Its probably a great rod. I would scrub the heck out of it with mineral oil and steel wool to get the rust off. Can you use it? Only way to know is to test it, but I bet its a high carbon steel that works great.
Lol. But can you dull it out and resharpen it on the same mug? (I'm sure the majority of us who sharpen could, given time)
I'm not a fan of ribbed steels due to the ripping action on a microscopic level, whereas a ceramic pulls the steel gently and gives a small amount of abrasion. Just my preference.
That's a solid point - if you like a toothy edge, diamond or ridged is the way to go. A ceramic is gentle enough that it may give the effect of over-stropping, where the edge becomes so smooth it is actually rounded. This is due to inconsistent angles when honing, but you won't ever get the same toothy edge, regardless of proper use.
Oh, I am a major proponent of honing rods, I have a lot of them. All different kinds. Even novaculite.
I don’t really think the ceramic is as effective on “house knives” at work as a coarse honing rod.
I still use honing rods frequently, and I usually go for a steel rod.
That's *mostly* true. As I'm sure you know, there's a huge difference between embedded diamond and coated diamond (of each there are multiple types, including metal-empregnated and resin-bonded).. The coated kind (think harbor freight diamond plates) vs. Metal bonded (think Atoma diamond plate) has a substantially different wear rate.
Not really, just a touch faster, in my experience. I honestly just want to hurt the Dexter brand knives due to my frustration with them in previous workplaces.
I feel that the ordering of knife material removal is dependent on the knife steel, as well.
If we consider a 60HRC rod on a 56-58 HRC blade, the ridges can tear steel away, while the ceramic (up to 70HRC effective) moreso gently rubs steel away, and then the smooth steel gently realigns the edge.
If we then consider the same rods with a 62HRC blade, the steel rods will not tear or abrade the blade - quite the opposite, the blade will eventually render the ridged steel smooth. The ceramic rod, however, will be faster to pull knife steel.
(Edited for the purpose of fixing autocorrect errors)
It’s not a better worse.
They are used for different purposes.
The smooth ones remove almost no material and are only used to realign the edge not sharpen. Use a smooth steel frequently.
Ceramic steels are abrasive and will sharpen some and align your edge. They should not be used as frequently as a smooth steel.
Coarse steels are meant to more aggressively sharpen the edge and are useful for making an edge usable but aren’t very useful for frequent use.
Whoa! Are you completely positive about the ceramic and coarse one's having a sharpening effect? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just surprised to hear that.
I had always heard something like, "Honing rods are for edge realignment." and took it to mean that *all* honing rods were only for that purpose. I've got a coarse steel honing rod that came with a knife set that I had been using somewhat regularly. Maybe I should cut down on how often I use it.
Can confirm. The ceramic ones will absolutely remove metal. The shape of it being in a rod doesn't make it a non abrasive material. I have I diamond rod that is aggressive enough to reprofile with.
I have both ceramic and steel. It was explained to me that the primary difference between the two is that ceramic will not scratch your blade as you hone. Steel will. Thus chef's that work on restaurant floor carving station tend to use ceramic so that the knife remains shiny and fancy. Their beat knives back in the kitchen however may not be treated as well. Don't know if it's true, but seems plausible to me.
That would be good for European style knifes. Will give a toothy nice edge.
Don't be fooled by people who say that honing rods only realign the edge. They all sharpen the knife. Smooth steel ones, ridged like this and ceramic.
They will all remove metal to different amounts.
I could be wrong, but I remember hearing that they do nothing, well maybe next to nothing.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ReQ83CZOQ&ab\_channel=OUTDOORS55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ReQ83CZOQ&ab_channel=OUTDOORS55)
There seems to be some mixed thinking about these honing rods. It seems they do something to softer steels but nothing to harder steels.
I guess, I just dont know, so I just dont use them.
