What Do "Knife Sharpening" Honing Steels Actually Do? 

BETTER alternative to a non abrasive honing rod → amzn.to/3tAEObW Affiliated link- As an amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Important🛑⬇️ For further explanation on what I did test, and addressing concerns I "didnt use it correctly" See this video⬇️ ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-65JzsDU_0mI.html I address all of the Comments concerned in this video, and the linked videos. And before leaving a comment telling me i did something wrong, please watch the WHOLE video, since most of the questions are actually answered but not comprehend by them commenter who has issues. Also If any butchers want to send me a knife they have sharpened, and one that has been "steeled" for analysis under the microscope, and sharpness testing please Email me in my about page👍 This video still stand as completely accurate. I literally show pictures of what these actually do. And thats the REAL POINT of this video⬇ Also notice there wasnt any sharpness testing in this video. This isnt about whether or not these can "technically sharpen". You can technically sharpen on a rock, that doesn’t make it a good idea, or the best method. This video is about showing what these do to Your knife edge.

I have a relative that was showing off his $300 Japanese kitchen knife that he was very proud of. He demonstrated how he "sharpened" it on a steel rod, then handed the knife to me. It was literally the dullest knife I've ever handled and had a very visibly damaged and rolled edge. I tried to nicely suggest that he should sharpen it on a stone, but he was in total denial that the knife wasn't already sharp and quickly took it away from me.

As a knife enthusiast ive had so many arguments about the usefulness of these honing rods with friends that work in the food industry. Its one of those things where tradition overrides logic, they almost all refuse to use anything else

I worked as a butcher in a meat packing plant for about 5 years, there were 200 workers on the production floor, so we had a knife room where they would use power knife grinders, we would always get our knives back with pretty big burr so you'd use that steel to break the burr at the true apex then we'd use a smooth steel to straighten and a ceramic for a fine edge

They work very well, i am a chef and these rods are a must in any kitchen. Trust me they really do something, i can keep a knife sharp for years in a professional kitchen setting with these. I use them edge leading though.

I teach sharpening at a woodworking store where I work part time. I'm constantly amazed at how many people have no idea what sharp really is. Recently sharpened a set of kitchen knives for a customer and he could not believe how well they cut. I am not a professional, just an enthusiast who enjoys sharp objects. (hmm, sounds weird out loud.) :-) I've had that discussion with people about honing steels, and as you say most don't want to believe it. I always recommend they throw it away and at least buy a ceramic rod instead.

This is interesting. I do use a steel in the kitchen, but I use it in an opposite motion, as if shaving metal off the steel. I have always considered the steel to be a specialized file. It stretches out the time between sitting down and doing a full sharpening - I use a synthetic double-sided oil stone for that. I do know that over time, use causes the apex to turn to where you can detect the turn with a finger nail. I use the steel to remove the turned bit. I always imagined, since I was taught to use the steel opposite to what you show, that the steel _removes_ the rolled bit, essentially filing it away. After a "several" steelings the edge may get fussy about slicing ripe tomatoes and fail to restore to a fully useful edge. It is then that I get out the stones.

I have used a butcher steel a lot for work purposes in the past. It was always with the edge leading basically trying to slice a thin piece of the steel off.

After watching this video 3 times to make sure I have a complete grasp on your suppositions, tests, and results, I'd like to weigh in. First I wanted to say great video and excellent testing. Being able to see the results under the microscope was fascinating. I am a professional chef and spend a lot of time both using and maintaining knives, even going so far as to offer my sharpening services to my coworkers and friends in the restaurant industry. I use both whetstones as well as a belt grinder to accomplish my sharpening. I have also sworn by using a honing rod (never called it a sharpening rod as I knew it was non abrasive unless ceramic or coated in abrasive) for years, when knives seem to lose their sharpness after much use. Your video has made me question whether or not I should continue using a honing rod and I'd like to suppose some things that maybe you could test in future videos. 1. I use a honing rod multiple times a day depending on the volume of knife work I am doing. There are days I am making literally thousands of cuts before using a honing rod or whetstone to touch up an edge. Is it possible that your tests against the simulated cutting board were not accurately representing wear and tear on a real kitchen knife? I know this could have little bearing on the results, but am interested to see what a chef's knife apex looks like after a few hours of cutting, not just a few minutes. I'd be happy to send you two of my knives, one that was just sharpened and one that was used for an entire day of knife work, to see the edge under your microscope. 2. It is possible to have an edge that is "too" sharp for the task. Earlier in my days of sharpening I had experiences where I would attempt to cut a tomato or a lime with a mirror polished edge and would struggle, but would have no problem shaving my arm, or push cutting paper. I've since left my apex a little rough for knives that are used for general purposes and not cutting meat or fish. A mirror edge is great for cutting sashimi, not so great for making lime wedges. Is it possible that the rough apex keeps the knife sharp enough for the utility of your average kitchen without needing any further polishing? 3. Could you perform real tests using real ingredients to test the practical uses of each edge? I'd be interested to see how that rolled edge performed on a lime before and after the honing rod. Finally, I'd like to thank you for recommending a diamond plate for quick sharpening, I think I'll invest in one to keep in my knife roll and leave the honing steel at home until I've done some more research. I'm willing to let go of the honing steel, but not until I've vetted every last reason why it might be a waste of my time. Looking forward to more of your videos!

