Free tool
Sharpening Setup Planner
Tell us your budget, what tools you are sharpening, and whether you want to learn freehand or use a guide. We will build you a sharpening system from our researched picks.
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Browse all sharpening picks
Every stone, guide, strop, and diamond plate in our sharpening roundup is researched and ranked with honest verdicts.
How it works
How this tool works
A sharpening system is a budget split across abrasives, a way to hold an angle, and a way to keep the abrasives flat. The planner takes your total budget and divides it in that order, because a single good medium stone and a strop outperform a drawer full of cheap grits. What you sharpen sets the widths and the need for a wider stone; plane irons want more surface than chisels.
The third question settles the old freehand-versus-guide argument for your case rather than in general. A honing guide gives repeatable angles from day one and suits anyone who sharpens occasionally; freehand is faster once learned and suits anyone who sharpens often. If you are undecided, the planner picks the system that lets you start with a guide and drop it later without buying anything new.
Reading the result
How to read your result
The system is listed in the order to buy it if you cannot afford all of it at once. The first item is the one that sharpens; everything after it makes sharpening faster or more repeatable.
Grits are given as ranges so you can match any maker's numbering. Two grits and a strop will handle most work; the third grit and a flattening plate matter once you are sharpening every week.
FAQ
Questions people ask
Water stones, oil stones or diamond plates?+
Diamond plates stay flat and cut fast but top out at a duller polish; water stones give the finest edge and need flattening; oil stones are slow and durable. The planner leans on diamond for budget systems and adds a fine water stone as the budget grows.
What angle should I sharpen at?+
25 degrees for the primary bevel and a 30 degree micro-bevel covers most bench chisels and plane irons. Paring chisels can go lower; mortise chisels and anything used with a mallet go higher.
Do I really need to flatten the back?+
Once, yes, and only the last inch or so behind the edge. A back that is not flat cannot take a clean edge no matter how good the bevel is. It is the tedious part of a new tool and it never has to be repeated.
Is a powered sharpener worth it?+
Only for grinding out chips and re-establishing bevels quickly. Every edge still finishes on a stone or strop, so the planner treats a grinder as an optional add-on, not a system.