the money to performance. It's a great stone and enjoyable to use."
"Suheiro 1k is about $35, and its pro stone. That plus a strop is all you need"
"I also like my Suehiro Rika 5000 as a finishing stone."
"Suehiro Debado md-100 and md-20."
"Suehiro"
#6
Cerax
4.4
(5)
"Cerax. Affordable and great quality."
"I started with cerax 1000 and its super nice stone, it cuts fast and has nice polish."
"I'd get a good 1k like a cerax 1000 or the cerax 1k/3k combo stone."
"I usually start with cerax 1k, then naniwa 3k."
"I'm new to freehand sharpening on a Cerax and it's nice."
#7
Naniwa Pro
5.0
(4)
"Great finishing stones for Japanese kitchen knives include Naniwa Pro 3000."
"Naniwa professional 3k, it is fast cutting and also polishing, leaves satin finish."
"If you want to spend more, I highly recommend the naniwa pro 1k."
"Buy a Naniwa pro 1000 if you’re rich"
#8
Spyderco
4.0
(5)
"Coarse India stone and a Spyderco medium ceramic. That’s literally all you need."
"Spyderco sharpmaker. You can put a small microbevel on your whetstone edge."
"Maybe the Spyderco ceramic medium bench stone? Very low maintenance, lasts a lifetime with basic everyday sharpening and doesn’t require water."
"If your knives aren't already really dull you can probably get away with just the spyderco medium ceramic."
"Spyderco medium ceramic whet stone"
#9
Shapton Pro and Glass
5.0
(2)
"Shapton pro is good for softer or lower carbide steels. Shapton glass is good for medium hardness, medium carbide."
"Shapton pro/glass, naniwa pro, gesshin splash & go."
#10
Shapton Ha No Kuromaku
5.0
(2)
"We all recommended a $50 whetstone (Shapton Ha No Kuromaku)."
"Shapton Ha No Kuromaku 1000 is often recommended and sold on Amazon."
#11
Shapton Pro 1000
5.0
(2)
"The Shapton Pro 1000 / Ha No Kuromaku 1000 is a great choice."
"Get him a shapton pro 1000 and a king stone 1000."
#12
DMT
5.0
(2)
"DMT and Sharpal are highly regarded."
"DMT all day long for freehand sharpening."
#13
Shapton Pro 1K
5.0
(2)
"For a great sharpening experience I'd get a shapton pro 1k."
"I'd spring for a shapton pro 1k over a king 1k/6k."
#14
Shapton Glass Series
5.0
(2)
"Shapton glass is my personal fave. you can get away with just a 2000 grit no need for 6k."
"If shapton glass and pro versions cost the same I'd recommend the glass version over the pro."
#15
Diamond Plates
4.5
(2)
"I prefer diamond plates. They stay perfectly flat for quite a long time."
"Cheap Ali diamond plate. No need to spend too much if you just trying to see if you will pickup the hobby."
#16
Tojiro
4.5
(2)
"Tojiro is cheap and way better than wasabi."
"Tojiro is cheap and way better than wasabi."
#17
Norton
4.5
(2)
"Durable Norton India IB8 combo oilstone is great for knives and tools."
"A solid classic that's widely available."
#18
Diamond Stone
4.0
(2)
"Definitely shoot for a diamond stone at a low grit to do the bulk of it."
"Get a diamond stone and what takes forever with a whetstone can be done in minutes."
#19
Rika
4.0
(2)
"Most of you seemed to be happy with the Rika choice."
"I like the thought of the Rika out of those two."
#20
Morihei
5.0
(1)
"Of the Morihei, I use the entire set top to bottom except the 30k."
#21
King, Shapton Pro, Naniwa Chosera/Pro
5.0
(1)
"King, Shapton Pro, Naniwa Chosera/Pro."
#22
Shapton, Naniwa Professional
5.0
(1)
"It's always Shapton or Naniwa Professional."
#23
Norton, Arkansas, Spyderco
5.0
(1)
"I own Norton oil stones that I absolutely love. I own Arkansas stones. My ceramic stones are either Norton Ascent or Spyderco."
#24
Suehiro Debado Line
5.0
(1)
"More recently I am really a fan of the Suehiro Debado line."
#25
Gesshin
5.0
(1)
"I adore the Gesshin 400, that cutting speed is just rediculous."
#26
Naniwa, Shapton, King, Suehiro, Nanohone
5.0
(1)
"Naniwa, shapton, king, suehiro, and nanohone are all good."
#27
Shapton glass
5.0
(1)
"I have the shapton glass 1000/2000/3000/4000/6000/8000 and can recommend all of them."
#28
iWood
5.0
(1)
"I would suggest an iWood #300 diamond stone followed by the Naniwa Hibiki 1k and to finish the Sigma Power Ceramic 6k."
#29
Yaxell
5.0
(1)
"Could anyone recommend a whetstone(s) in a similar price range?"
#30
Imanishi Kitayama
5.0
(1)
"Great finishing stones for Japanese kitchen knives include Imanishi Kitayama 4000."
#31
Work Sharp
4.0
(1)
"Work sharp precision adjust or another angle system like that (KME, TSprof etc) fool proof."
#32
DMT Mesh Plates
4.0
(1)
"In terms of cut speed, nothing will beat a diamond plate like the DMT mesh plates and they'll stay flat until they wear out."
#33
Strop
4.0
(1)
"I often use a strop to bring life back to an edge that is losing some of its zing."
#34
Sharpal, Shapton, Lansky Arkansas
4.0
(1)
"Whatever ever gets your knife sharp, i have sharpal shapton and lansky arkansas. i like the arkansas the best, but all do the same job"
#35
Otani Toishi
4.0
(1)
"There are a bunch of Otani Toishi ones on eBay I have a 600 and a 1000 they serve me well."
#36
JKI Stones
4.0
(1)
"I have jki stones, they work great."
#37
Suehiro Rika
4.0
(1)
"Great finishing stones for Japanese kitchen knives include Suehiro Rika 5000 (the latter is a soaking stone, though)."
#38
Aotoshi
4.0
(1)
"Consider the Aotoshi Green Brick of Joy. It cuts fast (2,000 grit), and somehow polishes really well."
#39
Makita
4.0
(1)
"Instead the king whetstone, look for a Makita. Much cheaper and I think is the same a bit shorter"
#40
Triple B
4.0
(1)
"Triple B super vitrified diamond stones? Haven't used them myself, but supposedly they're amazing."
#41
Huge
4.0
(1)
"I really like the huge 1k!"
#42
Worksharp
4.0
(1)
"It was only $30 and it sharpened my kitchen knives pretty well."
#43
BladeHQ
4.0
(1)
"You can look at legit knife retailers like BladeHQ or knifecenter and see what they carry."
#44
Smith's
4.0
(1)
"A smith's two-sided diamond hone is under $20."
#45
Crystolon
4.0
(1)
"Crystolon Combo"
#46
Aliexpress
3.0
(1)
"You can get something like a 320 grit diamond stone off Aliexpress for cheap."
Discover your audience
GummySearch is an audience research toolkit for 130,000 unique communities on Reddit.
If you are looking for startup problems to solve, want to validate your idea or find your customers online, GummySearch is for you.
Sign up for free, get community insights in minutes.
Tell me more
Get started
