Diamond Machining Technology (DMT) 10-in. Diamond Steel, Fine Grit Sharpener (DS0F)

I had been using an electric sharpener (Chef'sChoice 310) for the past 10 or 15 years and decide to make a change because it took a great deal of time to sharpen my knife set and I was never fully satisfied with the sharpness or longevity of the resulting edge. I chose to buy the DMT 12" fine and extra-fine sharpening steels as well as the DMT 12" ceramic steel sharpening rod. Overall I am very happy with the purchase and am fully satisfied with the results of using this set of sharpening steels. The amount of time I am spending to keep my knives sharp has been reduced, the knives are now sharper than they ever were with my electric sharpener and the knives hold their edge longer than they ever did as well. The first time I used the set, I used all three sharpening steels and spent about four or five minutes per knife to clean up the edges of small nicks and put a great edge on all my knives. Given the quality and longevity of the knives edges, I now only need to hone them with the ceramic steel once every week or two and am done in less than one minute per knife. I would highly recommend this set to anyone who’s interested in keeping their knives very sharp and are willing to spend a few minutes doing so. One word of caution that needs to be said, the coating on the ceramic steel is somewhat fragile and a great deal of care should be taken when using it. The first time I used it, I put a long nick (about 1” long) where the ceramic coating was removed and the aluminum rod in the core was exposed. I knew about this susceptibility based upon others comments here and used caution when first using however clearly not enough. I was very upset with myself for damaging it and now use even more care when using it. I also now take care to avoid the damaged area of the ceramic steel rod. All that said, it still works great and it’s helped me to keep my knives sharper for a great length of time with less work and effort.

This is an excellent product. Over the years I've had an assortment of honing steels but never one to sharpen. I use a Wicked Edge for that and a ceramic rod for honing. As we have an assortment of Japanese and German knives, I was looking for something to sharpen the German knives without setting up the Wicked Edge. This rod is superb. It can put a razor edge on a typical steel knife with virtually no effort. Read the instructions, be gentle and let the rod do the work. I'm getting just shot of 3 years out of the product before purchasing another one. So far I'm on number 3 after beginning to purchase in June 2013. I'm sharpening an average of 1 knife per day. So, about 1,000 sharpenings per steel before I replace. For those complaining about a limited life: Yes, friction based tools wear. Tools that wear have a limited life. Tools that sharpen hard steel wear quicker than tools that file fingernails. Solution for you: Use plastic knives.

After spending quality time honing my knives on a DMT sharpening stone on the weekends, this sharpening steel (the same grit as the fine side of my stone) keeps my knives in top shape. Between this and my straightening steel, my blades maintain their edge much better, which means less work honing in the future. This steel comes with a nice red rubber tip, allowing the steel to be held nose-down onto the counter without a slip risk (important when taking blades to levels of sharpness that threaten reality itself). Whether used in the air or nose-down, the steel works very well. Initial use will have a bit more texture/gritty feeling when running a blade down the surface, but this goes away quickly as the industrial diamond surface becomes slightly used and yet none of the sharpening power is reduced. After utilizing this steel for many months, I am considering purchasing an even finer grit as well. I have been very impressed with the reliability and results of using DMT products.

Bought this recently to upgrade an old steel that I had owned for 40(?) years. I was tempted by the 12-inch version, but fortunately realized it would not fit in my knife block. Indeed if I have any gripe about the design, it is the size of the protective collar separating the handle from the actual steel. This collar, while good from a safety perspective, is quite large and you have to align the cutouts around the perimeter just right in order to fit it into the knife block that I own, a Henckels block. You may have similar issues with other blocks. It's not a show stopper, but it was just not something I had thought could be an issue. As far as performance, the steel works well. One of the reasons I bought is is that I have several ceramic blade knives that I bought when I was on an extended leave in Japan. Those knives, with zirconia blades, were incredibly sharp when newly purchased, however, over time, you could notice that they were becoming duller. Since a "steel" steel is not likely to do anything to a zirconia blade, and they are sharpened with diamond media, I thought that perhaps a steel with embedded diamond would be a better tool for these knives. You do see streaks of white on the steel when you hone one of these zirconia knives. You can see that it is in fact removing material. I can't say that it has demonstrably improved the sharpness of the blades. I do have a multistage "diamond" knife sharper, but feared that it would be a bit too aggressive. I may just need to bite the bullet and try it on one of these ceramic knives.

