Sharpmaker white stones

[Will Rogers]

I'm no expert at knife sharpening, but I've found that the Sharpmaker brown stones put a pretty sharp edge on a knife blade. What exactly do the white stones add to this? The ability to slice a hair? I don't spend a lot of time slicing (or splitting) hairs.

[vivi]

they refine the edge to a higher polish and more narrow apex.

i don't find them necessary for pocket knives, axes, machetes, etc., but they're nice for my kitchen knives.

[Sharp Guy]

I have the Ultra Fine stones too and yes, you can whittle hairs off the UF ones. I rarely use the white stones anymore. The edge I get off the medium stones is fine enough for me

[MFlovejp]

I use the white ones to make my microbevels

[juggler]

I give a few passes on the white rods to touch up my knives after using them, unless they need a full sharpening (which they often don't). I rarely bother with the UF rods anymore though.

Of course, it also depends on the steel: white rods are perfect with VG10 or LC200N, not so much with K390...

[prndltech]

The brown rods are typically as far as I will go. Often times I don’t make it there, I like what the diamond/cbn does. I don’t even use the white ones.

[WilliamMunny]

I'm no expert at knife sharpening, but I've found that the Sharpmaker brown stones put a pretty sharp edge on a knife blade. What exactly do the white stones add to this? The ability to slice a hair? I don't spend a lot of time slicing (or splitting) hairs.

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong but...

Brown Stones - They will give a rough "toothier" edge that is better for slicing fiber based material (rope, cloth, plants, etc.)

White Stones - This will give you an even sharper but smoother edge. This is better for push cutting like a shaving razor. It would also work better cutting items like paper, hair and cardboard where you push the blade through the material vs slicing.