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Pros: Effectiveness, Overall Quality, Ease of Use
Cons: Durability
Great value option
As a beginning freehander I've found these to be a great learning tool and an excellent value. It certainly has a pleasant feel when using mineral oil with it and it gives you what they call "feedback" by feeling a particular way when you've got the angle right. It cuts pretty well and if you do your part you can get a pretty good paper-cutting edge with this alone. It's probably comparable to a 400-ish water stone that way. I've used it a fair bit without any visible dishing, but it's glued to the base, it's not very thick (a quarter inch exposed above the base), probably isn't very dense, and I can't say how long it might last. If you only plan to use it now and then, or make your beginner mistakes on it before stepping up to something better, it's all you need. I don't think there's a better value out there and I've looked.
