Sharpening Stone Set with Wood Storage Box, SHAN ZU Whetstone Dual Grit 400/1000 & 3000/8000 Knife Sharpener Stone Includes Non-Slip Rubber Strip & Flattening Stone & Angle Guide & Leather Razor Strop

I spent the last 6 years in professional kitchens, but have recently changed careers. I still have some beautiful top-notch knives I want to maintain in the long run, so I gave this set a shot.A good knife won't need to be sharpened very often, especially if it's just up against occasional home-chef use. This set has everything you need, and can get tucked away neatly in its box until it's needed again. For those two reasons, it could make a cool gift for some starry-eyed kid just starting thier culinary journey or someone who just wants to learn about knife sharpening. It's (almost) an okay beginner's set and the box sets it apart from other listings on Amazon. If you have the money to burn, or if you catch it on sale, the stones will work (kinda) for making your knives sharper than when you started. After all, the process is just about abrasion. How could you get that wrong?When I first soaked them for use, the ink noting the grit levels of each stone began to dissolve. They seemed just fine as long as i didn't rub them, but once they're gone, you could possibly lose track of which block is which grit. Beyond that, the stones themselves seemed to be mislabeled. I don't like being pessimistic about things, but everything from how they felt on my fingers to what they did to my blades had me convinced the stone printed with "400" was actually the 8000 and vice versa. I even suspect the two white blocks (while noted as different grits) are actually the same grit.Another thing i noticed was how rapidly the stones started bubbling when I soaked them. It made me feel like something was off, as stones I've used in the past seemed denser, and were slower to produce bubbles when soaked. Sure enough, after sharpening my favorite pocket knife as a test, so much material had eroded from the stone that I don't imagine these will last very long.As for the nifty "extras";- The angle guide is just regular old plastic, and began to wear down immediately; so there goes any chance of it holding a consistent angle after the first stroke. The stones are made to abrade metal for crying out loud of course it's gonna rip up plastic. As with everything else on Amazon any listing you see with a similar looking angle guide is probably the same junk with a different brand name so beware.- The stone conditioner (tiny green guy) is supposed to help keep your stones flat, as the process will always wear your stones down unevenly and this decreases thier efficiency. However, in any professional set I've seen, the conditioner is always as big as - if not, larger - than the stones themselves. This helps ensure you're restoring the flatness of the whetstones and with this tiny guy, I just can't imagine how you're supposed to abrade the surface of the stones evenly. Regardless, the conditioner wore down more quickly than the stones themselves. Still, it did appear to make the stones a little flatter for my next sharpening session, though I might be better off rubbing the darn things on the concrete outside.- The strop consists of a layer of foam plastic glued over thin leather waste. You can see the foam is just as thick as the rest of the so called "leather" but this composition completely undermines the purpose of the tool. It wouldn't take a very sharp knife to slice right through this p.o.s. and even if it were real leather it's just not the best tool for the job here. Removing any metal burrs from the edge is usually the final step in sharpening, and for that most folks would use a honing iron on thier kitchen knives. A strop is typically for much smaller blades like razors or hand tools.- And finally, the wooden box isn't as nice in person as it looks in the photos. The lid is larger than the base, and as another reviewer mentioned, the stones will rattle around inside. Additionally, however they've finished the wood appears to have left it pourous, and the wood itself feels very light and airy. This doesn't bode well for storing anything inside that's still wet, so I'll be drying the stones over night before returning them to thier case - which I wouldn't mind considering I might use this set only a few times a year. In pro kitchens the knives we sharpened most were the cheap ones similar to what you'd see in supermarkets - the knives in blister packs for less than $20. However the workload we put on those knives was probably a lot larger than what you cook up at home unless you meal prep stuff like carrots, dense veggies like pumpkins, squash, butcher whole chickens, etc. every day of the week. What I'm saying is, consider how much you might actually need to sharpen your knives.I just wanted something I could tuck away, so the storage seemed attractive. The box was really cool in concept, and I knew I wouldn't use everything in the set, but I got it on sale for just over $30 and I thought "how bad can whetstones really be?". It was kind of an impulse purchase if I'm being honest, and now I've found name brand sets at similar pricing that I can trust will be much sturdier and better designed. All the knives I've treated with this set have emerged sharper than before, but for a lot more trouble than it should've been worth.

I bought this set mostly because it came with a storage box. The box is great quality and I had no issues with anything else.

Very classy box...containing high quality sharpening stones.The perfect quality and or gift.

I am very satisfied with the value of this whetstone set, I have used it on a few of my knives now and it was a great experience.If you have experience and know how to sharpen knives on stone, you can get very sharp blades. I was able to put a razor edge on my knives. I sharpened several knives with these stones, some stainless kitchen knives, a kitchen fillet knife and chef's knife and some aerated blades. All sharpened quickly. I used these on a steel pocketknife which also sharpened easily. I also sharpened a leather man blade which is stainless and a chef knife blade which is also stainless. These required more passes but still sharpened fine.I really like this set. The stones are good, And the wooden storage box for storing whetstone accessories is also very good, instructions are clear, and packaging is excellent. I’d recommend these if you’re looking for a completely set, that would be a good choice

So I bought it on sale, which was close to half off. Glad I did because it's not worth $60.My complaints are as follows:1. The lid was bigger than the base by at least 1/4 in, so it was a noticeably different size.2. The box has two rectangular cutouts for the stones and rubber base, but those are at least 1/4 too small, so the only way I could even get the lid to lay flat against the bottom piece was to store my stones upside down with the rubber base on top, so now they slide in the box if you shake it.3. my 400/1000 stone is yellow, just like the picture, but it has a very blue thumbprint. So vivid that I bet the FBI could run it through their database.Overall I do like it, and it will serve its intended purpose despite the flaws, but it isn't worth the full price, and if I had known I would get what I got, I would have bought something from someone else.

The media could not be loaded.  I got it as a gift for my dad, he loves it.And he sharpens his knives at home with some old school stones.He loves it and he says it's easy to sharpen the knives if used properly.

This kit is well worth the money. I was blown away by how elegant the box is. I highly reccomend

Awesome product. Lots of value for a reasonable price.