This is not for carbon steel knives, they will dull. If you don't know if your knife is carbon steel or stainless steel, then you don't have carbon steel because you would know. High carbon steel will begin to discolor and blacken within minutes of use or when it gets wet and you will need to clean and polish it. These blocks are for cheap stainless steel knives and still don't provide a good cutting edge. One block (1000 grit) was chipped on arrival and unfortunately the shaped block was crushed on arrival. Literally not worth the hassle of sending them back as they are so cheap I just threw them away.