Great replacement for a steel. Doesn’t just straighten the blade but sharpens it.

Purchased this 12" 600 mesh in late 2006 from Amazon. I am a serious home cook and hone my Shun knives before every daily use. While diamonds are super hard, the steel on Japanese knives are very demanding. This rod has become bare in the center region from thousands of strokes over the past 7 years. That this rod had survived 7 years of honing Japanese steel is commendable. My Christmas wish list will include the 14" version of this rod. I have some 10" knives that are a better fit for 14" rod. IMHO, one should use a minimum 12" rod for 6-8" knives and 14" rod for 8-10" knives to achieve full heel to tip strokes. The 8" steels that are included in knife sets are too short and pretty much useless for most kitchen knives. Go for the longest one you can afford. You will not regret it. One last tip -- I hone my knives with the rod positioned vertically and the tip resting on a counter top. My Japanese knives demand a 15 degree honing angle and by positioning the rod in this manner, I can properly sight the needed 15 degree angle during my strokes. I learned this technique from a master sushi chef in Kyoto. He stated that those who hold there honing rods in mid air and/or off to the side have lack of control and no idea what angle their blade meets the rod.

I really don't get some of these features that Amazon wants me to rate. Stretch? Nope, sharpening steel doesn't stretch even a little bit... Nice steel. I've only used it a little bit, but it quickly sharpens my fairly well maintained edges and gets them back to being sharp quickly. Maybe a little bit coarser than expected, but I expect the diamonds to break down a little bit after I've used it more and 'smooth out' a little bit. Over all, I'm very happy with it though. Would buy again. Quality piece.

My first impression of this diamond rod was, wow, small diameter and light weight. I can carry this all day at work. Then reality set in. It lasted almost 2 weeks. I work as a USDA inspector and we are truing up our knives a minimum of 100 times an hour. We look at between 2000 and 3000 head of beef per shift. We carry 3 knives, a diamond rod and a steel. I never thought that this would disintegrate. I had hopes of getting a year out this diamond rod. I have other brands that are 5 to 10 years old and still have diamond on them. If you work with knives everyday don't waste your money.

Vale la pena

Bis auf den Griff bin ich zufrieden

Great quality item. I sharpened all of my kitchen knives in no time. also perfect diameter to sharpen my dog's nail clipper. Will work well also to sharpen toothed knives like bread knives. It is the perfect companion to a honing steel rod. The honing steel rod is made to keep the blade sharp by realigning the cutting edge. With use the cutting edge kind of roll on itself and looses its sharpness, the honing steel kind of make the cutting edge straight again, but it won't sharpen the edge. However after a while, the cutting edge becomes blunt, this is this diamond steel sharpening rod comes into play. It grinds a new cutting edge. But remember, you will be using the honing steel most of the time to maintain the cutting edge in a pristine state. The diamond steel is to be use only if the knife's edge wont be restored by the honing steel. Don't use the diamond sharpening steel every time your knives seems to loose its cutting capabilities. You will grind away your knives in a short time. Use the honing steel to maintain the edge and the diamond sharpening rod to establish a new cutting edge. The 14 inches rod is great, but it is too long for my cupboard drawer. I should had bought the 12 inches.

Wow das ist ein super Wetzstab. Gute Qualität und Handhabung. Mit wenigen Griffen habe ich alles schärfen können. Sogar an einer Schere ausprobiert und hat ebenfalls geklappt. Ist sein Geld wert

I have one of these and bought another one as a gift. Brilliant steel.