King Combination Waterstone 1K/6K

I, too, purchased this series of Japanese waterstones from Axminster (nice company to deal with). In my opinion the 6000 grit is still a bit too coarse for final honing of a razor. An additional 8000 or 10,000 grit stone wouldn't hurt.

Having the entire series from course through to fine is very useful. It might be better to have separate stones for each grit, but that could be difficult to justify if you are only doing occasional sharpening. While it is true that these water stones wear somewhat fast, the flattening process is so easy that there is almost no reason not to do so. In fact, there is a special flattening stone available for just that purpose... or just plunk down some coarse Wet-Or-Dry Carborundum sandpaper on a thick piece of glass, sprinkle some water on it and flatten the stone on that.

As for the box the stones are shipped in, I agree that it really isn't great to try to re-use it for the stone unless you have the time to truly let the stone dry out (these Japanese stones soak up a lot of water). A better idea is a plastic box with a fitted lid. Just pop the stone back into it and button it down. Even better, if you are anticipating further use of the stone over a number of days, just fill the box with water and store the stone submerged. It likes that.

This stone is the one most likely to be recommended to someone who is looking to learn how to sharpen knives. For razors, unless you're doing some edge repair, I don't think you should touch your blade to anything as coarse as 1K. The 6K side is a good starting point for polishing, but you'll certainly want something finer.

I gave this stone away to a knife newbie, but I still have the King 1K and 6K stones. The combo is on the small side for knives but okay for razors.

Kings cut slowly and are forgiving, making them a good choice for a first stone. They are fairly soft and require frequent flattening, but stones should always be flattened prior to use.

To sum up- good for knives, but I'd look elsewhere if you'll be using it for razors.

I got my first king stone with my first chisels. I use it for chisels, plane blades, kitchen knives, and now razors. The 6K does a decent job of polishing, but after that I turn to a flat scrap of leather charged with flexcut gold.

It's a great set-up for razors, too. I just started using the green CrO for the razors and am happy with the results. I think it's a great alternative to a Norton 4/8k, and the price is certainly reasonable.

I got this from axminster tools in the Uk (www.axminster.co.uk) as the Norton Combo everyone raves about was just going to be unreasonably expensive to get in the UK.

It does the job excellently on an old razor that needs a bit of metal taken off- the 1K side takes it off fast, but does not seem too rough. The 6K side will put a bit of a polish on the edge, but this may take a while after the 1K, especially if honing up a chunky wedge- be prepared to lap the stone DURING use a few times, to prevent ovalling (hence low marks for durability- it is a waterstone, and as such wears very fast). I find the rate of wear very annoying- you basically need to lap it after each use, to be sure of a good honing surface. It is quite easy to lap though.

If you get this, I reccomend getting the artificial Nagura stone for use on the 6K side- not to build slurry, I tried that and found it counter-productive, but to clean it- run it under the tap and give it a quick scrub with the Nagura, and it will be clean and fresh as new. I like this feature of it a lot- very different from an oilstone, which is a pain in the arse to clean when it starts to "glaze".

There isn't much stone here, for a fast wearing stone, but for razors, it should last for ages unless you are repairing abused razors every day.

A razor can come off the 6K side shaving sharp, but not REALLY sharp, nor particularly smooth.

Having to fill it with water isn't to annoying for this stone- it only comes out if I bought an antique razor and need to work on it a bit, so I'm going to be settling down for a bit to do it- make a cup of tea while it soaks: a watched stone never fills...

Packaging sucks- a cardboard box, which goes crinkly because you end up putting it away before it is dry throughout. I don't mind making a decent box for a stone, so I should get round to doing this, especially as the stone is so delicate.

For the price (£15.28), a very decent piece of kit, worth getting if you live in the UK and expect to repair a few ebay razors.