DMT A4EE Whetstone Knife Sharpener and Diamond Sharpening Stone for Use with Aligner, 4 Inches, Extra Extra Fine

Without this stone, I can still get a pretty good edge with just the green X-fine but THIS stone defintely takes my edges to the next level - razor sharp and very polished. At the new price of $14, don't pass up on this. I paid $18 and they dropped the price right afterwards ... grrr :-)Maybe someday I'll also get setup for stropping with some diamond paste or 3m abrasive lapping pads but at the moment I don't feel that these are necessary for me since the DMT xxf does such a great job. I can literally shave with any of my edges honed with this stone.I'll usually complete a full v profile with this stone and then add a microbevel using ONLY this stone at the very end, with either 1 or 2 steps up on the aligner (depending on the blade). Works like a charm!My only complaint is that shipping took a while for this item, even though it was listed as in stock.

Excellent stone when used in conjunction with the aligner kit. I've essentially phased out using my water stones in favor of the DMT system. These particular stones have a small break in period and will arrive feeling a little more aggressive than a typical waterstone of equal grit/micron size. It's not a problem, and after a couple of uses it will become superior in function compared to a water stone. No mud, always flat, fast cutting and it can be used dry. On carbon steel knives, with the right bevel angle you can very easily attain a 3 micron non-toothy edge that is literally hair whittling sharp.I currently use this particular DMT stone as a replacement for my honing steel/rod. Its certainly less convenient than a steel, but the tradeoff of being able to produce a much longer lasting edge than you can with a steel rod is worth the effort.

I bought this whetstone because I do not have any comparable diamond or other sharpening stone in this grit range.I used it on my wood carving knives and their cutting edges are much more polished and easier to carve with than before I used this whetstone.DMT A4EE 4-Inch Diamond Whetstone for use with Aligner Extra-Extra FineI would recommend this whetstone to anyone who is carving wood with knives or whittling small articles. It gives you a much sharper cutting edge than an Arkansas stone will.

DMT all around is a great product! All I use are DMT and a couple shapton stone for a final polish on the blade. This stone works great; it feels like your just sharpening on the nickel plate bc you feel the blade go over the poka dots and listening to the blade grind across the stone sounds rough. But it takes a good while to break it in and once you do it still doesn't feel silky smooth when your sharpening like the green extra fine stone. But work performance wise on my knives there's a big difference between using this stone and just stopping at the green extra fine stone. My opinion I highly recommend this stone and any other DMT stone that you would need/want to sharpen your knives and tools.

This is a must have if you want to put a close to sharp edge on a knife using the aligner kit that this works with. It will put an edge on a knife suitable for all but the pickiest, the professional, or the fanatical.Update 11-5-10I may have found a significant flaw in using diamond stones to sharpen knives and tools. I am not an expert at this, and I have not seen this mentioned anywhere else, so take it with a grain of salt.The edge of the knives that I have been sharpening, while sharp, do not hold that sharp edge very long.First, no matter how well you sharpen an edge, it is not perfect. The edge has little microscopic teeth on it. Similar to a saw. These `teeth' on a knife are not uniform in size, shape, and spacing, as on a saw. Nor are they rigid as on a saw. On a knife, when you cut something, these weak little teeth bend this way or that way, and the knife begins to feel dull.My theory:Those little bits of diamond grit on a diamond stone are, as you know, very, very hard. They cut very fast. They also cut very deep. They make deeper little grooves, on the beveled edge, than any other type of sharpening stone. These deeper grooves make larger teeth on the edge of the knife. A larger tooth is inherently weaker, and will bend more easily. Also, without going into great detail, the deeper grooves cause each little tooth to have less physical support, making them weaker still. They will bend even more easily.No matter what you use to sharpen an edge, those little teeth are created. They are always present. It appears to me that a diamond grit stone causes weaker teeth that bend more easily. The result is that the edge does not stay sharp as long as when other sharpening materials are used.More comment:Because diamond stones sharpen so fast and so easily, I still like them, and will still use them. I may try to find some other sharpening stone to use as a final sharpening step, to put a more `finished' edge on a knife.

Having used this sharpening tool for many years I have not found anything to complain about. This is a quality product from DMT. I use it to get a keen edge on my wood carving knives and to touch up a chisel or two. Two knives that I use when camping , both with heavy blades and with a unique curvature to the blade, this narrow tool makes it a breeze to touch up the edge when needed. When used properly , this tool will last for many years. I would recommend to friends and will purchase again, when needed.

This extra extra fine diamond stone hones an edge to a polished finish quickly and easily. Great quality and value!

Using this X-X-fine stone does a fantastic finishing job on all my blades. Even ZDP-189 which is notoriously difficult to sharpen comes up beautifully with this stone.