How to Use a Whetstone: Your First Sharpening
A whetstone is the right way to sharpen a Japanese knife, and it is a skill you can be competent at in an afternoon. This guide walks through a first sharpening from setup to testing, and explains the one thing you have to get right, the burr, without which nothing else matters. Our knife care guide has the shorter version; this is the full walkthrough.
What you need
- A #1000/#6000 combination stone. A #1000 side to sharpen and a #6000 side to refine. One stone covers almost all home sharpening; our guide to choosing a first whetstone has picks.
- Water. A bowl, or a tap nearby.
- A non-slip base. A damp folded towel, a rubber mat, or a stone holder. The stone must not move.
- A flat surface at a comfortable height, so you are not stooping.
King #1000 / #6000 Combination Whetstone
Grit #1000 / #6000, 207 x 66 x 36mm
USD 69 (checked Sep 9, 2026)
- The long-standing default first stone: a #1000 medium and a #6000 finish in one block
- Covers almost all routine home sharpening without needing a second stone
- From King, one of Japan's original waterstone makers, at an accessible price
Set up
Soak the stone if it is a soaking type, usually 10 to 15 minutes, until it stops releasing bubbles. A splash-and-go stone just needs wetting. Put it on the damp towel or holder with the #1000 side up and the long edge running away from you. Keep water on the surface for the whole session; a grey slurry will build up as you work, and that slurry is doing the cutting, so do not rinse it off.
If this is your first time, practise on a cheap knife rather than your best one. The motion is the same, and it removes the fear of ruining something while your angle is still wandering.
Find and hold the angle
Most Japanese double-bevel knives are sharpened at around 15 degrees per side. Two ways to picture it:
- Raise the spine off the stone by about the thickness of two coins stacked together.
- Hold the blade flat, tilt it halfway to vertical, then halfway again. That last position is roughly 15 degrees.
For the grip, hold the handle in your dominant hand and lay the fingertips of your other hand flat on the blade, pressing down over the section you are working. The angle you set with your wrist has to be the same on every stroke. Holding it steady is the whole skill, and it comes with practice, so do not expect it to feel natural on the first knife.
The stroke and the pressure
Push the edge across the stone away from you, or pull it toward you, keeping the angle fixed. Work the blade in sections: a few strokes on the heel, move your pressing fingers along, a few on the middle, then the tip, lifting the handle slightly at the tip so the curved part stays in contact.
Use moderate pressure on the working stroke and almost none on the return. Count your strokes so each section and each side gets the same amount of work. You are not trying to go fast; you are trying to go consistently.
Two small things that help. Sharpen with the edge pointing away from you when you push, and toward you when you pull; both directions work, so pick whichever feels controlled and stick with it. And keep your elbows in and move from the shoulder rather than flicking the wrist, which is what lets the angle drift.
Feel for the burr
This is the checkpoint that tells you it is working.
After a minute or two on one side, lightly run a fingertip from the spine down toward the edge on the other side of the blade. If you can feel a tiny rough wire folded over the edge, that is the burr, and it means you have sharpened all the way to the very apex of the edge on the side you were working.
Once you have a full burr, flip the knife and do the same on the other side until a burr forms back along the first side.
Refine and deburr
Rinse the slurry, re-wet the stone, and turn to the #6000 side. Same angle, light pressure, about a dozen strokes per side, alternating sides. This polishes the edge and removes most of the burr.
Finish with five to ten very light alternating strokes, edge trailing rather than leading, then draw the edge a couple of times through a folded sheet of newspaper or the side of a wine cork to knock off any last trace of wire.
Test it
Hold a sheet of paper up by one corner and slice down through it. A sharp edge cuts cleanly with no tearing or catching. A ripe tomato is the other test: the knife should start the cut on its own weight, without sawing.
If it catches in places, you either have burr left or you missed a section. Go back to the #6000 side, or if a whole area is dull, back to the #1000.
Common mistakes
- Changing the angle mid-stroke. The biggest one. A wobbling wrist rounds the edge instead of sharpening it.
- Too much pressure. It tires your hand, dishes the stone, and can round the apex.
- Not reaching the heel and the tip. Both ends get missed if you only work the middle.
- Flipping before a full burr. Covered above, and worth repeating.
- Skipping the deburr. A knife with a burr still attached feels sharp for one cut, then folds.
- Letting the stone dry out. Keep adding water.
- Over-sharpening. A knife that is only slightly dull needs a few passes on the #6000, not a full session on the #1000.
- Sharpening a single-bevel knife like a double. A deba or yanagiba is worked almost entirely on one face; see single-bevel versus double-bevel.
How often, and how long
A first full sharpening on a dull knife might take 20 to 30 minutes. Once you know the motion, a touch-up on a knife that is only slightly off is five minutes on the #6000 alone.
Sharpen when the knife stops biting cleanly into a tomato skin. For a home cook that is every few weeks; daily use, or a harder steel higher on the HRC scale, calls for it more often.
Frequently asked questions
What angle do I sharpen a Japanese knife at?
Around 15 degrees per side for most double-bevel Japanese knives. A simple guide is to raise the spine off the stone by about the thickness of two coins. Consistency matters more than hitting the exact number.
How do I know when to stop sharpening?
On the #1000 side, stop once you can feel a burr along the whole edge, then repeat on the other side. On the #6000 side, stop after a dozen light alternating strokes. Then deburr and test on paper. If it cuts paper cleanly, you are done.
Do I need to soak my whetstone?
It depends on the stone. A soaking stone needs 10 to 15 minutes in water first, until it stops bubbling. A splash-and-go stone only needs the surface wetted. Either way, keep water on the surface while you sharpen.
Why is my knife still not sharp after sharpening?
Usually one of three things: you did not raise a full burr along the entire edge, you did not remove the burr at the end, or your angle drifted and rounded the edge. Work back through the burr check and the deburr step.
The short version
Soak the stone, hold the blade at about 15 degrees, and sharpen one side in sections until you feel a burr along the whole edge. Flip, raise a burr on the other side, then refine on the #6000, deburr, and test on paper. Keeping the angle steady is the skill, and it comes with practice, so your first knife will take a while and your fifth will not.