Taidea 120/400 Grit Combination Corundum Whetstone Knife Sharpening Stone/Double-sided

This thing is great! Arrived in a reasonable amount of time in perfect condition. Drop it in water and let it soak for a few minutes and it's ready to go. Works great for very dull knives. Exactly as described. I have two in different grits. Get one. It's worth the money!

Although it works fine for grinding, as a 2 sided combi stone it's not reliable. The glue stopped working after the second use. I only let it soak for about 5 min in tap water both times, then let it air dry for two days after use. When I went to pick it up to put it into the box, the bottom half was still on the counter....not cool!

used the 120 side to remove a chip from my wifes favorite kitchen knive. The 400 side restored the edge and I sharpened the knife easily. The stone worked well the size is just about right. The holder works well.

This stone is fast wearing, as others have pointed out. Whetstones have a couple of variables that determine their effectiveness. First is the abrasive that grinds metal off your blade, giving it a sharp edge. Second is the binder that holds the abrasive, giving the stone its shape and durability. These stones do a decent job of removing metal from the blade, but the binder apparently isn't great, causing the stones to lose their shape fast. This is especially true for the 400 grit side of this stone, which seems to wear way faster than it should. After sharpening two knives I had to spend about an hour with a sheet of coarse sandpaper on a scrap of flat corian countertop sanding the stone flat again on both sides. (It's typical to have to "true" a whetstone when it becomes dished, but that happened extremely fast with this stone, and the extent of the dishing was very significant.)That said, these stones do a very nice job of putting a good, shiny mirror edge on a knife. I also purchased the ANG Taidea 1000/3000 grit combination stone and used both sides after the 400 grit. It also wears very fast, but the fast wearing does make for a nice smooth edge with a clean scratch pattern. Fast wearing also usually means faster metal removal because you get fresh abrasive as the stone wears away. In this case, the stone wears faster than it cuts, but for the price it's a great value.I would recommend these for someone just learning to sharpen using whetstones or if you intend to use them infrequently and are on a budget. Since I bought these, I got an Atoma 400 grit diamond plate and a couple of Kuromaku stones, also available on Amazon. There is a substantial jump in price, but you will never spend a minute flattening a diamond plate because it will never lose shape, and the Kuromako stones are bigger and perform much better.Bottom line is that price/performance-wise, these stones are a good value if you're not planning to use them on, say, a monthly basis. If you're going to be using them that regularly it would probably be worth investing in something more durable.

For removal of chips and deep lines in the blades, the 120/40 grit stone is perfect. This is one of a few TAIDEA purchases; I could not be happier.

Happy with this purchase. Bought multiple stones in various grits.

Bought this stone to help me fix some of my co-workers old beat up knives. The 120 grit side has been a miracle worker as I have now rest 4 tips back on knives that had broken tips. I gave it 4 stars only because it is not the main stone that I use for my regular knife maintenance, but has put a good tip back on my White #1 goko gyuto, that my wife got me for my bday, and I so clumsily broke the tip. Took some hard work on this stone, but after a couple of days, it's back on, almost as good as new.

Thanks

Works great for a lower-end stone, but it seems like the particles are really loose. The front face of mine visibly wore down after just one sharpening session and I immediately had to seriously reflatten it to make sure I didn't damage my blades.