I purchased the tri-hone setup two months ago, but my intention was to sharpen my pocket knives with it. It works fine for pocket knives, is inexpensive and convenient. I haven't considered using the coarse stone for anything, but I might give it a try as a bevel setter to allow me to set a bevel with less pressure than I've found necessary with my 220 and 1K Nortons. After breadknifing (the only part of honing at which I am currently proficient), I've had to spend hours on either the 220 or the 1K with no pressure. I usually get impatient with the time that takes and start using pressure to get the bevel set more quickly. Doing that has produced poor results and ugly bevels, so I may try the coarse stone tomorrow and move up from there to the 600 and switch over at at that point to the 1K Norton. Given my results so far, it's worth a try.