I actually like Ceramic Hone Rods alot! They work the exact way for people who are used to old Steels, and they often fit into the Knife block many people have!

Dude- that was the best demonstration of the mechanics and theory of edge, burr, and honing steel I’ve ever seen. Well done…. And thank you very much for this video!!

As a professional knife sharpener I appreciate how you have approached this video and explanation of how a steel works and better alternatives. As a professional chef who can do more work with a knife in one day than a home cook will do in a year I would say that a good steel still has it's place to maintain an edge quickly and efficiently. They never have and never will sharpen a dull knife but they do keep a good edge "clean". A good test of whatever technique to maintain an edge would be to finely dice 20kg's of onions or do a few kg's of carrot julienne. Traditional European chef's knives tend not to have a fine bevel, 20 plus degrees, it's only the fairly recent uptake of Asian style knives where the bevel becomes finer and they are designed and used differently. It's a bit of a rabbit hole but boils down to the correct tool for the work required and the correct maintenance and use of the tool. Thank you for the thought provoking vid, all the best.

Can I just take a second to thank you for taking into the time and effort to improve your equipment, investing into that fancy magnification, which makes your videos even better and even more useful ? Thank you !

Great video as usual, ive made a few videos about this and one i did broke the internet, i swear people were coming out of the wood work very angry lol. your video said and showed everything perfectly, thank you for all the hard work Alex one of these days you need to come on a live with me i think it would be a good time

I actually find these rods helpful when used in the right application. I use mine for very light "tune ups" in between proper sharpening - not repairing edges or anything just light maintenance. I usually sharpen my kitchen knives about once a year and then use the rod after every 2nd or 3rd use. This has worked very well for me and my knives are always razor sharp, but maybe it's a placebo effect or maybe it's only working because my knives are starting off properly sharpened. Great video in any case.

Wicked outro! Also loved the info, I've always wondered about honing rods.

Thank you for continuing my knife sharpening knowledge and removing all the inaccurate information ive learned through the years.

I'm halfway through the video so far. I will continue to watch the whole video, but I have some thoughts and questions to share first: 1. How come you did not roll the sharpened edge in a way that it would naturally be rolled? People that talk about the theoretical rolled edge are doing so in the context of cutting food on a cutting board (vigorous chopping of vegetables is thought to contribute mightily to a rolled edge). 2. While initial reverse strokes are often used to make sure that an edge is "unrolled", most respected knife manufacturers recommend finishing the honing with forward strokes. This is thought to align the edge. 3. Much like with sharpening, honing is often done with progressively lighter strokes as you come to the end of your progression. 4. Honing is for high quality steel that is rated below 61 or so HRC. If the steel is of poor quality, it will not respond very well and if the steel is too hard, it will not respond very well. 5. After sharpening my Victorinox I have been able to maintain a hair shaving edge for over a year; maintaining it only with a honing rod. I've done this multiple times over the years.

Must admit, I prefer when you draw. Love the zoom details, but it's much easier to see/understand when you draw it, like you did. Thank you for making this, been wandering about honing steels for such a long time. And like your other videos, you show and answer questions in a definitive way, which is NOWHERE else on the internet! Thank you!

This video clears up so much confusion. THANK YOU!

I totally agree, Alex! I've never had a use for honing steels. Thanks for the detailed info supporting my thoughts.

