Ceramic steel for kitchen knife

[matt]

I bought a new kitchen knife. Caphalon 7inch. I like it alot but I need a ceramic steel for it. I have not been able to find one online. Does anyone know a good place to get one for around 20 dollars?

[Russel Baldridge]

There are many good varieties that aren't ceramic. Is there a reason you're ruling other types out?

[matt]

I have simply read that ceramic, being a smooth steel, is best for steeling a kitchen knife before use.

[kaptain_zero]

Matt,

Ceramic steels are just like Spyderco hones, they actually hone the edge each time you use them. If you wish to go that route, I'd recommend getting the Spyderco Sharpmaker aka crock sticks that hold the 2 ceramic hone sticks at the proper angle. It costs a bit more but it's fast, easy and works very well... you'll rarely have to go to the other hones once you do it this way.

As for a smooth steel (I HATE those ribbed hardened steel steels made for knives... they just rip a good edge to shreds and wear your knives out prematurely.... good for knife sales though.), you could check out the rods available from Hand American, the have (I think) borosilicate rods, and a half smooth, half grooved steel rod but they are about $55. Razoredge Systems has a smooth $35 Steel and a couple of other models that work very well too.

I've been toying with the idea of using a piece of drill rod in a home made handle but I'm not sure it would be hard enough without hardening/tempering first. There are also drill blanks available, but I don't recall how long they are but the blanks are pre-hardened and as long as they were smoothly polished, should work fine. Just a thought...


Christian

[Russel Baldridge]

Yeah, I think the reason many people use the ceramic ones is because they do sharpen the edge, not just realign it. So if that's what you want, great, but if you just want your edge realigned between sharpenings, other routes are better. But I don't use steels personally, just strops (wood and leather).

[Bruno]

I don't use a steel, but I take a knife to the yellow coticule for 10 -20 laps before I use it.

[2Sharp]

I have had some success sharpening my ceramics with my DMT hones. It takes a long time but it does work.

bj

[Tanksfurnutin]

I think this is what you are looking for Matt.

http://japaneseknifesharpening.com/idahone.html

I got this for Christmas and for the money it can't be beat.

Regards,
Scott

[ps49556n]

Ceramic and diamond steels (sharpening steels) remove metal from the blade effectively making it sharper but this is certainly no solution for actually sharpening a knife on a hone or grinder. The edge from a ceramic/diamond steel do not last very long and they remove quite a bit of metal (run a white cloth over the blade after running it across the steel, you should get quite a bit of steel residue on the cloth). When using this type of steel, only 3-5 passes (1 pass= both sides of the blade) is needed.

FWIW, the diamond steels work MUCH better than ceramic steels and they will not break like ceramic will. Also remember that you should be using a traditional steel more often than a sharpening steel.

[Tanksfurnutin]

I believe the original poster was looking for a "steel" not a "sharpening steel". The ceramic steel that I linked is very smooth and is not intended to be used for sharpening but realigning. If he is looking to sharpen his knives this is not what he should be using.

I agree ceramic will break but for $25 it is easily replaced, besides that's why I have wood floors.

Scott