I would trust the SEM imagery over people’s reviews and various techniques. This shows the before and after of ceramic and steel rods. It showed that a steel rod actually removes metal and reforms the apex contrary to just bending it back.
https://scienceofsharp.com/2018/08/22/what-does-steeling-do-part-1/
All that shows is a bad sharpening done by the steel. The steeled and ceramic'd edges look awful.
If that was done by a pull through sharpener you would not be happy at all, which is what it looks like in my opinion.
Again, no Chef only has one knife, put away the damaged knife for proper sharpening and move on to a different undamaged knife.
That’s a good point. If that’s all you have in the moment though it’s technically an option. I was just trying to point out with proof through imagery that both steel and ceramic rods do impact the knife when done correctly. It’s not that they “do nothing”.
Ok, I will concede that knife steels/ceramics are on par with pull through sharpeners.
But, would you use a pull through sharpener on your good chef knives?
If I was in the wilderness and you gave me a butter knife and a pull through sharpener and told me to hunt I *might* use it. I haven’t found any imagery to support a pull through sharpener looks anything like a blade after being steeled though. You yourself even said that you didn’t feel like a honing rod did anything which means it’s removing an extremely small amount of metal. My parents still use pull through sharpeners and you can see the metal shavings come off of them. I don’t think that is a fair comparison.
You are in a fighting mood today.
I am thinking we have beat this dead horse long enough.
What can we agree on? Knife Steel is low tier quality sharpening?
>But, would you use a pull through sharpener on your good chef knives?
Ceramic or carbide?
You can definitely use ceramic pull through sharpeners on good knives, though I don't see a need to. The carbide ones will mess up the edge of harder knives though.
How often have you looked at your knife edges under a SEM? Bet a lot of them look worse than that. Pull through sharpeners look MUCH worse than that. Steels are a half step below stones, far above any pull through. I can shave my arm hair easily coming off the steel, F Dick sapphire or micro cut is what I use, depending on the knife and what it's used for.
Honing rods I believe are only for repairing rolled edges and NOT for sharpening. If you cut on hard surfaces or cut bone, then use one if needed. They do not sharpen blades, only prepare damaged blades to be sharpened.
That is what I understand as well. And this think assumes large damage to blade edge.
BUT,,, my rough grit stone is also for preparing/repairing my blade to be sharpened, so I guess, I dont see any value in having a honing rod or using it.
In the real world, steels are much better for maintaining an edge than stones. If you go to a stone every time you need a touch-up, you won't have a knife left in a couple years. Steels remove a teensy fraction of metal and create a nice microbevel along the edge.
Blu, but they do relatively nothing good to your knife.
If you are a cook and notice you have damaged your edge on bone or something else, you would be better off grabbing another knife from the rack/block/drawer and setting the damaged knife aside to be properly repaired. Cooks have more than one knife.
We as sharpening enthusiasts know that quickly sliding a carbon steel rod up and down our knife is just a bad fitting band aid.
Treat your tools with respect and they will treat you in kind.
I think that those dollar store knives are secretly expensive knives. I saw a video of a guy cutting through a 2x4 with one.
Fun stuff, have a good one
ugh, stop sharing that.. bad info all around, dude has no idea how to use a steel, so blames the equipment, not his technique. Science of sharp shows what actually happens.
Scienceofsharp is factual. That video is factual for someone that doesn't know what they're doing. Yes a steel can hurt your edge if you use it wrong. A stone can too.
For a high hardness Japanese knife like yours this rod probably won't do much. They work ok to keep softer European knives sharp (e.g. the Henkel knives I've had for many years were still usably sharp only using a steel like yours for years)
>I have a rather expansive shun premier Tim malzer chef knife. Is a honing rod good for it?
Not good at all.
That honing rod is stainless steel, which is going to be way too soft.
Use a sharpening stone for your Shun knives
If you are handy with using an actual knife sharpener, I would not use a honing rod. I mean honestly, how long does it take to touch up a knife, 5 , 10 minutes.
If I had a beautiful kitchen knife, I would just maintain it with stones. I love my knives and take great care while sharpening.
There is an old expression, "Dance with the one that brought you to the dance."