I'm that honing rod guy - and love to look like I know what I'm doing in the kitchen. And yes often have success w/it - no doubt because like you say I still had a burr on the edge. ..but I CAN learn and you converted me with this vid! Christmas for me was the sharpening attachment for my Ameribrade grinder - I run it backwards and slow and then finish on the diamond stone and strop(please do NOT ruin this for me!). I pledge to henceforth make the burr, remove the burr, properly sharpen my knives and leave that rod safely in my knife block. You're a good man Charlie Brown - thanks A LOT for this vid. You kinda ROCK. :)

I am really happy to find your channel. After spending the several hours on your channel I still find good tips to improve my sharpening skills. Keep up the good work!

Thank you so much for this video! I have wondered this for years as well, and have tried to find the answer with no luck. this all makes perfect sense, thank you.

OMG! Your videos about knife sharpening is a life changer for me! It's one of those things that is so simple to implement yet makes life so much better. Thank you!

been wanting a truly quality piece on this subject forever and outdoors55 delivers once again!

You should stroke forward with a steel and you have to have the blade at high enughangle that you are actually stroking the edge not the flanks like like it appeared you were doing. Steels doing several tings depending on the knife steel alloy and its hardness. A perfectly smooth polished steel will straighten a slightly rolled edge and will also work harden it (depending on alloy). A serrated steel can actually remove metal and can thus sharpen a softer knife if it is not too dull. In general knife steels are at their best tuning up a nearly sharp edge. Darken our knife bladw with a sharpie to make sure you are actually honing the edge and not the flanks of the edge. With practice ou can feel and hear it when you are actually working the edge and not the flanks.

The worse experience is when a chef uses a honing steel rod on his knife, and proceeds to cut meat to serve me without first cleaning the steel shavings from the knife and I can see the shavings on the meat on your plate. I lost count of the number of times I had to remind the chef to clean the shaving first. And what is even worse is some of them become annoyed by the request which tells me they are totally clueless.

Great post Alex. I will be showing this to some people I know. You have explained soething that I failed miserably to get over to them on several occaisions. Thank you.

Thank you so much for this video. Honing rods have always been a mystery to me. nobody in my kitchen could ever agree about what they actually did, and yet everyone but me had one and loved doing the speedy gonzalez with it. It's great to finally have the nerd clarification on this topic

I don't think you understand how happy I am to have found this channel. A light in the darkness that is the knife maintenance and sharpening community. Thank you for your work!!! I recommend it to everyone I know.

I've been using a polished steel rod with good effect for light "straightening" of a highly polished edge. I would be interested in your take on this type of steel. Thank you for the great videos! Keep them coming!

Love the detail you can show in the videos now. Really helps tell the story.

Superb. Been telling folk for years that a honing steel isn’t for sharpening a knife. Thanks for this 👏🏻

Good sharpening needs different types of stones, a bit of water and a lot of love. Maybe leather in the end of the process. Every other way is for ignorants disrespecting their blades

thanks. i had been using a steel for many years until i purchased a diamond sharpening tool. never went back, but thanks for educating me on the HOW and the WHY the steel performed so poorly. i learned something new today!! -best

I have learnt so much from your knife sharpening video's! thankyou and keep them coming

All I know is that a quick touch up with a steel, opposite direction to the way you demonstrated, restores the edge on my kitchen knives. How it’s working, I don’t care. I just know it works, fast and easy.

Former Butcher here, my two cents: the KEY is to use the honing steel fairly often, every 10-20 cuts, to PREVENT the edge from rolling too much: LIGHT pressure, LEAD with the edge, do the whole blade from heel to tip in a single arcing stroke. When the edge bent excessively to one side, it was time to send the knife back to the sharpening service. At that point there was nothing we could do to fix it with a honing steel. It is probably the most difficult tool to master in a kitchen or butcher's shop, it take A LOT of practice to use it properly and only about 5% of the people I ever met could actually put it to good use, everyone else just messed up the blade. But it does have a purpose.

Wow! Love the finale. Great job😄

Awesome explanation. I appreciate the visuals and advice on what to do instead

Went into this one fearing my 1200 ceramic rod would have to go. Glad to see I haven't been imagining things. One of the challenges I'm having is figuring out if leading or trailing pulls are better. I think this kind of answered that one, too. I should be using light pulls forward to polish the apex ever so slightly.

Thanks for revealing this at magnification. I'd heard arguments one way or another for many years, but visibly seeing the effects of a honing steel, contrasted against a diamond stone, solidifies my understanding of the concept.

I needed that video for so long. Tank you.

Hi, Alex! You are the Best without exception. Happy NEW YEAR to You and Yours--always....

Great content as usual. Thank you for all your informative and entertaining videos.

