What is everyones favorite hone?

[fishsqueezer28]

I am looking for a hone for kitchen and butchering use. Anyone got tips of good ones? I am looking for steel over ceramic but open to suggestions.

 

[BBob]

A sharpening steel?

Kramer double cut by Zwilling

 

[*zap*]

tri stone and strop, good steep angle.
really dull a file first.

 

[Grassymike]

I have used a Gatco basic set for years, when I replace it (soon) I plan to buy the diamond stone version. If knives are really dull I too start with a file to establish the basic bevel. Anyhow this works for me, although I have not done kitchen knives. Gatco has a hone for serrated blades as well.

 

[*zap*]

I use a long thin cone for ceramic

 

[mike.adams.467]

I use a two sided diamond impregnated stone from Smiths. I cary a mini version in my back for touch ups, and the bigger one at home for kitchen and hunting knives.

 

[cb2176]

I have both steel and ceramic. They work great keeping an edge.

 

[Rich M]

I use an electric diamond dealio for kitchens. Sharpens stuff up nice.

In field and for touchups will use pull thru carbide steel. Small, fits in pocket, quick.

 

[@MBH]

A round steel hone merely straightens / re orients the existing wire or burr. If you want to sharpen said blade, first be sure to use a stone, then get rid of the burr with a leather strop.

 

[Z Barebow]

Although it is ceramic, (Not your preference, but I recommend) Purchased this a couple of years back. 10 times better than my old Smith's ceramic crotch stick. Very easy to touch up blades which butchering or filleting fish.

The Ultimate (White Oak) | My Site

The Ultimate consists of two standard 1/2 inch rods and two 3/8 inch rods that are made of a super-fine ceramic. Using this sharpener you can achieve a laser sharp blade in just a couple of minutes!

www.steamboatsupersharpeners.com

American made, Great product, and great customer service.

 

[Undomesticated]

I suggest you find a black ceramic hone (Messermeister makes one, but there are several available).

Harder/finer than white ceramic. IMO steel hones have limited utility, but everyone has their own style. Might be better suited for you, I am just throwing out a suggestion. I like a hone that will actually remove a very small amount of material so that I can go longer in between stone sharpenings.

 

[SDHNTR]

Jewellstick. The best.

 

[Poser]

I find steel honers fairly useless unless you are really getting in there, working fast and aggressive and your blade is hitting bone in a fashion that the blade gets misaligned.

I worked part time for a bit in a craft butcher shop and my job there was primarily breaking down split hogs and making sausage, bacon and charcuterie. I'd do 2-3 hogs every Tuesday with a boning knife and a bone saw and never used a steel honer. Ceramic sticks will keep you lined up.

 

[TaperPin]

The best method I know of will never be used. Nothing wrong with stones, stropes and hardened metal steels, but they aren’t needed.

A buddy and his wife wanted to learn something different and worked in a processing plant one summer during college - all they did all day, every week for those three months is bone meat with a 6” Forschner knife and white ceramic steel. Entire meat plants function solely on white ceramic steels.

Some summer jobs have sections of boredom and some of us whittled on wood, some played air guitar to 80’s rock, some talked non stop about stupid stuff, and I enjoyed sharpening pocket knives, everyone’s knives, with a round diamond pocket hone. I didn’t know it at the time, but consistency makes all the difference when using a round ceramic or diamond steel - consistent angles speed up the process 10x and make or break the user.

Fast forward a couple years and my friends who worked at the meat plant were now cutting wild game professionally and I was hired to skin animals coming in. At first they poo pooed my diamond pocket hone, but once they saw I could keep a shaving sharp edge with a few light strokes between each animal, they saw no advantage to me using one of their ceramic sticks.

That was three decades ago and to this day I still use a full length diamond “steel” in the kitchen. Heavy pressure and it cuts more, lighter pressure and it just keeps the edge straight. I even upgraded to a professional quality model from a knife supplier. Simple. I’ve come to appreciate a ceramic is just a less aggressive abrasive than a diamond, so if diamond hones were never invented I’d use a ceramic and be just as happy.

Since it works so well for me it’s human nature to assume it would be easy to teach others something so simple and once they saw its effectiveness they would want to learn. Nope. In my lifetime of showing dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of people, even close relatives, by actually sharpening their knifes, not a single person has become good at it, or kept with it. Both our kids and the father in law were gifted professional round diamond hones and they see the process all the time, but they have zero interest in sharpening that way. Nada, zip, zilch, “0”. I believe with all my heart, that unless someone is in a professional kitchen or butcher shop and is forced to sharpen with a ceramic steel, it will never be picked up. Lol

 

[rideold]

I use one of these for everything now. I have stones and other methods but this just works.

Guided Field Sharpener

The ultimate companion for those seeking razor-sharp edges in the great outdoors. Engineered with precision and packed with features, this sharpener ensures optimal blade performance wherever you roam. Angle guides create a consistent 20° edge on coarse and fine grit diamond plates, with 25°...

www.worksharptools.com