Flattening Stone - The Best Way to Re-Level Sharpening Stones or Waterstones - also known as a Whetstone Fixer, Lapping Plate, Nagura Stone, or Grinding Stone - with BONUS Leather Strop and Compound

After reading the reviews I was concerned about whether it would be flat. However, mine is perfectly flat and I used it to flatten several stones of varying grit (I used this on a 400, 1000, 3000, and 8000...WARNING: the 8000 grit takes a LONG time to flatten). I'm fairly new to stone sharpening (and flattening) and I don't have precise instrumentation to measure flatness, but what gave me great confidence was, after having drawn a grid on the stone to be smoothed, the stone would wear to flatness with consistency regardless of which direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise) I moved the stone. If the lapping stone were not flat, I would expect there to be grooves worn in the underlying stone wherever the lapping stone was proud of the plane. Nope, just a smooth, consistent wear. Works great, especially for such a great price.

Came as promised. I had just bought a complete set of waterstones, and after soaking them for the appropriate time, decided to flatten them with this to make sure they were truly flat. Good thing I did - because they weren't. :)This worked really well, was fast, easy to handle, and did a really great job of flattening the stones perfectly.Regarding the included leather strop... nice to have, but I bought a stand-alone strop (8" x 12") with white and green compound, because I didn't think this included free strop would be good for much except maybe 2 1/2 " and smaller blades. (I was right.)Still, nice to have - but if you're serious about stropping, go buy a dedicated strop.Having said that? This flattening stone is more than worth the price.

A really good flattering stone and easy to use. Could be a little wider but it’s sufficient for smaller sharpening stones.

My Japanese waterstone was really dished out in places from sharpening knives, machetes, and axes. This lapping stone restored it to like new condition - nice and flat and no discoloration. I'm very pleased with it.It is a messy job - you'll have to periodically clean both stones in water, and you need to keep them both wet. I used a cookie sheet as a work surface, to help contain the water mess. Be sure to draw a grid of pencil lines on the waterstone prior to flattening, so you know when you're finished.The strop is small and a little flimsy but serviceable. Nice bonus.

I bought this flattening stone at the same time as a set of inexpensive water stones. They all needed surfacing out of the box, but this made the job quick and easy. It's a good size for the price. Bigger would be nice, but this one was the best price/size mix I could find. It's fast, easy, and gets good results. The strope is a plus, but not the reason to buy. If you don't have a strope, this one will get you started fine. Eventually, you'll want a better one.

This worked for my 8,000 grit stone. It was taking way too long on my 400 grit water stone. I used 120 grit and 180 grit wet sandpaper first. The stone works for final finish, but would take me over an hour, maybe two using this flattening stone. It wasn't worth the work for me. I checked youtube for a better, cheaper alternative.

I needed a flattening stone for my Japanese water stones, and am unable to afford a diamond lapping plate. This stone arrived flat (a key requirement that not all flattening stones meet - read the reviews for the competition).Tested the Culinary Obsession with a Shapton KUROMAKU 1500 grit stone by drawing a grid on the Shapton stone, then rubbing it against the Culinary Obsession stone under a gentle stream of tap water. The Shapton stone was restored to flatness within a few minutes. Note that the KUROMAKU line of Shapton water stones is a harder material than many water stones. When I used the Culinary Obsession product to flatten a softer water stone (double sided 800 grit/3000 grit), the process took very little time to get the desired flatness.Very pleased with this flattening stone. By the way, the flattening stone is a decent size, slightly larger than my water stones - a good feature in a lapping plate or flattening stone.Note that the leather strop is sort of OK. The problem I had was with the green polishing compound. I could not get an even layer of the compound onto the strop. Maybe the compound needed softening or something. The instructions said to rub the compound onto the leather like using a crayon. However, the compound would not cooperate. Since I don't normally strop my knives, and I bought the package deal mostly for the flattening stone, I did not ding a star for this review.

...I mean that's all it's supposed to do, right? It's not supposed to give you a back massage or mow your lawn. It excels at performing its intended purpose. I personally like to flatten after every use since it requires the minimal amount of effort. If you let your stones completely dish out, it will be much more time-consuming. Make sure to put it under water every 15 seconds or so to wash away the slurry and expose the hard, gritty surface and it will work a lot faster. Overall, I like it a lot. Kinda pricey but should last a very long time.