Do you use honing steel rod for pocket knives?

D

darthwayne

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Oct 7, 2016
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i bought a honing steel rod for kitchen knives.

was wondering if it can be used with pocket knives also ?

pocket knife steel is usually quite harder and edge is not a flat grind so wondering if it works

WU-4473.jpg
 
I have occasionally used my kitchen honing steel for quick touch-ups on pocket knives. It works well enough for what it does (straightening out an edge).
 
Most people don't understand how to use a rod, or even what it's actually used for. It is not used to sharpen/hone blades. It's used (going backwards on the edge) to straighten a rolled-over edge, which you'll get when using a kitchen knife (typically a fairly soft steel) on a cutting board, through bone, etc. Straightening a rolled edge will give the knife a longer lifetime than grinding away a new edge each time. I'm guessing you already know that, but just in case you didn't...

That said, as you said, modern pocket knife steel is typically harder, and especially with stainless steels, more prone to micro-chipping rather than rolling to make the edge dull. A rod won't help you with that. Unless you're talking about a Case sodbuster in carbon steel or a cheap knife in 420J or AUS-4 or something like that. Anything much harder than that, even if it is a rolled edge, and you're still more likely to break/chip that part off rather than bend it back in place.
 
Most of my kitchen knives are of a harder steel than most of my pocket knives.

I don't use the honing steel on harder steels, since as Planterz pointed out, their dullness does not come from edge deformation so much as chipping, and they are not malleable or ductile enough for the steel to provide much benefit.

So it's not so much whether it is a pocket knife or a kitchen knife, but what the characteristics of the blade steel are (hardness, toughness, ductility, malleability) as to whether a honing steel will provide any benefit.

Best way to figure it out is to give it a try.
 
darthwayne said:
i bought a honing steel rod for kitchen knives.

was wondering if it can be used with pocket knives also ?

pocket knife steel is usually quite harder and edge is not a flat grind so wondering if it works

WU-4473.jpg
Click to expand...

You can try. If its a low alloy / low carbide stainless or carbon steel it should work OK. I have seen some SAKs that came with small grooved honing rods.

The biggest limiting factor aside from carbide content is going to be the RC. Anything above mid 50s and you will need increasing amounts of skill/angle control.

Grooved rods work like a fine file, smooth ones work by burnishing. On tougher steels, the grooved ones have a difficult time eliminating the burr. If the grooved steel feels like its skating over the edge even after a handful of passes your RC is probably too high for it to work effectively. Ideally the blade should be in the upper 40s to low 50s.

On a dulled knife even the grooved ones will skate on the edge till it begins to lay in a scratch pattern, taking a handful of passes at moderate to light pressure, just like when sharpening something with a file.

All in all I wouldn't recommend it but you can certainly try once or twice...if you're a good hand with the steel on regular kitchen cutlery. If not, get good on your kitchen knives first.
 
On any knife that has blunted due to plastic deformation, they work just fine and dandy so long as the steel being used is of sufficient quality. Under those circumstances they're great, because that's the very circumstance they are designed for. They will not provide satisfaction if used outside of that context.
 
Planterz said:
Most people don't understand how to use a rod, or even what it's actually used for. It is not used to sharpen/hone blades. It's used (going backwards on the edge) to straighten a rolled-over edge, which you'll get when using a kitchen knife (typically a fairly soft steel) on a cutting board, through bone, etc. Straightening a rolled edge will give the knife a longer lifetime than grinding away a new edge each time. I'm guessing you already know that, but just in case you didn't...

That said, as you said, modern pocket knife steel is typically harder, and especially with stainless steels, more prone to micro-chipping rather than rolling to make the edge dull. A rod won't help you with that. Unless you're talking about a Case sodbuster in carbon steel or a cheap knife in 420J or AUS-4 or something like that. Anything much harder than that, even if it is a rolled edge, and you're still more likely to break/chip that part off rather than bend it back in place.
Click to expand...


actually my benchmade griptilian had edge rolling issue. (not sure if 154cm is that soft but i sent it to benchmade lifesharp service anyway)

and i used whetstone to sharpen it..caused lot of steel loss.

i am wondering if my BM grip had some heat treatment issues...but nevertheless i would wanna avoid sharpening my knives too often as sometimes its minor edge rolling from chopping board and no sharpening need.
 
