Review: Zen-Wu Toolworks ZenSharp Starter Kit

Affordable Sharpening-Stone Kit Delivers

My sharpening stones have evolved stepwise since I began woodworking. After a few weeks of using sandpaper, I used oilstones for a few years until I discovered waterstones. Now, Zen-Wu Toolworks’ ZenSharp starter kit has taken me forward by a huge leap. The system cuts fast, is super convenient, and leaves a great edge.

The ZenSharp kit includes four thin, magnetic cards—three diamond cards and one charged strop—which affix to a stout, mostly nonslip base. The diamond cards are coarse, medium, and fine, which Zen-Wu says are 45μm (i.e., 45 micrometers), 20μm, and 9μm, respectively. The cards measure about 3 in. by 7-7/8 in. and, according to Zen-Wu, are flat to within 0.015 mm. A slotted maple block to hold the cards is also included.

The edge off of these cards is fantastic. I worked pine, poplar, and ash with A1 and O2 steel sharpened with the kit, and my results were always stellar. Because I hadn’t stropped my edges since using oilstones, I didn’t use the Zen-Wu strop at first. The pine still felt like glass after a pass with my smoother, a basic vintage Stanley with a Hock iron.

I appreciated the strop when I did use it, especially for my carving tools (modern and vintage). I needed to shoot a board, but I didn’t want to sharpen my Lie-Nielsen No. 62. I took a few shavings with my recently stropped Craftsman No. 5 with its stock iron—something I can’t recall trying before. To my pleasant surprise, the shavings were as good as with my Lie-Nielsen and waterstones.

Using the kit is a breeze. Because the cards don’t require flattening, you just splash and go. They have notches at the corners that register against matching shapes in the base, allowing for reliable, repeatable—albeit sometimes finicky—registration. The base has small scoops along the sides for your fingers, a necessary feature for removing the cards and for keeping your fingers from getting pinched when you insert a card and the strong magnets eventually grab.

The cards’ sharpening layer is rather thin, but Zen-Wu’s website promises the cards will continue cutting and remain flat for hundreds of sharpenings. Replacement cards are available.

Zen-Wu also sells a pro kit, which includes a coarser and a finer card and an additional strop, but I did not test it. Zen-Wu says users don’t need it unless they’re cutting sushi.

—Barry NM Dima, a former associate editor at FWW, is very missed.

Zen-Wu Toolworks ZenSharp starter kit $115

Replacement cards, 3-packs $35

zenwutoolworks.com

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