Sharpening Combo Stone & Strop Package

This package currently includes:

One (1) 1000/6000 Suehiro Whetstone/Waterstone (Color may vary. Size may vary slightly)

One (1) Tojiro Leather Strop (wood-backed)

Here are our thoughts on maintaining the sharpness of a new knife or one that has been properly resharpened:

Prolong the life of your edges with a combination of a leather strop and combination whetstone. Keeping your knives sharp is easy with a little practice. The key to maintaining sharp knives is gaining an understanding of how the blade should feel. Use your fingers to feel the entire edge and you will be able to feel dull spots. Strop the edge on leather a few times and touch the edge again. Any improvement? Either way, strop a few more times on the leather and touch the entire edge again with your finger tips.

If you are using leather regularly, you might be able to go weeks or even months without using the whetstone. Once the leather ceases to be effective, strop the knife on the fine side of the waterstone 2-3 times on each side of the blade. Use your finger tips to feel that the dull spots have gone away. If they have, finish with a few more strokes on the leather and then feel your edge one last time to ensure it is as sharp as you need it to be.

If those last actions were not effective, try them again. But if you're still not getting the results you expect, a number of factors could be at play and if you get too aggressive on the coarse side of the stone, you risk over-grinding and upsetting the geometry of the blade. Strop both sides of the blade on the 1000 grit stone no more than twice. Flip back to the 6000 grit side and polish the edge by stroking forwards and backwards. If you're not comfortable doing this you can just strop the knife backwards but I recommend more strokes if only going backwards. Touch the edge and if it feels sharp, finish it on the strop and you're good!

If this process did not help you, we recommend taking your knife to a professional sharpener. Proper blade geometry is the most important aspect of knife sharpness, and a well-trained sharpener will understand how to correct these issues.