SHARPAL181N Dual-Grit Diamond Sharpening Stone File Garden Tool Knife Sharpener with Leather Strop Coarse 325 / Extra Fine 1200 Grit for Lawn Mower Blade, Axe, Hatchet, Hedge Shears, Chisels, Drills

This thing is amazing. The grits are perfect. I bought one for use as a field sharpener, but started using it in my wood shop for my drawknife. Then I started using it in the kitchen (I even do the large chef’s knife with it), so I’m buying another. The two grits are perfect and the strop works (I did not apply any compound to it). Some complain about the strop being too tight. When you first get it, put the sheath on a few inches until it feels like it’s stuck, then give it a handful of hard rotational twists. Then push it on a couple more inches and repeat. Then push it on the rest of the way and give it a handful more rotational twists. 2 minutes’ worth of work and you will have no problems taking the strop on and off. My only complaint is that I think the paracord is stupid and gimmicky. Anybody who brings a sharpener this nice into the bush is going to have paracord in their pack. If the paracord ever comes loose by accident it will be a pain to re-wrap it. I would much prefer a plastic/leather/etc. grip for the handle. That said, this is a very minor quibble that doesn’t detract from my enthusiasm for this sharpener.18 MONTH UPDATE:I have two of these. One is in my wood shop and gets moderate use on things like my drawknife and my axes. That said, I have re-beveled a few folding knives taking of a LOT of steel (like from 25* bevel to 10*) and also a hatchet. It has held up flawlessly. The other one is in my kitchen and it gets an absolute workout. On my personal knives (the GOOD ones) I strop daily and then resharpen on the fine side about once every week or two. On my (ahem) wife’s knives (which I hate), I pretty much have to grind them down frequently starting with the coarse side because they are not the best steel . So this one gets a lot of use. It’s also the sharpener I use on my beater folding knives when I come in from doing yard work and that often involves repairing damage (plunge your knife into bags of gravel, or into dirt to cut holes in weedblock fabric and you’ll do lots of damage). Again, it has held up flawlessly. I cannot find any spots where diamonds have come off. It has held up as well as the DMT stone in my woodshop which is used for all my planes and chisels.I have applied green compound to the strops on both. But I rarely use them. They are perfectly serviceable strops and would work great in the bush when you don’t want to carry a strop with you because it makes it an all-in-one package. But I am never really in that kind of situation and even camping I have a small strop in my kit – in the kitchen I have a really long one. The issue is just that because the sheath strop is curved to the seams, you can’t get right up to the handle on some knives. It’s also pretty thick leather so you are more likely to round your edge after repeated stroppings (I use 2oz leather for wooden strops). Now this quibble is really because I’m a perfectionist and using a FIELD sharpening stone for precision work. For normal field use, the strop really works great – it’s a very small compromise. In other words, if I don’t have a wooden strop available, I’m not going to complaining using the sheath strop. To add more clarity, I used the sheath strop for the kitchen one for over a year before I got around to making a strop to permanently live there. So yea, the strop works.I’m most impressed that it has held up all this time under constant use. Also, the paracord I originally complained about has not come loose, which is good. But I’d still rather see a plastic/composite handle.Also, I saw someone complaining about the strop not holding compound. I had no issues. The compound goes on the rough side; not the smooth side.39 MOTH UPDATE:Both of them are still going strong and there has been ZERO drop off in performance. The one I keep in my basement woodshop has re-profiled the edges of countless knives (I have quite the knife collection) and even some subtle blade shape re-profiling and knife restoration. I have been absolutely BRUTAL with it. I keep waiting for the diamond loss and it just hasn’t happened. Additionally, any concern about the paracord is gone as none of it has come loose. I’m about to purchase a third one strictly for backpacking/hiking and I will cut off the handle keeping the diamond part and leather strop/sheath to make a very compact version that saves almost half the weight (think Falkniven DC4, only with better grit options and indestructible and with a stropping sheath so yeah, BETTER).QUICK CLEANING TIP: To clean off the build-up of metal particles from whatever tools you’ve sharpened just use a white eraser like the Papermate ones that are about 2.5” x 1”.52 MONTH UPDATEStill going strong. The one I keep in my basement gets absolutely tortured. Even more knives I’ve changed bevel angles on with this thing, including one I’m doing today. Some of these knives I’m doing are more than 30 minutes minutes of just filing away nonstop. That's in addition to the regular sharpening tasks I use it for. Absolutely no diamond loss whatsoever. The paracord is still tight (boy was I initially wrong about the paracord). I had previously stated that I don’t use the strop much because it’s curved making it hard to get do to the choil on a knife blade. Well, I found a solution to that which is to just add green compound to the edge of the strop. I’ve taken it on a few camping trips and used it this way and it works just fine. I just switch over to the edge right down towards the handle/tang/choil part of the blade and it works flawlessly. So now I can’t even complain about that. I’ve attached a picture of how I have compound on both the rough side and the edge.I know I’ve gone on and on about this field stone. I swear, I’ve never gotten anything from this company and they’ve never e-mailed to say “hi” or anything. It’s just that good of a stone. I own a lot of knives and I have a lot of old-timey woodworking handtools so I’m a bit of a sharpening nut. This is the best thing out there for field use that I’ve ever tried.

I originally got this to sharper my hatchet and my mattock, but decided to try it out on some of my woodworking tools like some of my draw knives, plane irons, and chisels (can't use the 20° guide for those, though, but you can just follow the angle of the existing edge).And this thing works SOOO much better than I was expecting!! Normally, sharpening my tools is a massive chore that requires a lot of skill that I don't have much of.But this thing makes it SOOOO much easier!! I can get a razor sharp edge in no time with it!It wouldn't work the best to reshape an edge/take out dings, but for just keeping things sharp, it's an absolute gem and has earned a spot in my shop apron!

Does a good job and the diamond seems well attached. Don't assume the 20 degree guide is much use as it still depends on you holding it right and personally I use 17 degrees on most knives and 14 on my fillet knives.

This is the best hand held hand sharpeners that I have purchasedEase of use,sharpens very well,with the angle guides 20° it surprised me how sharp I was able to get a Aus-8Pocket knife I'm able to slice paper towel after the course and fine sideand stropping impressed the heck out of me. Definitely will buy again

Sturdy blade. Each side of blade has different grits. Sharpened pruning shears with ease.

Works well for unique blades where a sharpening stone does not work. It is a good portable size that is easier to manuever and store

Best hand held sharpener I've had.

Great sharpener for knives and small tools