6000 grit is great for touching up and/or preserving the edge of the average chef/kitchen knife. I wouldn't go from 1000 grit to 6000 grit and be done with it, but at least on the cheaper knives, I did it last week due to lack of time. Now I know I can do 10 passes of 1000 grit and 5-10 passes of 6000 grit in 5 minutes. not razor sharp without taking more steps but very sharp like kitchen food. I made 5-6 knives in 30 minutes. I keep the stone nice and moist during use.