Pride Abrasive Water Stone Review

Topics Covered:

Overview
Sharpening Speed
Description of Grits
How long to Soak
How to Flatten
Summary

Pride Abrasive Water Stones are quickly growing in popularity and with good reason. Released in 2017, they sharpen fast, are well priced, durable and leave an edge you would expect from a premium stone.
They easily sharpen premium tool steels like A2, D2 and O1 and are available in grits from 220 to 10,000. They measure a full 8 x 2.75 x 1" thick.
Pride Water Stones are made in Bristol, Wisconsin by a family business that has been making sharpening stones for over 40 years.
They are the result of combining 40 years of experience and knowledge with a desire to make the best water stones possible. Pride succeeded and the outcome is a quality water stone that sharpens quickly, provides great feedback, holds up well and produces a nice working edge.
Pride Water Stones are in a class with high grade Japanese water stones like Sigma and Shapton Glass Stones. They perform better than Norton, Bester/Imanishi, Chosera and cheaper imported stones.
Having sharpened with every major brand of water stone, we can say the Pride water stones deserve to be classed with the best of them. Their combination of speed, durability and finish is as good or better than any we have used.
They are made with a vitrified bond which gives them a responsive feel and provides great feedback as opposed to resin bonded stones. They feel firm under the blade and do not have that soft, mushy feel so many water stones have.
Pride designed these stones for work. They are meant to be used and used hard. They make the normally arduous job of sharpening much easier while saving you considerable time.
Comparison of Pride 8k and Shapton Pro 8k

The grit rating of these two stones is comparable but the Pride did remove steel significantly faster than The Shapton Pro.

We also tested the sharpening speeds of the Pride Abrasive 1000, 3000, 6000, 8000 and 10,000 girt stones. All these grits sharpened at a very fast rate. They were faster than any other stone we've used with the exception of the Shapton Glass Stone. While they were faster than the Shapton Professional Series, the were about even with Shapton Glass Stones.

Pride Abrasive Grits and Uses
220 Grit The Pride Abrasive 220 Water Stone is a beast and perfect for repairing nicked, severely damaged or severely worn blades. It is best used to re-profile or create a secondary bevel on knives and tools. Like the other Pride stones, it removes steel at a very fast rate. It is significantly faster than other extra-coarse water stones we tested.
400 Grit The Pride Abrasive 400 Water Stone is perfect for repairing nicked, damaged or severely worn blades. For further refinement you can progress directly to the 1000 or 3000 grit stones. It is fast enough that you can use it to re-profile or create a secondary bevel.
600 Grit The Pride Abrasive 600 Water Stone is perfect for repairing nicked, damaged or severely worn blades. For further refinement you can easily progress to the 1000 or 3000 grit stones.

Pride 600 Grit

1000 Grit The Pride Abrasive 1000 Water Stone is an all-purpose grit. It provides a finished edge for many day to day cutting tasks and is the most popular grit sold.
Like the other Pride stones, it removes steel at a very fast rate. We have never seen another 1000 grit water stone remove steel as quickly yet still leave such a sharp edge.
It is fast enough that you can use it to repair damaged and worn blades and fine enough to leave a finished worked edge for many everyday cutting jobs. You can jump directly from the 220 or 400 stone or use it as a stand-alone stone.

Pride 1000 Grit

3000 Grit The Pride Abrasive 3000 Water Stone is the lowest grit to be considered a finishing stone. It provides a finished edge for many sharpening applications.
The 3000 removes steel at an exceptionally fast rate. It is by far the fastest water stone we've seen in this grit range. We have never seen another stone is this class remove steel as quickly yet still leave such a nice polish.
It is fast enough that you can jump directly from the 220 or 400 stone. It will quickly remove the scratches from these coarser grits.
6000 Grit The Pride Abrasive 6000 Water Stone is a finishing stone. It provides a finished edge for most chefs and woodworkers and is the most popular grit used for putting a final polish on knives and tools.
It is the fastest working 6000 grit water stone we have ever tested yet provides the polished you expect from a 6000 grit stone. You can jump directly from the 1000 to the 6000 grit stone yet hard enough that it retains its flatness well.

Pride 6000 Grit

8000 Grit The Pride Abrasive 8000 Water Stone is a polishing stone. It provides a scaple-like finish and mirror edge on knives and tools and is the grit most straight razor users are satisfied with.
Like the other Pride stones, it removes steel at a very fast rate yet hard enough that it retains its flatness well. The 8,000 grit cuts faster than a leading Japanese manufacturer yet provides the razor edge you expect from a 8000 grit stone.
It cuts quickly for an 8k stone and you can jump directly to it from the 1000 or 3000 grit. If you are progressing from a 4-6k stone, you will only need to take a few passes to remove the scratches.
10,000 Grit
The Pride Abrasive 10,000 Water Stone creates a scary sharp edge. It puts an incredible polish on knives and tools and is the grit even the most discerning woodworkers and straight razor users are satisfied with.
Even at this very fine grit level it removes steel at a very fast rate. It is definitely the hardest of the Pride water stones and rarely needs to be flattened.
The 10,000 grit provides the high mirror polish you expect from a 10,000 grit stone. It is fast enough that you can jump directly directly from the 3000 grit. If you are progressing from a 6-8k stone you will only need to take a minimal number of passes to remove the scratches.

How Long to Soak?
Like any good water stone, they should be soaked in water prior to use. They do not need an excessive soak time. Soak them for 10-15 minutes and you're ready to go. We have had them soaking for as long as 48 hours and have had no problems. I suspect they can be left in water much longer without any problems.
Are they flat? Do they need to be lapped?
All the Pride Abrasive stones we tested were dead flat right out of the box. But like all water stones they need to be flattened periodically. They do hold up well to rigorous sharpening and do not need to be lapped as frequently as some other water stones.
Pride has three different flattening stones available and their large, 10 x 6 flattening stones make the job go much faster.

Summary
If your main reason for sharpening is to have sharp knives and tools that you are going to use, you'll be very happy with Pride Abrasive Water Stones.
We have tested and used nearly every major brand of water stone and we have extensively tested the Pride Abrasive stones. We believe the Pride water stones are comparable to the Shapton Glass Stone Series and that these are the two best water stones available for practical, real world sharpening applications.
Shapton Glass Stones have been my finishing stone for several years so I'm very familiar with them. The biggest difference between the Pride and Shapton Glass is that the Shaptons have a softer feel under the blade. They give the feeling that if you apply too much pressure or make one errant stroke you will dig your blade into the stone (and trust me, you will). This is not the case with the Prides.
While I was testing the speed of the Prides, I was applying a good about of pressure down onto the stones. I had no trouble even when I misfired on a couple of strokes. Not a mark on them.
Pride Abrasive has done a remarkable job of finding that perfect balance of speed and durability that makes these stones different from all others.
The more I use them, the more we like them. You will not be disappointed with this water stone.
To see our full line of Pride Water Stones click here - Pride Abrasive Water Stones for Sale
To see more sharpening related articles click here - More Sharpening Articles
Published by Michael Poe - Best SharpeningStones.com
Published Date: August 11, 2019