Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #69142 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Brand: Henckels
• Model: 32525-260
• Dimensions: 1.20" h x 1.90" w x 15.50" l, .50 pounds

Features

• Partially sharpens knives while realigning edges
• Steel rod embedded with diamond dust
• Durable handle with hanging-loop
• Wipe with damp or dry cloth, if necessary
• Lifetime warranty against defects

Amazon.com Review
Although steels often are touted as sharpening tools, few actually sharpen knife blades but do perform the vital task of realigning, or "resetting," edges, which bend when contacting a cutting surface or other hard object. Because this tool's surface contains diamond dust, it's hard enough to somewhat sharpen a blade. While using this steel won't replace a professional sharpening job, which proceeds from coarse grinding to ever-finer grinding at tightly controlled angles, it will lengthen intervals between sharpenings. This steel will also perform better than a steel without diamond dust because it accomplishes the final task of a professional sharpening, which is polishing the edge to a fine point while realigning the edge. The rule is that a steel should be at least as long as the knife blade being drawn across it, and this steel's 12-inch rod handles all household knives. The steel carries a lifetime warranty against defects. --Fred Brack

Customer Reviews

The easiest way to hone your knives
Is with a diamond steel.

Note that diamond steel doesn't actually fully sharpen the blade (nice blades anyway).
Your not going to get a finely sharpened and perfectly honed blade unless you take it to a professional who can grind the steel.
With cheaper blades you may actually get a good edge out of a sharpening steel because the diamond grit gives it the ability to grind an edge.
But with your nicer knives these simply straighten any minor nicks and hone the existing edge. If you really wanted to try sharpening a dull edge with a steel, you'd be at it for a long time and whining about sore hands before you got a nice edge.

Anyone who's ever run the gamut of electrics, oiled stones and numerous other crafty looking sharpeners will tell you that, ultimately a nice diamond steel is all you need.

Cheap knives and finer knives will both come out well polished after a few passes with this steel. It's not as long as some of the restaurant quality sharpeners I've used but it has a nice shape, more flat with a [...] than standard round.

It also has a very fine dust that hones the blade well.

I took this to a set of cheap steak knives my fiance had when we met and they came out razor sharp after a few passes, of course that edge will only last a few cuts with such cheap steel and they still have the larger nicks they've recieved over the years, but it's nice to be able to get them sharp on the fly.

After that I pulled out a decent set of nicer knives (not Wustof quality but nice) I've had in a drawer for about a year now (not sharpened since I bought them), after about 30 seconds of swiping I had almost the original edge back and was slicing paper thin tomatoes. This was after they could just about mash a potato with the sharp edge.

No question that a good blade makes cooking and eating a lot more enjoyable.

Before you buy a pricey electric or some fancy stone set, give a traditional, diamond hand held a try. This one has turned out to work just fine. And I'll bet you'll be pleasantly suprised with your results.

Any diamond steel will do, there's really not a huge difference between their performance other than the shape and size. Some are poor quality and will wear out quickly, mostly in the handle, but, in my experience, they're usually cheaper and easier to replace.
Look for fine dust or grid to get a nice hone.

This one happens to be a good quality and has a great shape.
Seems like it'll last a long time.
I probably dont have to tell you this but since it doesn't come with a manual or any paperwork at all, dont put it in the dishwasher if you want it to last. Wipe it down with a wet cloth if it gets dirty.

Treat it the same way you treat your nice knives and it'll last longer.

Good buy.

Great Sharpener!
We just received this today and my husband of one month has proceeded to put a very sharp edge back on each knife in our Henckels knife set. The reason for four stars instead of five? When it arrived, the sharpener was not round, as I expected, but a two-sided oval sharpener. Although it is very easy to use and does a great job, it arrived with no directions. For someone who has never used this type of sharpener before they may not find it as easy to use. But for those of you (like my husband) would say "All I care about is that it sharpens the knives and it does a great job." (A direct quote from one who prides himself on putting a good edge on our knives. As a matter of fact he is scouring the neighborhood looking for more knives to sharpen.)

A fine product.
I am very pleased with the results of this diamond steel. It sharpens all our kitchen knives, big and small. I was a bit disappointed with Amazon's package. It is completely shrink-wrapped, bare steel, with no manufacturer's package or warranty paper, nothing! However, this is a fine product. It took me less than 2 minutes to sharpen a knife - no kidding.