The stone came to me well packaged. I used it right out of the box for the first time. I was very pleased with the results. The flatness of the stone was excellent. The grit was continuous and uniform. And did an outstanding job on my knives. I sharpened many kitchen knives. With fantastic results. The stone cut quickly and easily. The thing I like the most about it was it cleaned up very easily just by running it under the water.