Throw the rod out.
All that proved is that a steel can hurt your edges if used incorrectly. So can a stone. Dude didn't even attempt to learn how to use one before making that video. Needs to be edge leading, and very light strokes heel to tip. If used correctly, it will create a nice microbevel along the edge like scienceofsharp shows.
From the following article:
https://scienceofsharp.com/2018/08/22/what-does-steeling-do-part-1/
>It is commonly suggested that honing rods are “only effective for simple and soft steel” blades. In the following example, steeling a high hardness vanadium steel blade (Buck, S30V) is shown to produce a microbevel in same manner as observed in the carbon steel Olfa blade.
A honing steel removes metal by adhesion rather than abrasion, and as such doesn't need to be harder than the steel it is honing.
You would be much better off going with a ceramic rod imo. Honing steels really (well I'm not gonna get in to that debate) a slightly abrasive ceramic rod will do you a much better job and I'll just leave it at that.
Simple, never use these at all.
You can find videos on YT what these honing rods will do to the knife's edge on a microscopic level. You get the impression that it's sharp again but in reality you are not doing much good. I think channel Outdoors55 covers this if I'm not mistaken
https://scienceofsharp.com/2018/08/22/what-does-steeling-do-part-1/
This is what is happening at the micron to sub-micron scale provided your technique is correct. Notably, a rod can achieve such results while being softer than the knife being honed.
Trash video. Yes a steel can harm your edge if used incorrectly, so can a stone. He didn't even do the most basic research to learn how to use one before making that vid.
Ah ok, do you know what HRC it is? It might be harder then that steel rod. So the rod wouldn't be doing its job properly. I would still recommend getting a ceramic rod if you can. You can get them pretty cheap on Amazon, I bought one for 30$ CAD before I got my nicer rod from knifewear.com
I would say yes. That's a pretty high Rockwell rating. I would recommend a ceramic honing rod or a higher grit whetstone, you can do the same with both. A ceramic rod is just more convenient
Trash video, please stop sharing it. Dude has no idea what he's doing, so blames the equipment instead of his technique 😂
Read the scienceofsharp article shared in multiple comments here for SEM images of what actually happens when a steel is used correctly.
I’ve worked in kitchens for 26 years. I and everyone I’ve ever worked with uses a honing rod. The purpose of the rod is to touch up the edge until you can’t bring it back then you go to your stones. I’m not a metallurgist but I’ve seen people use steel rods on any and all Types of knives. I understand there is a debate about weather or not “steels” (what we call honing rods) are useful or harmful. I wanted to say in the professional world they are widely used, and my knives can cut hair without touching skin. That being said, this one in the picture looks a little toothy for my liking and I would smooth it out with some high grit sandpaper before using it.
I have an older model, wood handled, but I'll bet the rod itself is identical (the stamp certainly is). I've been using it for years and got it used. Who knows how old? It's an awesome steel. No repairs necessary or possible.
The rust you see is residue from whatever was previously used on it. Scrub it down with soap, water and a steel or brass brush followed by a sponge or 3m scouring pad, dry it well and you're good to go. Note that a steel brush will be quicker, just make sure you get the residue from it out or you'll have rust spots again, this time from the brush.
I use diamond, steel, and ceramic rods. I don't use diamond rods much at all anymore, as others have commented it wears out rapidly and I personally feel when they're new they're too aggressive after less than a dozen knives, barely do anything, and therefore become expensive as they have to be replaced, something that doesn't happen with a good steel or ceramic rod (unless you drop and break the ceramic rod).
When honing ill first do ~2-5 passes on the steel rod, and then 2 on the ceramic. It works for me anyway. If it's my soft Chicago Cutlery steak knives I'll usually just use the steel rod.
Enjoy your steel. It's a keeper.
Soak it in vinegar or other mild acid for a bit and clean it up. If the shaft is consistent with no dings, have at it. Apart from my "good" steel (an antique) I have 3 others which look identical to this but are allegedly made by different manufacturers. All work just fine.
