The Best Sharpening Stones Tested in 2023

The Norton IM313 multi-oilstone system contains three large sharpening stones on a rotisserie-like axle. The axle rests in a bracket positioned over a honing-oil reservoir to capture any runs, drips, or spills. A dome-shaped cover protects the unit when it's not in use. With three large sharpening stones always at the ready, this system makes it convenient to touch up kitchen knives quickly and as needed. No need to unpack a kit from storage or soak stones in water ahead of time.

With its 2½-inch by 11½-inch replaceable sharpening stones, this system is ideal for working with larger blades. The kit is offered for general-purpose sharpening with one coarse and one medium silicon-carbide stone and one fine aluminum-oxide stone. Replacements are available for the 100-, 150-, and 320-grit preinstalled stones or in other grit counts for customization. The kit comes with a 16-ounce bottle of food-safe sharpening-stone oil, and the heavy base has a nonskid bottom.

From a purely functional standpoint, we liked the design and convenience of this sharpening system best of all. It's always ready to use—just open the lid, select the desired stone, and start sharpening. The extra-large sharpening surface area was convenient for making long sweeping strokes across the stone. The silicon-carbide stones were extra hard so that sharpening required very little downward pressure. And even with the seemingly coarse 320-grit "fine" stone, this system easily sharpened edges well enough to pass all of our sharpness tests.

The problem we foresee with this kit is that, at 18 inches long by 6 inches wide by 5 inches high, the unit takes up a lot of space when not in use. It's not an ideal setup for most small and midsize residential kitchens.

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Get the Norton IM313 sharpening stone system at Amazon , Sharpening Supplies , or Knife Merchant .