Arkansas Sharpeners Superstick Ceramic Rod, White

This thing is MUCH larger than I'd expected, which was a good thing. This thing looks like something you'd beat someone with, as opposed to hone a knife. It's about 18 inches long and the ceramic rod is about an inch in diameter. I am under 40 years old, and would imagine this to be an item that I could put in my last will and testiment. I love it!! As for its honing capabilities: I would say that this rod has been my missing link. I will use this rod between my stones and my strop, and for most all of my knifes, it will be the starting point, before hitting them with the strop. I have a BK16 that I had in the field the week prior to this ceramic rod ariving. I wouldn't say that it was dull, but it was not at peak sharpness. I rubbed it on this ceramic rod about 100 times each side, rubbed on the back of my leather belt, and I am amazed at how sharp that BK16 is. I then decided to do the same to my Esee Avispa that has been riding around in my pocket, cutting everything it has the chance to cut, and it is the sharpest it has ever been. Just for kicks, I pulled out my Esee 5 and did a quick sharpness test on a piece of news paper. It would cut the paper, but not anything like the BK16 and Azispa would cut the paper. I initially thought the difference was due to the difference in blade thickness. However, after rubbing it on the ceramic rod 100 times each side, and then on the strop, it would glide through the paper just like the other 2 knifes. This rod isn't going to replace your need for a good set of stones, as they have their own purpose. However, it is exactly what I have been missing to keep my knifes in shape, and the sharpest they have ever been. Go ahead and buy this rod. If you use it like it in the correct stage of the sharpening process, you will love yours like I love mine. I hope this helped you make your buying decision.

Best "kitchen drawer" sharpener you can get. Puts on a clean razor edge after a few clicks. Light years ahead of using a steel.

I've had a ceramic rod to sharpen my knives for over 30 years but the old rod was much smaller in diameter - therefore less surface area to sharpen knives with until you need to clean (with Ajax or similar). This hefty rod came quickly in perfect shape and will put a keen edge on your steel cutlery (not for ceramic or serrated knives) that get abused by the rest of the family who will use but NOT sharpen them! I would recommend this to anyone that hates to use dull knives. Using it involves a slicing motion down the rod as if you were whittling a sliver at approximately 30 degree angle. Do this on both sides of knive blade. I am right handed so to sharpen the opposite side of blade I switch knive to my left hand and hold the rod by the other end with my right hand and stroke blade toward the handle - it seems to give me better control. It is hefty so it will not fit in many knive blocks so expect it to keep it in your dinnerware drawer but expect that it's too big to fit in with your regular dinner utensils - it's at least 16" long and handle is over 1" diameter. Other reviews have commented that their rod came with a small defect on the very end - mine did not but in any case it is not anything that would affect its use so don't infer that it's defective in any way.

It is not a fine finish. Works ok for larger tools. I have never used it as a knife sharpener. Machete or axe...

>.. This is an outstanding CERAMIC ROD Sharpener. It will sharpen just about any knife it can see. BUT, some people on video are using it held out from the body like TV chefs do with their steels. >.. This is not a steel, and a steel is not a sharpener. As has been explained elsewhere a steel straightens out the edge of the knife, not put a new edge on it. A steel can extend the usefulness of the edge, though. >.. This ceramic rod is a sharpener, and is designed to be placed with the tip of the rod on a table or counter and held vertically. That's why the handle is shaped as it is, and not like a knife handle. With the flat tip on a rag or towel, and the handle held upright, it is easy to make even slices down on the right and left, sharpening the blade. NOTE: this tool is not for the finest culinary knives. Many of them have an edge design of less than 10 degrees, and even in the correct position, it is very hard to maintain a 10 degree edge through the whole stroke. They need other sharpening done, usually using wet stones of very fine grit. >.. This ceramic rod will sharpen anything that can be stroked down the rod, or rubbed along a vice stabilized blade (axe, lawn-mover blade, etc.} I would not use on scissors. When thinking about axe or machete or many tools, sharp at the very tip and fatter above, allows the tool to cut, and release as the blunt follows the sharp widening the cut and releasing the sharp edge of the blade.

Nice cheap and easy use

Much bigger than I anticipated but works great. Now that I have been using it for a couple of months, the size is perfect for almost all knives.

Positives: It's huge, I really didn't expect it to be as large as it is. It's a high enough grit to get a blade to shave hair off your arm decently well after hitting it with a 600+ grit stone. And as to why I only have three stars. Negatives: Mine has small lumps throughout the rod which makes it difficult to get a nice edge on a blade, I am borderline returning the item because of this huge defect.. to add, I really feel it when I run a blade over it. I would much rather have a smaller higher quality ceramic rod rather than a more useless larger surface area to sharpen on. I'll post a pic of the lumps that have shown after being used, they show up as darker spots on the rod.