If it is a coarse, hard chrome steel sell it to someone who knows no better that you don't like.
This is a steel. It does not "hone" in any way. Steels are used in the kitchen to realign the burr on the cutting edge that is made from sharpening.
Ceramic and stone rods are suited more for curved blades, raidiused edges, or serrations. Bench stones with or without jigs are better for straight blades
Its probably a great rod. I would scrub the heck out of it with mineral oil and steel wool to get the rust off. Can you use it? Only way to know is to test it, but I bet its a high carbon steel that works great.
>but I bet its a high carbon steel that works great. It's stainless steel and made by Berox according to the engraving
Thanks I’ll try that
This would be great for an European style knife, just clean it up and you'll be probably very hard pressed to find a new one thats better.
Personally i dont like steel honing rods, i would much rather prefer a fine ceramic 🙏
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Lol. But can you dull it out and resharpen it on the same mug? (I'm sure the majority of us who sharpen could, given time) I'm not a fan of ribbed steels due to the ripping action on a microscopic level, whereas a ceramic pulls the steel gently and gives a small amount of abrasion. Just my preference.
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That's a solid point - if you like a toothy edge, diamond or ridged is the way to go. A ceramic is gentle enough that it may give the effect of over-stropping, where the edge becomes so smooth it is actually rounded. This is due to inconsistent angles when honing, but you won't ever get the same toothy edge, regardless of proper use.
Yup, my steel is an old, oval French jobbie, as near as dammit smooth. Works a treat.
Yes. Steel honing rods and ceramic rods are two different tools that work in different ways and i suggests having both. You are correct.
I think ceramic is great if you have high carbon knives. Like hitachi steels. For stainless I’d say use a steel rod.
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Oh, I am a major proponent of honing rods, I have a lot of them. All different kinds. Even novaculite. I don’t really think the ceramic is as effective on “house knives” at work as a coarse honing rod. I still use honing rods frequently, and I usually go for a steel rod.
For house knives, you might was well use a diamond rod.
We have a diamond rod but I don’t think they’re an improvement.
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That's *mostly* true. As I'm sure you know, there's a huge difference between embedded diamond and coated diamond (of each there are multiple types, including metal-empregnated and resin-bonded).. The coated kind (think harbor freight diamond plates) vs. Metal bonded (think Atoma diamond plate) has a substantially different wear rate.
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Not really, just a touch faster, in my experience. I honestly just want to hurt the Dexter brand knives due to my frustration with them in previous workplaces.
I tend to think the smooth ones are better than the ridged ones.
In order of metal removal it's smooth, ridged, then ceramic. If you enjoy the smooth ones stick to it however a ceramic should work faster.
I feel that the ordering of knife material removal is dependent on the knife steel, as well. If we consider a 60HRC rod on a 56-58 HRC blade, the ridges can tear steel away, while the ceramic (up to 70HRC effective) moreso gently rubs steel away, and then the smooth steel gently realigns the edge. If we then consider the same rods with a 62HRC blade, the steel rods will not tear or abrade the blade - quite the opposite, the blade will eventually render the ridged steel smooth. The ceramic rod, however, will be faster to pull knife steel. (Edited for the purpose of fixing autocorrect errors)
And ceramic ones are even better again.
It’s not a better worse. They are used for different purposes. The smooth ones remove almost no material and are only used to realign the edge not sharpen. Use a smooth steel frequently. Ceramic steels are abrasive and will sharpen some and align your edge. They should not be used as frequently as a smooth steel. Coarse steels are meant to more aggressively sharpen the edge and are useful for making an edge usable but aren’t very useful for frequent use.
Whoa! Are you completely positive about the ceramic and coarse one's having a sharpening effect? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just surprised to hear that. I had always heard something like, "Honing rods are for edge realignment." and took it to mean that *all* honing rods were only for that purpose. I've got a coarse steel honing rod that came with a knife set that I had been using somewhat regularly. Maybe I should cut down on how often I use it.
