Mac KnifeCeramic Honing Rod, 8-1/2-Inch, Black

I ordered it from M. V. TRADING and that was a BIG MISTAKE! When I first got it, I took my cheap and totally dull Cuisinart Santoku, took 3 (alternating) swipes on each side and the knife was as sharp as on the day I brought it! So, it works, and very well at that. I didn't get to use it on my more expensive Wusthof knives, though, because I noticed that the rod has a manufacturing defect. The rubber washer that sits between the rod and the handle was not properly seated- it was totally crushed on one side and protruding far out on the other. I contacted M.V. Trading and, at their request, sent them a series of photos. They agreed to replace it with another, and processed a Shipping Label to return the defective rod. So far so good. I received the new replacement from M.V. TRADING today and to, my great surprise, I realized that it was the same part that I had returned to them. I know this for two reasons: One, the replacement rod they sent me has the same defect, exact in every little detail. Remember, I studied the defect in great detail earlier and photographed it from all possible angles, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that it's the same part. The other telling fact was that the instructions leaflet was missing from the box that the rod is packaged in from MAC. You see, I had taken out the instructions leaflet from the first box and had forgotten to put it back in when I returned it to the seller for replacement. So, it looks like M. V. Trading simply took my return, threw it in one of those plastic mailing bags- right, not even a shipping box to keep the rod safe- and mailed it back to me. I contacted M. V. Trading. They blatantly lied and told me that they had sent me a new replacement. When I confronted then with the evidence, they gave me the e-mail equivalent of a shrug and offered to give me a refund as long as I returned the second rod back to them at my expense, a 12-15 dollar expense. That's just not right! The bottom line: do not hesitate to but this product if you want a magical sharpener for your knives, but buy it from a seller you trust. AVOID M.V. TRADING AT ALL COSTS!***Update (12/21/13)***Amazon credited my account for the shipping charges. However, despite two emails from me, M. V. Trading made no effort to refund the purchase price- telling me via email that they were too busy fulfilling new orders to worry about my refund. Finally, after two weeks, I contacted Amazon Customer Service and filed a A-Z Claim. Shortly thereafter, I received a refund for $48.00, not the purchase price of $54.95. I will file a complaint with Amazon regarding this. I can and do accept a seller charging a restocking fee, but not in this case. Not when the whole charade was the result of the seller's failure to make a good-faith effort to replace a defective part, and their blatant lies.

Have tried many sharpening tools over the years. Top shelf stones, motor driven, drag knife thru wheels devices, you name it. Sharpening stones from 400/1000, 4K, 8K, 12K.. came the closest to preparing our very good quality knives. But never to the level I felt it should be.Until now. Holy schnikes. Was about to spend more $$ on similar top rated knives. Not now.A few passes with this honing rod and things reached a level that I had never seen before. I mean, holy cow. Exceptional sharpness and in only a few strokes. What I saw instantly was my stones techniques were correct. But I could never reach the promised land. Until now.I am SO happy with this what I feel is a very inexpensive honing rod. I do wish there was less medium quality plastic in the handle area. But that wasn't enough to ding a star. This honing rod led me to the promised land, finally.Guess what I will be doing this eve? Bringing several of our knives to this top level.

Somehow I never got the hang of using a honing rod before, but something clicked with this one, and now it's a daily thing. No more running my knives through my Trizor grinder excessively; now just a couple of passes on the ceramic rod. I was worried I'd mess up on honing at the correct angle but no problem. It takes very little force. Knives are ALWAYS razor sharp now, not for just a little while after I grind them. All of knives slice paper cleanly and all can easily slice a cherry tomato into 6 translucent slices.

As novice with knifes and using a honing rod, it works well for me. The hardest part is getting accustomed to the angle necessary to make sure you are sharpening the entire blade. I think it's much easier to use than the stone slabs.

If you own knives that don't use very hard steel, then this is overkill for you. If you don't know the hardness of your knives, this likely is overkill for your needs. However, this is a great honing steel (THIS WILL NOT SHARPEN YOUR KNIVES) for certain knives made of very hard steel. It is brittle, like any ceramic honing rod, but as long as you don't drop it or otherwise abuse it, it should hold up for a long time. It's also gorgeous because of the design and the use of black ceramic. You'll still want to sharpen your knives at least once a year with whetstones (ideally) or a sharpening machine if you don't send them off for professional sharpening, but this will help you keep the blade as straight and true and sharp as possible between sharpening sessions. It also has a handy handle design that helps you identify what the ideal 15 degree angle is, though you can easily eyeball 15 degrees just to seeing what a 15 degree angle looks like and getting close to that while using it.