Honing Steel

A honing steel, also called a sharpening steel, whet steel, sharpening stick, sharpening rod, butcher's steel or chef's steel, is a rod of steel, ceramic or diamond-coated steel used to restore the fine edge shape of a blade, and so its keenness, rather than to sharpen it outright. The rods are flat, oval or round in cross section and up to about 30 centimetres long; steel and ceramic versions often carry longitudinal ridges, while diamond-coated versions are smooth but embedded with abrasive diamond particles. In use the rod is drawn against the blade at a slightly higher angle than the blade's existing bevel, forming a fine micro-bevel that restores the edge's keenness. The term hone properly describes this light maintenance, distinct from the heavier work of sharpening, though a honing steel is commonly and mistakenly believed to sharpen a blade outright. Ceramic, and later manufactured diamond abrasive, versions became increasingly popular from the 1980s onward as an equal or superior way of performing the same routine maintenance.