IdahoneFine Ceramic Sharpening Rod (12", Black Handle)

I have an array of knives that include kitchen knives, pocketknives, and camping/survivalist knives and I am also a woodworker where sharp edges are mandatory. I have dozens of different types of stones and rods and have learned over the years how to keep a keen edge on my cutting tools. I find different steels respond differently to differing honing materials. What works for a hard stainless doesn’t necessarily work well on a high carbon steel. The array of different steels around today seems endless. I took this ceramic rod to the kitchen and without a doubt, it improved every edge on every knife (a variety of common stainless steels). Then I tried it on my S35VN knife. S35VN steel is a modern stainless and is one of the toughest and hardest steels available, and generally takes quite the effort to get a good edge on it. This ceramic rod worked excellent on it. I made a dozen passes on each side and then a few passed on my Translucent Arkansas stone. The knife was nearly sharp enough to shave with. Needless to say, I am very happy with this rod. It is a very fine grit rod so it won’t restore a blunted edge but seems to remove metal well and will put a keen cutting edge on a reasonably sharp knife.Ceramic rods are fragile and need to be handled carefully. I created a holder for mine out of clear plastic tube, foam supports, and some end-caps. This will protect it from impacts and knocks. They also need to be cleaned often. This may be bothersome for some, but it goes with the nature of the material.

This sharpener is well make. It works better than any steel sharpener that I have used. It keeps our nice knives sharp and ready to use. I do not have to use my sharpening stone as near as often because this ceramic sharpener works so well. Definitely worth the price.

I use this hone frequently on my lower to mid-grade knives. It brings them to razor sharpness in a few passes. For the much harder VG10 Japanese steels such as Shun's VGMax I still break out my Japanese wet stones and diamond polishing paste-laden strops. The Idahone works great for quick daily maintenance of German grade steel (Rockwell 56-58) and below.IMO, it's hardly necessary to own a traditional knife steel in addition to a good quality ceramic rod. A ceramic rod both straightens and polishes your cutting edge, whereas a steel just straightens it without much polishing.I am not sure the ceramic on this Idahone rod is any better than $20 rods but the handle is excellent quality plastic and very secure. The rod is a good diameter to accept a Wedgek Angle Guide without sliding around:https://www.amazon.com/Wedgek-Guides-Sharpening-Ceramic-Diamond/dp/B01N7MSM57/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1523996183&sr=8-16&keywords=angle+guide+for+knife+sharpeningRemember to put a cutting board beneath your hone and always hone away from your body, unlike some of the YouTube knife "experts" who hold the hone upright in one hand while slicing down with the other hand. That method probably works 99.9%, then ouch – missing fingers!

The ceramic rod is high quality and I could immediately see grey streaks from metal shavings being honed away as I started to use it. But it loses a star because the rod is inserted at a slightly crooked angle into the wooden handle on mine. Not extreme, but immediately noticeable to me. For $40 I expected it to be straight. Whatever, it works great and I'm sure it will last me for life. 🙄

Much better than my steel rod - quickly sharpened the knives to a finer edge. Nice heavy weight. If you haven't learned how to use a sharpening rod, do it. The knives come out much better than using one of those v-shaped sharpeners (I have one of those too).

Sharpening my kitchen knife’s

Purchased per recommendation of YouTube cooking show, American Test Kitchen.. Works great..

Excellent steel for my Japanese knives. Cost about $44 thru Amazon.... couldn't be happier