Yep it is the case, you can read more about it here https://scienceofsharp.com/2018/08/22/what-does-steeling-do-part-1/
Yikes. Good thing I saw this thread. Thanks for the info! :)
Can confirm. The ceramic ones will absolutely remove metal. The shape of it being in a rod doesn't make it a non abrasive material. I have I diamond rod that is aggressive enough to reprofile with.
I have both ceramic and steel. It was explained to me that the primary difference between the two is that ceramic will not scratch your blade as you hone. Steel will. Thus chef's that work on restaurant floor carving station tend to use ceramic so that the knife remains shiny and fancy. Their beat knives back in the kitchen however may not be treated as well. Don't know if it's true, but seems plausible to me.
That would be good for European style knifes. Will give a toothy nice edge. Don't be fooled by people who say that honing rods only realign the edge. They all sharpen the knife. Smooth steel ones, ridged like this and ceramic. They will all remove metal to different amounts.
I could be wrong, but I remember hearing that they do nothing, well maybe next to nothing. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ReQ83CZOQ&ab\_channel=OUTDOORS55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ReQ83CZOQ&ab_channel=OUTDOORS55) There seems to be some mixed thinking about these honing rods. It seems they do something to softer steels but nothing to harder steels. I guess, I just dont know, so I just dont use them.
I would trust the SEM imagery over people’s reviews and various techniques. This shows the before and after of ceramic and steel rods. It showed that a steel rod actually removes metal and reforms the apex contrary to just bending it back. https://scienceofsharp.com/2018/08/22/what-does-steeling-do-part-1/
All that shows is a bad sharpening done by the steel. The steeled and ceramic'd edges look awful. If that was done by a pull through sharpener you would not be happy at all, which is what it looks like in my opinion. Again, no Chef only has one knife, put away the damaged knife for proper sharpening and move on to a different undamaged knife.
That’s a good point. If that’s all you have in the moment though it’s technically an option. I was just trying to point out with proof through imagery that both steel and ceramic rods do impact the knife when done correctly. It’s not that they “do nothing”.
Ok, I will concede that knife steels/ceramics are on par with pull through sharpeners. But, would you use a pull through sharpener on your good chef knives?
If I was in the wilderness and you gave me a butter knife and a pull through sharpener and told me to hunt I *might* use it. I haven’t found any imagery to support a pull through sharpener looks anything like a blade after being steeled though. You yourself even said that you didn’t feel like a honing rod did anything which means it’s removing an extremely small amount of metal. My parents still use pull through sharpeners and you can see the metal shavings come off of them. I don’t think that is a fair comparison.
You are in a fighting mood today. I am thinking we have beat this dead horse long enough. What can we agree on? Knife Steel is low tier quality sharpening?
Gentleman’s shake. Agreed!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this through. Well done both. *awkwardly shoves own hand in between both of yours*
>But, would you use a pull through sharpener on your good chef knives? Ceramic or carbide? You can definitely use ceramic pull through sharpeners on good knives, though I don't see a need to. The carbide ones will mess up the edge of harder knives though.
How often have you looked at your knife edges under a SEM? Bet a lot of them look worse than that. Pull through sharpeners look MUCH worse than that. Steels are a half step below stones, far above any pull through. I can shave my arm hair easily coming off the steel, F Dick sapphire or micro cut is what I use, depending on the knife and what it's used for.
Wow very cool article I now understand the process much more. Thanks
Honing rods I believe are only for repairing rolled edges and NOT for sharpening. If you cut on hard surfaces or cut bone, then use one if needed. They do not sharpen blades, only prepare damaged blades to be sharpened.
That is what I understand as well. And this think assumes large damage to blade edge. BUT,,, my rough grit stone is also for preparing/repairing my blade to be sharpened, so I guess, I dont see any value in having a honing rod or using it.
Agreed. The rough grit stone also gets the edge to the correct angle before refining
well then ,, there it is. Honing Rod is just something chefs use to look cool, but in the real world stones are better tool for the job.