In my experience, both whetstones and steels have their place. Whetstones cut the bevel and refine it. Steels “get you by” for a while before needing to return to the stones. On steels, I use edge leading passes with med/light pressure. Start out flatter than the bevel and slowly increase your angle until you start to feel it slightly begin to bite……hold that angle. Also it’s important to move the blade in both axis across the steel.

Man i wish i knew/seen this yrs back! Always felt like knife steel felt lackluster using. Then got a diamond steel n felt way better. Great vid and channel

Love your video. Respect the evidence-based approach. So educational!

Well that explains why I have always felt like the steels that come with knife sets were not doing anything. The only one I have ever had that actually made the knife feel sharper was my grandfather's and it has EZE Lap diamond hone molded in the handle. An abrasive one just like you said.

You are a master of knife related techniques. I have learned from you more than any of the other RU-vidr channels combined. Thank you for another excellent video.

EXCELLENT content. And the studio looked good. Always enjoy your work Alex, take care, good luck with the snow this weekend. 👍👍🔪

Excellent. The number of times I've had to explain the difference between 'sharpening' a knife and 'honing' a knife blade. Thanks.

Thank you for the work you put into this. It is an interesting topic. I personally use a honing rod after every use of my kitchen knives, and have done so for 20+ years. The last 5 years I have ventured into sharpening and a general knife interest. I do not have a microscope to film my burrs, so I use my fingers to feel it. I suck at free hand sharpening (and have almost destroyed quality knives that way), so I use a guided system, the Work Sharp Precision adjust. It seems to do a better job than factory sharpness, and way better than any of my free hand sharpening attempts. The only free hand sharpening action I do on occasion is free hand stropping. Back to the honing rod. Both before and after I started to properly sharpen my knives, I find it extends the time between sharpenings, and when other family members (who do not hone or sharpen) have used some knives for an extended period, I can notice they are duller, and then the honing helps. Maybe I have some micro burr. Maybe I roll the edges differently from yours under use. I don’t know, but I know it improves the cutting and slicing ability of the knife. And the last point: I am obviously honing wrong. I use the honing rod by moving the knife with the edge first. Not in an edge trailing motion, like when stropping, but like I am sharpening. Maybe I create a new micro burr? I use a little pressure, and move at medium speed, being in control and covering the entire length of the blade. I alternate sides, and usually make up to 20 passes in total. I could use a stone or a strap, but they are not as readily available (stones need a stable base and the strop use compounds, etc). I do not think you mention stropping as an improved alternative to honing, either, but I may not have watched closely enough. Anyway, I like the video, and would suggest that you try to research what the kitchen knives of people with less sharpening skills than you look like when they consider them sharp, and what their actual use of the knife does to the edge, because I think both the copper pipe roll and the hammering against wood is not proven to be a proper simulation of actual use.

I mostly use a completely smooth polishing steel with oval cross section. It 100% works and with 5-10 light pressure passes before use it keeps my knived sharp. You can even see the difference on the edge under bright light.

A very good explanation that makes perfect sense. Probably why I never used one of these rods.

Thank you for this! I had no idea it was meant for fixing a rolled edge! All this time I've been using it to remove the burr left by my pull-thru knife sharpener!

Careful, you are turning into a Professional RU-vidr now also. Production Value through the roof, plus excellent topic and explanation!!!!

These most certainly have their place in high volume, high production food processing environments. When you simply dont have the time to form a true apex and just need something razor sharp in 30 seconds off of a belt sander, these things are an absolute god send. I take any soft steel victorinox knife and within seconds its razor sharp and with the help of a solid honing steel, it can help me hold the edge through 5 beef carcasses before i need to take it back to be apexed again. And im genuinely confused as to why, but i swear with practice, swiping fast works well. Enjoyed the video, but i genuinely think these still hold a solid place in the processing world or for people who need a quick fix

ty for these informative videos. always learning something new

Another enlightening video on how and what to get your knives sharp. A picture speaks a thousand words and Alex's pictures speak volumes. And Yes! I have a steel honing rod and yes it will make the knife cut somewhat better, but nothing compares to sharpening it to a proper apex, and then getting rid if that pesky burr. I now use a leather strop on wood with diamond paste to refresh my edges in the kitchen. Does an excellent job and it also removes any burr I might have missed in the first go around . Cheers for sharing, however for a number of people this is going to fall on deaf ears..for others, enlightenment! ☀️Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦 MikeR.