Some blade steels can go quite a bit higher than mid-50s HRC before chipping becomes a problem. VG-10 in high 50s can handle it. And I've always been amazed at ATS-34 blades in particular, mostly in custom knives I have, which can still burr & roll quite heavily up to RC 59/60 or so; those are the most tenacious burrs I've ever seen, even at relatively high hardness (they're just stronger when this hard). 154CM is compositionally identical (essentially) to ATS-34, so it might handle it as well. I could see a rolled edge on such a blade being 'realigned' on a honing steel, though I'd still greatly prefer other means for touching these up, mainly because the burrs are so tough; some true abrasion on a stone of sufficient aggression works much better to clean them up. A grooved honing rod can really exacerbate burring issues all by itself, unless the technique used is expertly light and the angle well-controlled.


David
 
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jc57 said:
I have occasionally used my kitchen honing steel for quick touch-ups on pocket knives. It works well enough for what it does (straightening out an edge).
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This. A quick in a pinch situation this works but would prefer to use the frosted top portion of a car window.
 
working very well on my 154CM BM Griptilian

had lost its paper slicing sharpness and some strokes on honing steel and its back to slicing paper like nobody's business

might be working looking for a mini pocket honing steel rod if it even exists...for more intricate slicing
 
I can get a wicked sharp edge on my SAK with a honing steel, I barely get to paper cutting on my CPM 154. Depends on the grade of steel on your blade.
 
I've never seen a rolled edge "straightened" without irreversible damage.

Here's an Olfa utility blade blunted on the edge of a King 1k stone"

dulled_king1k_04.jpg



Here's the same blade after a ribbed honing steel:

dulled_king1k_ribbedsteel_03.jpg


Metal has been removed to restore the keenness of the apex.
 
^ grooved steels are files made for low/medium RC steel. If you strop an edge to a nice bright finish and take it to a grooved steel, you'll be able to see it lay in a new scratch pattern - they can turn out pretty nice if the knife steel is a good match.


Smooth ones burnish and can straighten a slightly rolled edge, though I too have never seen this done without easily being able to see the damaged area - they don't come back to true but are left with a warp/low spot in the recovery.
 
Do you use honing steel rod for pocket knives?
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Yes and no. I use this Spyderco Ultra Fine ceramic rod ALL OF THE TIME. Almost daily. I use it on an edge that is / was really sharp but is just a bit less than fully sharp after a day at work. I pretty much never use the full length in a pass. Much less actually . . . just a quarter of its length here or there on a pocket size knife (fixed or folder) just light passes right where needed to take care of slight rolling or slight dullness. If I over do it I begin to create a bit of a foil edge or bur so less is more. For the most part I love, love, love this thing. And as you can see it works for serrated edges; at least for the main scalloped areas.

 
might be working looking for a mini pocket honing steel rod if it even exists...for more intricate slicing
Click to expand...

I have one I EDC in my sharpening emergency tool roll that I carry to work. I bought it a century or so ago. Probably from an Army Surplus store or Mom and Pop hardware. I forget where. It is ribbed. The only thing I use it on is inexpensive box knife blades while they are in the holder. Does alright for that. We have never really made friends. I think it is a very cool little object / knife paraphernalia so I keep it. Stamped "Made In Germany".



PS: I have, on several occasions, almost ordered another Spyderco Ultra Fine ceramic rod so I could cut it shorter and carry that . . . now you're talking. I may do that yet.
 
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I think I am channeling Douglas Adams . . . and I can't make it stop.
Get him out of my head !
Call an exorcist !
Or at least a bartender !

I've never seen a rolled edge "straightened" without irreversible damage.
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Irreversible ?
As in time to throw the knife away ?
Really ?

sorry couldn't pass that one up. Just click Ignore. :p:)
 
For some reason honing rods have fallen out of favor with most knife owners. Don't really know why.

I own three and use oldest one on both kitchen and pocket knives. Never had a problem. AUS6, 154cm and S30v steels have all responded very well to the use of a steel.

The only folder I own that has not responded very well to the use of a steel is a Cutco 1891 folder. Then again, it has never responded well to much of anything. I mean, it worked but the knife is not the greatest quality to begin with.
 
I think a croc stick or sharpmaker triangle rod is ideal for edge touch ups like these.
 
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