What makes a good whetstone set? What sets should I avoid?

https://lemmy.world/post/16395335

What makes a good whetstone set? What sets should I avoid? - Lemmy.World

I’m looking for a better knife sharpener for my hard steel chef knife. I think whetstones are the way to go, but most of the sets I see are 4 double sided stones. Do I need that many stones? Is there a totally different type of sharpener that you have had success with?

I have two DMT diamond stones in coarse and fine. They both do the trick and can be run wet or dry. I also have a set of cheap Chinese “whetstones” from Amazon. Gotta say that both sets are able to sharpen my knives. The diamond stones I find way easier to use and a lot cleaner.
The diamond ones do catch my eye. How are they cleaner, exactly?
Cleaner in the sense you don’t have the whetstones forming a slurry on top while sharpening as cheap stones tend to do. A slightly damp paper towel will clean off any metal shavings if the diamond stone is used dry. I don’t think this is a problem with high quality whetstones.