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Our Sharpening Stone Grit Chart

We decided to come up with a grit chart based on 10 levels. Since one person's "fine" and one manufacturer's "fine" may mean something completely different we established a 1 to 10 grit chart with 1 being the most coarse and 10 being the finest. Each of the levels links to a page where we've selected stones that meet that grit range.

Level	Description	Particle Size	Approximate Grit
1	Extremely Coarse - Fastest metal removal, leaves very visible scratches in cutting edge.	100+ Micron	Under 150 Grit
2	Coarse - Very fast metal removal, leaves visible scratches in cutting edge. Most coarse stones commonly available.	60-100 Micron	150 - 220 Grit
3	Medium Coarse - Fast metal removal rate, scratches not as visible. Finest recommended grit for dull tools and knives.	45-60 Micron	220 - 300 Grit
4	Medium - Good metal removal rate, light sctaches edge. Intermediate stage before finer grits.	35-45 Micron	300 - 400 Grit
5	Medium Fine - Minimum recommended grit for final stage of most knives. Edge does not appear scratched but frosted. Finer than medium but sharpening rate slower.	25-35 Micron	400 - 600 Grit
6	Fine - Modest sharpening rate, leaves metal edge with frosted appearance. Edge sharpness equivalent to majority of factory edges on knives, tools.	15-25	600 - 1000 Grit
7	Extra Fine - Slow sharpening rate. Edge is showing a polished looking edge. Very sharp edge better than most factory edges on good knives.	8-15 Micron	1000 - 2000 Grit
8	Extremely Fine - Edge is extremely sharp. Very slow sharpening speed. Edge reflects light very well.	4-8 Micron	2000 - 6000 Grit
9	Near Mirror Polish - Edge is very near perfect. Grits past this stage provides only modest benefit. Leave edge polished to naked eye.	2-4 Micron	6000 - 10,000 Grit
10	Mirror Polish - Sharpest edge possible, extremely slowing sharpening. Leaves mirror edge without visible flaws.	0-2 Micron	10,000+ Grit