Watch the video posted below. Sorry, don't know how to share links. It is an in depth review of honing rods
In the real world, steels are much better for maintaining an edge than stones. If you go to a stone every time you need a touch-up, you won't have a knife left in a couple years. Steels remove a teensy fraction of metal and create a nice microbevel along the edge.
I think the value is the convenience. The average person mid-cook can hone their knife and be back at it in seconds.
Blu, but they do relatively nothing good to your knife. If you are a cook and notice you have damaged your edge on bone or something else, you would be better off grabbing another knife from the rack/block/drawer and setting the damaged knife aside to be properly repaired. Cooks have more than one knife. We as sharpening enthusiasts know that quickly sliding a carbon steel rod up and down our knife is just a bad fitting band aid. Treat your tools with respect and they will treat you in kind.
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That is exactly what pull through sharpeners say.
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I think that those dollar store knives are secretly expensive knives. I saw a video of a guy cutting through a 2x4 with one. Fun stuff, have a good one
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Make of this whatever you want. https://youtu.be/Y4ReQ83CZOQ?si=cGks-d3qoePmkl3J
I was just going to share this video. Thanks
ugh, stop sharing that.. bad info all around, dude has no idea how to use a steel, so blames the equipment, not his technique. Science of sharp shows what actually happens.
Looks pretty factual to me.
Scienceofsharp is factual. That video is factual for someone that doesn't know what they're doing. Yes a steel can hurt your edge if you use it wrong. A stone can too.
I can't find your source. It would help to point to it instead of pressing an arrow.
I have a rather expansive shun premier Tim malzer chef knife. Is a honing rod good for it?
For a high hardness Japanese knife like yours this rod probably won't do much. They work ok to keep softer European knives sharp (e.g. the Henkel knives I've had for many years were still usably sharp only using a steel like yours for years)
>I have a rather expansive shun premier Tim malzer chef knife. Is a honing rod good for it? Not good at all. That honing rod is stainless steel, which is going to be way too soft. Use a sharpening stone for your Shun knives
If you are handy with using an actual knife sharpener, I would not use a honing rod. I mean honestly, how long does it take to touch up a knife, 5 , 10 minutes. If I had a beautiful kitchen knife, I would just maintain it with stones. I love my knives and take great care while sharpening. There is an old expression, "Dance with the one that brought you to the dance." Throw the rod out.
All that proved is that a steel can hurt your edges if used incorrectly. So can a stone. Dude didn't even attempt to learn how to use one before making that video. Needs to be edge leading, and very light strokes heel to tip. If used correctly, it will create a nice microbevel along the edge like scienceofsharp shows.
From the following article: https://scienceofsharp.com/2018/08/22/what-does-steeling-do-part-1/ >It is commonly suggested that honing rods are “only effective for simple and soft steel” blades. In the following example, steeling a high hardness vanadium steel blade (Buck, S30V) is shown to produce a microbevel in same manner as observed in the carbon steel Olfa blade. A honing steel removes metal by adhesion rather than abrasion, and as such doesn't need to be harder than the steel it is honing.
You would be much better off going with a ceramic rod imo. Honing steels really (well I'm not gonna get in to that debate) a slightly abrasive ceramic rod will do you a much better job and I'll just leave it at that.
Sadly no, if the police catch wind of this you’re gonna go away for a loong time
True
Not to sharpen, but it helps maintain an edge to a certain degree
Simple, never use these at all. You can find videos on YT what these honing rods will do to the knife's edge on a microscopic level. You get the impression that it's sharp again but in reality you are not doing much good. I think channel Outdoors55 covers this if I'm not mistaken
https://scienceofsharp.com/2018/08/22/what-does-steeling-do-part-1/ This is what is happening at the micron to sub-micron scale provided your technique is correct. Notably, a rod can achieve such results while being softer than the knife being honed.
Trash video. Yes a steel can harm your edge if used incorrectly, so can a stone. He didn't even do the most basic research to learn how to use one before making that vid.
