Strop or ceramic steel?

[2ManyHobbies]

About to pull the trigger on a Anryu #2 blue 210 Guyto and probably a Cerax 1k/3k stone. Never sharpened by hand but planning to learn. Do I need a ceremic steel or strop to keep it sharp between stone work?

[nakneker]

I’ve been at this about a years and for most of that time I just used stones to sharpen and to touch up. About a month ago I made some kangaroo strops, I made them a little longer than normal and experimented with CBN emulsions, diamond sprays and just leaving the leather be at it is. The only regret I have is not stropping sooner. I like the diamond sprays and emulsions better than the plain leather but stropping brings back an edge or enhances a finished edge much more effectively than I would have ever imagined. I’ve done cut tests before and after stropping...amazing. As far as ceramic and steel rods I’m sure someone else will chime in, I have zero experience with them.

[Bluenoser87]

Forget about steel rods for high hardness j-knives. Ceramic rods supposedly work but I haven’t had much luck with them. I get excellent results with a hanging 3” wide bare leather strip (not loaded). I had this from back when I got into straight razors but it works just as well for knives. The knife has to start sharp of course, but you can prolong an edge for a long long time on a leather strop

[Bob Z]

No steel rod for Japanese knives since their edges shouldn't curl like lower hardness knives do.

Ceramic rods? i got a https://www.chefknivestogo.com/id12cerodwna.html first, and gave it away as a gift to my son
Next I got a https://www.chefknivestogo.com/mac-blac ... g-rod.html which i still have and take to my moms house since it has the coarser side since her knives are always in trouble. You cant really see how much metal is coming off on a black rod, but it works.

Then ended up getting another Idahone fine rod. It does a great job and you can see how much metal comes off. It seems somewhat more effective than the Mac.

I use a https://www.chefknivestogo.com/suerccero.html to clean it.

But I strop on leather with some compound first with the ceramic rod as the last resort. Lots of ways on the forum to keep the edge as you read on.

I have the Anyru you are looking to get and would recommend using strops first, ceramic last then stones for a new edge but that's my opinion.

[Jeff B]

If used "properly" either will give you good results. The rod is more likely to cause you future problems if not used "properly" though.

[lsboogy]

I just use strops and stones any more. A steel (I have the Sabatier 14" job my mom used for years) is good on 55 HRC knives, but most of my daily knives are harder than the steel, so there is little point to it. I sharpen knives on stones, and the use strops (balsa, felt, and leather - have a bunch of them loaded and unloaded) to keep an edge between trips to the stones. If you use a hard steel knife (HRC 60 and above) just get a strop - good knives are able to take edges (same steel) equivalent to a good razor

[Jeff B]

I just use strops and stones any more. A steel (I have the Sabatier 14" job my mom used for years) is good on 55 HRC knives, but most of my daily knives are harder than the steel, so there is little point to it. I sharpen knives on stones, and the use strops (balsa, felt, and leather - have a bunch of them loaded and unloaded) to keep an edge between trips to the stones. If you use a hard steel knife (HRC 60 and above) just get a strop - good knives are able to take edges (same steel) equivalent to a good razor

Big difference between a "steel" and ceramic rod, which is what was asked about.

[Cutuu]

If you are not a pro, I would just get strops to use. A ceramic rod does work fine though. I just think if you have the option go with stropping setups or use your highest grit stone that you sharpened on and lighlty strop on that. The ceramic rod is good for pro use, when in a hurry and it's easy to carry in your bag.

[2ManyHobbies]

Awesome, thank you for the feedback.

[Radar53]

My understanding is that most ceramic steels are in the JIS 800 to 1200?? grit range. Certainly on my good Japanese knives, I typically finish in the 3k to 5+k range & on my softer euro knives (ie <60HRC) maybe a 2k finish. So for me using a ceramic steel is going to a lower grit (significantly lower for say a 5k or higher finish) than my final stone.

As a home cook with no real time constraints, my system is (i) to strop on various bare leather strops, (ii) when that is no longer delivering results, I would then strop (dry & very light pressure) on the last stone I used to sharpen that knife, (iii) when that doesn't work add water and bit of pressure & finally (iv) back to maybe the 1k and repeat the original progression.

I do sometimes use a ceramic on my softer euro knives for edge realignment and where the grit gap to the final finish is not very big. 50+ years back my father in law was a butcher and steel steels (haha) were all that could be had here. He pickled his steels so that they were pretty smooth, and even then he was after edge realignment rather than cutting new bevels.

Just my 2¢ worth

[jacko9]

I like the ceramic rods for my break knife and a strop for the others.

