ZWILLING 32576-231-0 Sharpening Steel, Synthetic Handle, Black, 23 cm

Had a bit of an obsession recently in trying to get my kitchen knives back to their ‘as new’ sharpness - lockdown boredom I guess. I ditched the pull through sharpener and went for a whetstone. Even with a fairly good technique, my knives still weren’t quite as sharp as I was expecting but then I stumbled across a video talking about the importance of a honing steel. My Mum has always had one and I thought it was just a rubbish sharpener but they’re actually to align the microscopic edge of the blade. Somewhat dubious, I went for this steel as it was reasonably priced with good reviews. Well... it’s the best purchase I’ve made in a long time. It’s really solid and with literally two passes of the knives on each side I now have razor sharp knives again. Use it before I chop something in the kitchen and the knives never feel dull. I’ll have to use the whetstone in a couple of weeks to touch up the knife edge but this steel will make that need must less frequent! Just to clarify through, this is not a sharpener - if your blade is blunt then it will not reshape the edge. It’s to maintain the sharpness of an existing good edge.

I have only just received this product and this review only addresses the function of it, and not longevity or anything else for that reason.Having bought several other knife sharpeners (all V-shaped) which all resulted in blunt knives with unsmooth cutting edges it was time for a new one. It arrived today and I used it on 6 knives which needed sharpening. This sharpener tool not only made them all razor sharp again, it also removed (after a longer period) the unsmooth areas (burr?) of the knives. My sharpest knife used to be one which I have never sharpened. no longer! This is an excellent product. Now I just hope that it will last.

At last, a proper steel. I've tried all sorts of "easy" shapeners, including ceramic rods, but nothing put a good, working edge on my knives. This one does.However, don't try to be like the butchers you see on TV and wave everything around in the air. Put the rod end on the cutting board and firmly slice down the length of the rod. If your knife has a fair edge already, this wi do the job. If it's very blunt, more work will be necessary.The grain of the rod is quite fine, so it won't take too much metal off (unlike some pull through sharpeners that take lumps off!). Give your knives a little touch up every time you use them, particularly if they are ordinary stainless steel.Good value for money.

Superb quality item which I can't believe I got for such a good price. Works really well.

Sharpens my kitchen cutlery superbly, just needs regular use to find the best technique you prefer to use when sharpening for ease of use. Certainly does the job for me.

GOOD price and good relining rod sorts out knife in no time!!$$££.

Zwilling always top quality

I had an old one that i never did learn how to use properly. Before using this one viewed a few Youtube video how to's and the results were what i was hoping for. I couldn't get on with the method advised on the packaging, i kept hitting the cutting board so used the butchers method slowly and carefully until i got the hang of it. The hardest part is getting the blade angle right. This steel bought the edges back to how they were when I first sharpened them with a wet stone and passed the wafer thin soft tomato test.