What makes a good whetstone set? What sets should I avoid?

Usernameblankface@lemmy.world to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 90 points –

I'm looking for a better knife sharpener for my hard steel chef knife. I think whetstones are the way to go, but most of the sets I see are 4 double sided stones. Do I need that many stones?

Is there a totally different type of sharpener that you have had success with?

Edit: I should add that I like my knife very sharp, and I have a few tiny chips in the cutting edge from a cheap drag-through sharpener.

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I have two DMT diamond stones in coarse and fine. They both do the trick and can be run wet or dry. I also have a set of cheap Chinese “whetstones” from Amazon. Gotta say that both sets are able to sharpen my knives. The diamond stones I find way easier to use and a lot cleaner.

The diamond ones do catch my eye. How are they cleaner, exactly?

Cleaner in the sense you don’t have the whetstones forming a slurry on top while sharpening as cheap stones tend to do. A slightly damp paper towel will clean off any metal shavings if the diamond stone is used dry. I don’t think this is a problem with high quality whetstones.