My mate is a chef. He says that rods are great for a fast touch-up while working in a hectic kitchen, because proper sharpening takes time he just doesn't have. His knives are beautiful and next level sharp. "I can only work as fast as my knives let me, and a sharp knife is a fast knife," he told me. He absolutely cherishes them because they're a joy to use, they keep a scalpel like edge, and they pay his bills.

your knife videos are awesome, please keep them coming. love your work

Thank you! Very informative you just solidified what I always suspected. Never had any luck with honing steel, then I learned how to sharpen on diamond stones. No comparison

Brilliant video, sir. Witty and extremely educational. 10/10

FINALLY..!!!!!! someone else with a little common sense.. I've been saying this exact thing for years and people thought I was stupid, yet they were sharpening/honing 100 times to my once...

I usually use a honing rod when the knife doesn't feel quite sharp all the way and after using it 2 or 3 times i just sharpen the blade properly. I feel like it helps when you have tiny "nicks" in the blade to get rid of the displaced metal. Whatever it does, the blade feels sharper afterwards.

Amazing fact driven explanation, thank you sir. 👍

This was very educational, thanks for the video! I didn't know what a burr was, so I looked it up; the video made more sense to me after that. The microscopic views were exceptionally helpful. More consistent lighting between shots may have been helpful though.

You are supposed to draw the edge INTO the steel not away. Why does everyone think it is away?

Very interesting video, and BTW your videos are much slicker these days! It also appears that the steels create a very small burr which will then be aligned with the apex, hence a very short lasting boost to cutting performance. It would be interesting to see a properly sharpened & deburred edge after a few dozen goes on the steel. I reckon that it would produce a very small burr. Great job!

I've been cooking for years and have been worshipping the honing steels for making kitchen work easier. This completely changed how I look at all this. Very scientific, very detailed and evident. I'm very glad I stumbled onto this channel, I feel very educated.

I’ve learned so much from your channel, thank you for all your content. So would ceramic rods still be reasonably effective for touching up edges on the fly?

Awesome video... I have used those "honing" rods for years on a Longline fishing boats. During my time on boats I have never heard anyone refer to this an honing rod. We call it "steel-ing" the knife (not English speaking country). We used to sharpen our knifes on a bench grinder sharpener. During fishing and trying to keep up, we just dont have time to jump over to the grinder. So we use the rod to keep the knife cutting if we cut into a hook or even rock. Dull knife is a dangerous knife. but never to sharpen :), just to keep us going a bit longer before we need to sharpen it again.

For anyone with ears to listen, these videos on sharpening have been stellar. They are well reasoned and backed up with some ass kicking videogrpahy. Nice work, man! I'm headed to the garage tk get the DMT stone.

Great video. I have learned something new today, Big thanx!

love your content, I always learn something new

Can you explain the use of TWO strops at 10:43 ? I haven’t seen you do that before. Apparently two different cutting compounds/grit size, but I’m dying for a longish video on the why when and how.

I have used knife steels my entire life in the charcuterie community. I have a set of 3 traditional German steels, course, medium, fine and was taught to use them in the early 1960's working in a 3rd generation German owned butcher shop and locker plant. I was taught to use a leading edge stroke to restore the edge as needed when, lets say, deboning 1000 lbs. of pork butts to make sausage, for example. A few quick strokes were taken every 10 of 15 minutes as needed to restore the edge; very quick and painless. Our simple carbon steel knives were usually sharpened only once a day on average and knowing how to use a steel kept a sharp edge thru the long days. I've never in all my life seen a trailing edge stroke used nor such an extremely course knife steel. Go work in a packing plant for a few years, youngster, and there you will learn what's really happening in the meat cutting world.

I sharpened my knife properly for the first time today and now I'm watching this video while making very thin slices of a piece of paper with the knife. It's very enjoyable. Thanks for your tips!

So interesting, glad I found this channel and your content.

I love science Alex!

haha, the princess bride part slayed me, that was so perfect lol. I have never used a "honing steel" before, now I'm glad I never wasted the money on it.

THANK YOU! NowI know why I've *NEVER* been able to do anything to sharpen a knife with one of those

Love the video effect and rock outro!

Question. Why did you use edge leading strokes on the diamond stone to compare with the edge trailing strokes on the honing steel? Regardless, great video. Plus, your highly magnified stills are truly enlightening. Good work.