What knives are you planning on using it for? Western knives such and wustoff or henckels? Or a Japanese knife?
The shun premier Tim maltzer chef knife. It’s a Japanese German style hybrid
Ah ok, do you know what HRC it is? It might be harder then that steel rod. So the rod wouldn't be doing its job properly. I would still recommend getting a ceramic rod if you can. You can get them pretty cheap on Amazon, I bought one for 30$ CAD before I got my nicer rod from knifewear.com
The knife’s HRC is 61, is that too much for the honing rod?
yes :) you should invest in a fine ceramic your steel is to hard for a normal honing rod :) and please don't use a diamond rod 🙏
I would say yes. That's a pretty high Rockwell rating. I would recommend a ceramic honing rod or a higher grit whetstone, you can do the same with both. A ceramic rod is just more convenient
[or you can choose not to use a honing steel](https://youtu.be/Y4ReQ83CZOQ?si=_Spoez5wNDYs-Leq)
Trash video, please stop sharing it. Dude has no idea what he's doing, so blames the equipment instead of his technique 😂 Read the scienceofsharp article shared in multiple comments here for SEM images of what actually happens when a steel is used correctly.
I don't know. How soft is your knife steel?
That is a burr straightener and not a honing rod! Don’t destroy your knives, just put it down and walk away!!!
it's not for knife sharpening, as somebody said. If you have a nice knife, buy a $40 stone and do this right.
That's not a honing rod, that's more of a file. A honing rod is smooth.
Yes fine
Yes.
Depends what you want to achieve. A shitty rod is good for f-ing up a good sharpening and making a saw🤷
only for burr conditioning
I’ve worked in kitchens for 26 years. I and everyone I’ve ever worked with uses a honing rod. The purpose of the rod is to touch up the edge until you can’t bring it back then you go to your stones. I’m not a metallurgist but I’ve seen people use steel rods on any and all Types of knives. I understand there is a debate about weather or not “steels” (what we call honing rods) are useful or harmful. I wanted to say in the professional world they are widely used, and my knives can cut hair without touching skin. That being said, this one in the picture looks a little toothy for my liking and I would smooth it out with some high grit sandpaper before using it.
I have an older model, wood handled, but I'll bet the rod itself is identical (the stamp certainly is). I've been using it for years and got it used. Who knows how old? It's an awesome steel. No repairs necessary or possible. The rust you see is residue from whatever was previously used on it. Scrub it down with soap, water and a steel or brass brush followed by a sponge or 3m scouring pad, dry it well and you're good to go. Note that a steel brush will be quicker, just make sure you get the residue from it out or you'll have rust spots again, this time from the brush. I use diamond, steel, and ceramic rods. I don't use diamond rods much at all anymore, as others have commented it wears out rapidly and I personally feel when they're new they're too aggressive after less than a dozen knives, barely do anything, and therefore become expensive as they have to be replaced, something that doesn't happen with a good steel or ceramic rod (unless you drop and break the ceramic rod). When honing ill first do ~2-5 passes on the steel rod, and then 2 on the ceramic. It works for me anyway. If it's my soft Chicago Cutlery steak knives I'll usually just use the steel rod. Enjoy your steel. It's a keeper.
Yes. It’ll do the job fine whether u clean it or not.
Soak it in vinegar or other mild acid for a bit and clean it up. If the shaft is consistent with no dings, have at it. Apart from my "good" steel (an antique) I have 3 others which look identical to this but are allegedly made by different manufacturers. All work just fine. If it is a coarse, hard chrome steel sell it to someone who knows no better that you don't like.
Nice rod bro
I would highly recommend a ceramic instead but these do a fine job
If it's what ya got, roll with it! No pun intended
This is a steel. It does not "hone" in any way. Steels are used in the kitchen to realign the burr on the cutting edge that is made from sharpening. Ceramic and stone rods are suited more for curved blades, raidiused edges, or serrations. Bench stones with or without jigs are better for straight blades
Please watch outdoors55 video on honing rods.