Premium Diamond Sharpening Stone Kit - 8 x 3 Inch Double Sided 300/1000 Grit Whetstone with Non-Slip Mat, Cleaning Block & Storage Pouch - Professional Knife Sharpener for Kitchen, Hunting & Outdoor Tools

This is a good plate. If you have no others at all, start here and you'll get the most bang for your buck. The performance is very good.I have DMT, Trend, and Atoma plates, more than10 between the brands and the grits. The trend plate cuts the fastest, hands down. As somebody that has different types, I'll go so far as briefly explaining the differences that I see between them all. They are also advertised as having the most flatness of any of my diamond plates. Would I buy it again, yes. Having all of the different plates and if I could do it over again, I'd buy two different trend plates and then just move onward to my Shapton water stones. It would have saved a lot of money and I'd have still been happy with the results. I always follow water stones anyway. Be absolutely sure to use a rubber plate/stone holder to keep it in place and prevent the under-side from getting marred if you buy a double-sided plate.The gee-whiz comparison:The Trend is the fastest cutting plate that I have. It also has a consistent in the scratch pattern for the 300 grit side. Because it's double-sided, I didn't need to purchase two separate plates, less weight. The rest of my diamond plates are single surface and let me tell you, the entire collection is heavy. When using lubricating fluid, they work well. I don't have to apply fluid as much as I do with Atomas. Metal waste clears easily. These feel solid like DMT and overall best value. Could buy two different plates and get four grits. Best value.The DMT is a nice piece of steel, but the diamonds seem to fracture much more frequently and leave rogue scratches that are harder to work out. The DMT seem a tiny bit more susceptible to rust with a very faint reddish hue, even after using rust inhibitor in the lubricating fluid (hone right) and taking care to dry them with lint-free cloth as much as possible. When using lubricating fluid, The DMTs require the least amount of fluid and the metal waste clears easily. These feel the most dense and rugged of all.The Atomas are my favorite when I want a beautiful polished surface. With just a tiny bit more pressure, I can get mirrored finishes and the most uniformed scratch pattern of all. The plate is aluminum and the diamond plate substrate is steel, adhered to the aluminum plate. Atomas cut smoother and even though they are rated at 400, 600, 800, 1200, they actually feel like 600, 1000, 1500, 2000. I have to use lots of fluid continually as the metal slurry builds or the plate will dry and the tool will slightly stick. The steel substrate will gouge and scratch if you are abusive (I tested on one). The aluminum corners and base will ding and slightly bend if you drop it hard enough (tested too). These are lightest of all.If the steel is beat-up, I go to the DMT plates. If the steel is clean, I go straight to the Trend first because it's the fastest. If I need just the most gengle of touch-up work, I use Atoma. If I am putting a very good cutting edge, I then step through the shapton water stones up to 16000--depending on the tool--and will even finish on a stop that's equivalent to about 30,000 grit.