Review on Ultimate Sharpening Stone Knife Whetstone Sharpener: Achieve Razor-Sharp Blades by Robert Howell

Pros: Beautiful. Difficult. The grain is clearly marked on the side, although this is not necessary. I really like the wooden base, it feels pretty solid and flat and the rubber mat keeps it in place really well when working with stone. This stone will sharpen knives to a "satisfactory condition" for most people with minimal effort. The edge cuts the tomato cleanly. Good enough? Please see the photos of the cons. I've included a photo of an oil rock that is over 50 years old so you can see which rock will leave you with a razor sharp edge. enough of it. The edge of the stone is slightly (and unevenly) bevelled, making it impossible to properly sharpen the first 2mm of the blade (in fact, this is very important over the several years of a knife's life). Trust me. The stone itself is very soft on both surfaces, a couple of times I cut grooves in the stone which left the surface uneven, required leveling and took longer to sharpen. After the first use I had to use a ceramic leveler. Water to level and clean the stone (lifespan?). I noticed a small crack on the edge of the stone. This happened on first use (see photo) (life expectancy?). After using this stone to sharpen a knife, I had to turn to my 40 year old butterstone to get the razor sharp edge I've become accustomed to for the past 4+ decades. for sharpening knives. And yes, I'm one of those people who will test the sharpness of a blade by shaving a few hairs off my arm, don't judge me. I didn't realize I had a problem until I read all the rave reviews of this and all similar stones (and all from the same ch**a mother) and compared them to my expectations of the grindstone's performance. IMHO - get something like this to prep a knife blade that may have been neglected or slightly undercut, then run the blade over hard Arkansas stone.