Diamond Knife Sharpening Steel - 12 inch Professional Diamond Coated Honing Steel, Premium Knife Sharpener Rod for All Knives, Lightweight & Durable

This is a hefty tool than performs really well thanks to its coarse encrustation of diamonds. I enjoy the sound and feel of the grit on steel.

I do use a steel to hone my knives after every use... but this item puts an edge on them I haven't seen in quite a long while

A little disappointed at first as this is not a solid bar type honer. However, after my first use I couldn't be more delighted with it. It's oval shape produces what I think is a better edge than a typical round bar type with diamond impregnation. I instantly set to work putting razor sharp edges on every knife in my kitchen in no time flat. It's long size makes it adaptable for any size blade and increases the safety when in use. I gave it four stars only because being hollow I'm not sure how well it will wear, however even with the solid round rod it subject to the wear and tear on the diamond impregnation so I suspect this will be holding up as well as any other. My last sharpener was a round stone type which broke easily the first time it was dropped. Not only is this well made sharpener quite a bit stronger it puts every bit of sharp and edge on my blades as well as any other I have ever used including those electrical ones that put excessive wear on your blades. I recommend this sharpener as it is a quality and excellent value for the price.

Really nice quality. I have had several similar ones over the years and this one is really well made and better quality than most others.

Most excellent product. I have struggled for decades with steel rod sharpeners and water stones. I eventually get my quality knives sharpened after a lot of time and frustration. This product gets my knives sharpened in no time.

This steel allows me to keep my knives razor sharp! I'm very happy with it!

I paid about $20 for this sharpener; most of its competitors were ~$100. Maybe it won't last, but it seems every bit as robust as the more expensive versions.

IF I might start here, I have been sharpening knives for nearly my entire life, starting before I was 8 years old and have been a fan of many knife steels ranging from crappy Pakistani made buck clones to the finest stainless steels and mainly high carbon knifes. I have knives that are 100 years old and refuse to use some stones for apparent reasons. One of my first stones was an old Norton whet stone and morphed into many other 'stones' including Arkansas' (from white to black), Indias' either oil or 'spit' and dozens of other stones. About 30 years back I ventured into 'diamond' sones and have come to conclude that some are better than others depending on what you trying to sharpen. I originally hated stainless blades because it was so hard to find the proper grit whet 'stone' to get it sharp without spending 3 days working the knife over and over. I came over to diamond stones for different reasons, but what I soon found was to use one properly, find one with a very high grit (1000 or above) and apply very little downward pressure of the blade. Just 'touching' the stone repeatedly will be better than too much force. I have a set of Henkle chef's knives I've had for more than 30 years', and they show very little sharpening wear while using a 1200 grit Jewel Stick just for touch-ups. Which brings me to this Levinchy hone. First, it might be claiming a 700 grit, but it has some "big" particles of stone that will grab the edge and cause you to drag it along a single point of the hone, making a flat spot on the edge. I found that using an old file or other un-needed scrap of steel to run over the hone repeatedly, breaking those big chunks down will improve your making a knife sharp instead of repeated tries at another spot of the stick. I've tried other sharpening tricks like many of the powered/belted styles but usually they just burn more steel away if you use the wrong grit belts or wheel, so I would suggest to the novice to buy a Lansky 5 stone kit (variable angel- 20-30 degree) to establish the edge angle and use a 1000 or finer oval hone to do your touch ups. Lastly, the only trick I have not tried was to use a reverse rotating bench grinder with a cardboard disc coated with rouge. (The ad says the Levinchy is made in Japan, by the way) Just so you know. Use your own discression.