Victorinox Cutlery 9-Inch Round Sharpening Steel, Black Plastic Handle

Since I often see these tools reviewed with references made to "sharpening" a knife, it is worth noting that (name not withstanding) they do not sharpen. (Forgive me if you know all of this). If you took a knife which was actually dull, and spent the day using this tool on it, you would never get it sharp. What this tool does do, and well, is repair the damage that ordinary use does to your already sharpened edge. If you look at a freshly sharpened edge under adequate magnification, (try a BelOMO 10x Triplet Loupe Folding Magnifier ) you will see a (more on less) regular edge. Prepare a meal with that knife, and look at it again, and you will see all sorts of small insults to the edge. These flaws can dramatically reduce the performance of a knife which is still actually quite sharp. This tool performs the task of smoothing out those little insults, and allowing you to get the full benefit of the sharp edge which is already present. The steel performs the same task as the leather strop Fromm Razor Strop 2 1/2" X 23" W/HDL Russia which used to hang on the arm of your barber's chair, and in fact I have a leather barber's strop I have used for the task.

While this is a very affordable and useful steel, I would point out that it is only suitable for short knives. Your steel should always be a bit longer than the knife you are polishing with it, and so, while this steel is fine for a boning or paring knife, it is unsuitable for a slicing knife or a large chef's knife. That said, I find the small size convenient for use with small knives, and keep a larger steel for use with my big knives. If you can only afford one steel, you may wish to consider something bigger that would work for both large and small knives. Unless you have a large slicer or other really big knife, a 12" steel is probably big enough for almost all home use.

This is a tool you should be using at least every other time you use your knife. An actual sharpening should only be needed once or twice a year. Keep in mind that using the wrong cutting surface will ruin any edge never cut on glass, marble, Formica, or any hard surface. A hardwood J.K. Adams TCB-2014 20-Inch by 14-Inch Traditional Carver or bamboo Wüsthof Bamboo Cutting Board cutting board is best.

I bought this along with some Forschner knives. So far, those knives have not needed sharpening. However, I pulled some old knives out of the drawer and this quickly and effortlessly improved the edge. The only drawback is that it does not include written instructions. I had to search around online to figure out exactly how to use it. Otherwise, I would have given it 5 stars.

Buy Victorinox Cutlery 9-Inch Round Sharpening Steel, Black Plastic Handle Now

This is one of the best sharpening rods on earth! I was a butcher for 3 yrs before I graduated from college, These are the rods we always used to keep our knives sharp as a razor! best rod for your buck!! you just can't go wrong with this one.

Read Best Reviews of Victorinox Cutlery 9-Inch Round Sharpening Steel, Black Plastic Handle Here

The description of the product and the title is confusing due to conflicting descriptions. It is not a Black Fibrox handle as indicated. Even though the title says plastic, product description says Fibrox and since most of Victorinox's knives comes with a Fibrox handle one would assume the sharpening steel's handle as well. Unfortunately it's cheap light weight plastic, hence the 4 star. I can spend less and get a cheap plastic handle with the same quality steel from other companies.

Want Victorinox Cutlery 9-Inch Round Sharpening Steel, Black Plastic Handle Discount?

Forschner/Victorinox has been a standard in the culinary buisness for years, their products are built for economy and hard use. This product is for those who intend to really work their knives often.

Save 25% Off