Thank you for another great video. I want to add a couple things. Everyone in the world who uses these, moves in the opposite direction. It seems obvious to me that such a movement could not possibly straighten a roll, but people will steadfastly believe it anyway. I find the vast majority of unsharpening that happens to kitchen knives is just regular dulling, not rolling. I think to roll a knife you must be seriously abusing it or using a steel that is more garbage than even most $1 knives have. For a knife that is dulling, a honing rod will tear up the apex, putting micro-serrations into it. Those micro-serrations will improve the slicing ability somewhat for a short time (I think. maybe you can test it?). I think this is the benefit people are getting from using a honing steel. You can get that from using it in the direction most people use them. If you value having actually sharp knives, and have the ability to actually sharpen them, then tearing up the apex is not desirable. This is what I teach in my sharpening classes. For most people, however, they don't know how to sharpen and their knives are abysmally dull, so it probably doesn't hurt, but it's not getting them much improvement either, just wasting everyone's time and space.

Love the cinematic effect!

Thanks for clearing this up. I stopped using the chef steel that came with my knife set a long time ago because it just didn't do anything good. I did the same steps of trying it in as many different techniques as I could dream up and knife just didn't get sharper.

THANK YOU !! FINALLY SOMEONE SAYS IT !!✔✔😎😎

I have used sharpening steels for about fifty years. They can bring a knife from dull to shaving sharp. I was taught to slice the blade along the steel with the edge leading. I’ve worked in a fish processing factory and saw sharpening steels being used constantly. Steels were also used in meat processing. While I’ve heard it said that a steel is used to merely straighten the edge and that no metal is removed from the blade, I know for sure that a steel can remove steel shavings from the blade. A magnetic steel will collect shavings and if you check the edge with a magnifier before and after sharpening you may see a difference in the scratch pattern. A processing worker once told me that a steel is not doing a proper job unless you can feel it bite into the blade.. Some steels may be of such poor quality as to be regarded as useless, and some people may not use a steel to the best advantage, but good steels in the hands of good operators help to keep a blade sharp and fish or meat moving down the line.

I am one of those few people who still use a scythe. My dad used to sharpen it once a year on a grinding wheel, and then we used a ceramic rod a whole lot while out in the field, same technique as this rod. Like once every 5 min I was taught. I would love a video on sharpening scythes - it will be up to me now...

thank you, this is the answer I was looking for

You should have tried with edge leading + zoomings to see if it does a difference. I always do edge leading on steel rods.

Considering that we have, on occasion, had competitions in our restaurant kitchen to sharpen the back of a butter knife by using these steels I can 100% confirm that the steel does sharpen a knife. I also worked alongside a butcher who had to replace a couple of his knives every 18 months or so as he wore out his knives . . . on a steel. At 7:36 you mention there's a lack of understanding. Yes you're right, you don't understand them. Arguing over terminology does not negate the fact that a professional butcher does not use a whetstone yet has to replace a knife every year and a half, and we have on occasion turned a butter knife spine into a shaving implement, means it does, indeed, sharpen.

I've had several ordinary steel rods for sharpening, and could'nt get a decent sharp knife. Then I got a ceramic one and my kitchen totally changed. These days I have sharp knives, and just now I know why! Thanks a lot

Even for an OUTDOOR55 outro, which are typically great, this one is truly a work of art. Bravo, sir.

From my experience, you are 100% right. I think the reason for this myth is the lack of availability of wetstones in the old times in combination with education in professional cooking and butchering, knife sharpening is not included there. If you look at the books, they say „use honing rod, and if knife is dull, give it to service“. My father was a professional cook, and I never saw him really sharpen a knive on a wetstone or something, I doubt that he knew about wetstones at all. But his cooking skills were amazing, btw. For me as a experienced, but not professional cook, knive sharpening is a side job, I only do it for having sharp knives, the food and the cooking is the star of the show. But I can order these amazing wetstones in one minute online, and then they ship them from Japan to Germany in short time. Our Oldies didn’t have that option. Since I learned to sharpen my knifes on wetstone, I don’t need the honing rod anymore. But, I’m still using it sometimes, I give the knife some slaps on each side, so my family knows that something really good will come out of the kitchen. I followed your advice and ordered the shaptons 1000/2000/5000 some weeks ago. I don’t do any test like cutting paper, I test my knifes on the subject (meat, vegetables and so on). They cut like laser beams, amazing. Greetings from Germany, love your videos.

Thanks again for a really great informative video and putting some fudd lore about sharpening to rest. Although I have been making and sharpening knives for years, I’m happy to learn and evolve my craft based on proven techniques.

Thank you! Finished with my steel.