[lsboogy]

I guess I just tossed the idea of using a ceramic rod - my "fine" idahone ceramics are about 1200 grit (from manufacturer) - even my hunting knives are sharpened much finer than that. A steel rod can give a great edge on a soft steel knife, and it's only used to keep most chef knives straight. A ceramic honing rod might be something some use, but I would not consider it for a kitchen knife as long as I have a good selection of stones. I sharpen my kitchen knives to 6K or higher - my buck 119 hunting knife is taken to 6K at present - an 18 degree edge on it will last for many deer (been there many times - we could take 7 a day in Montana - shot em with a 22 for years and field dressed them with that knife).

[PaulME]

I’ll be somewhat contrarian. Since your new to this and starting out on the sharpening process - buy a 1k (or the 1/3k combo) AND get a white idahone. Read up on sharpening, people much better at it than I am reccomend mastering getting an edge on a 1k, after that it is edge refinement (it does not get sharper) if you can’t remove the hair on your arm after 1k you won’t get there in the 3k (or at least without spending hours). The idahone worked very well for quick touch ups. Don’t smack the knife against the hone in the steriotypicql fashion. Hold it vertical tip against the board, lay the knife against it and draw it down the length at appropriate angle, repeat on other side, a couple passes shoukd do it (like 2 or 3).

I would wait till you easily get a good edge by hand sharpening AND developed any preference for further edge refinment before buying purpose made strops and sprays/emulsions (unless money is no object and you want to play). Also realiz you can strop on denim, newspaper etc (Murray carter invariably strops on newspaper in his videos and shaves with the sharpened blade).
Have fun
Paul

[Jeff B]

My understanding is that most ceramic steels are in the JIS 800 to 1200?? grit range...

The Idahone is 1200 ANSI. That is close to 3k JIS.

[Kit Craft]

I like having a ceramic rod on my travel kit. I do have a set of butchery tools and knives for game that I take hunting and in that kit I keep a traditional steel, which works fine. However, at home I simply use strops (unless the edge needs a trip to a stone of course). However, if an edge was bugging me that much during use, I'd use a rod or steel and go right back to work. But the thing is, at home I would never have that issue because it would be just as easy to reach for another knife. Not that such a thing would happen because I make sure my knives are ready to go before I use them and I do not do enough volume for the edge to dull out in one session.

Ceramic rods are also nice in the field with fixed blades and folding knives when you are doing something and you don't want to slow down. At least for me.

Regardless, I don't use rods/steels to maintain my knives. More like as a crutch until I can maintain them. A quick fix, if you will. I am sure others might use them more long term though.

Oh, but to get to the answer; both.

[milkbaby]

Busy working professional in a kitchen? The ceramic rod will work fast with a swipe or two and should fit in your knife bag.

Just an enthusiastic home user? Easy to strop on newspaper or leather. This is me and while I have a ceramic rod, I only use it when cooking away from home if I bring a knife.

[Radar53]

The Idahone is 1200 ANSI. That is close to 3k JIS.

Hey Jeff - apologies for not spotting this earlier, I haven't logged in for while. Thanks for this as I had assumed that the 1200 was a JIS grit rating, so that puts a somewhat different perspective on my thinking. The ceramic steel that I have is one that came with my EdgePro kit rated at 800. Again I assumed that this was a JIS rating, but if it's based on the EP grit ratings then I'm now guessing it's about 2.5k JIS. Learned something here so thanks again.

[gotmail1414]

I’ll be somewhat contrarian. Since your new to this and starting out on the sharpening process - buy a 1k (or the 1/3k combo) AND get a white idahone. Read up on sharpening, people much better at it than I am reccomend mastering getting an edge on a 1k, after that it is edge refinement (it does not get sharper) if you can’t remove the hair on your arm after 1k you won’t get there in the 3k (or at least without spending hours). The idahone worked very well for quick touch ups. Don’t smack the knife against the hone in the steriotypicql fashion. Hold it vertical tip against the board, lay the knife against it and draw it down the length at appropriate angle, repeat on other side, a couple passes shoukd do it (like 2 or 3).

I would wait till you easily get a good edge by hand sharpening AND developed any preference for further edge refinment before buying purpose made strops and sprays/emulsions (unless money is no object and you want to play). Also realiz you can strop on denim, newspaper etc (Murray carter invariably strops on newspaper in his videos and shaves with the sharpened blade).
Have fun
Paul

This is the approach I took when started, and I would definitely endorse it. Kind of like learning to walk before you run.

[ken123]

You could use a steel but I personally wouldn't. A smooth steel realigns an edge. A ribbed steel or ceramic rod will sharpen the blade of the edge given that the steel is hard enough but just to the level of finish of the abrasive.

For a pro kitchen a ceramic rod is ok if that's
the level of finish you're willing to accept. A 4 micron cbn nanocloth strop (a 4k edge) easily exceeds a ceramic rod and would be my choice.

---
Ken

[Peter Nowlan]

I would use a finishing stone to maintain. This is not just pretty freaking effective it is conducive to building muscle memory. We hone, hone, hone then sharpen. The cycle should repeat itself.