Diamond Machining Technology (DMT) 12-in. Diamond Steel, Fine Grit Sharpener (DS2F)

I bought this with the Fine grit steel for my kitchen knives, as much because I didn't know for sure what the actual grit was. As it turns out, they go really well together; the Fine is good for a knife that has started to feel a little dull or catch, and the extra fine is perfect for when you're getting ready to start cooking and the knife is sharp, but needs that extra polish before you get busy. In use, say, I'd pick the fine for when I'd been chopping a lot of vegetables and gotten a couple of places where the edge was getting flat; the extra fine would be for when I had cut a lot of meat and the edge was just off a bit.The tools themselves are hefty and large enough that you can easily maintain a consistent edge angle if you hold it freehand. On the other hand, they come with safety caps on the ends, but under the cap is a point for those who ground the steel vertically on the block and stroke down. I don't know yet about how well they'll wear, but since they're diamond steel I hope they won't have the wear that people have reported with ceramics. At this point I'd buy again.The only caveat I'd place is the obvious one-- these don't replace stones. If you have lower quality or heavily worn knives, you still need stones to put an edge on. You probably could do it with these if you had lots of time on your hands, but this isn't the right tool for that. It also may be worth noting I'm using these with Henckels knives-- they might give different results with different alloys from another maker.[One month later] With some time passed, I am satisfied still with these steels. My habit is to give ten or twenty strokes to each side with the extra fine when I'm getting ready to use a knife. This steel brings the edge up perfectly, including the tip that drags on the block when slicing, and the knives stay sharp enough that I can slice a six inch thick roast in one or two strokes or cut a sandwich by just pressing down the blade without crushing the food. Very pleased with my knives as they are maintained by this tool.[Still using them] These have turned out a good purchase. I give a knife I'm going to use a good stroking each side with the ultra fine each time I use it, and my knives stay perfectly sharp. I haven't had to use the other one since the original conditioning of the blades as a result.If anyone's interested, SharpeningSupplies.com has a good, easy to understand explanation of how to use a steel. They make the comment that steels don't actually sharpen the knife, though; while that's true of a traditional steel, it's not true of the diamond coated ones we're looking at here.

I take great pride in the sharpness of my knives. I have used multi grit stones and an Arkansas stone to get great sharpness on my knives and these stages of preparing a knife are essential to a good long lasting sharp edge.HOWEVER, This Diamond Steel Rod is an amazing addition to my sharpening tools. A few very gentle strokes with a well prepared sharpened knife along the diamond steel and you have a razor sharp edge. I showed the results to some friends that were in my kitchen and their jaws dropped when they saw how sharp my slicer was when stroked with the diamond steel.They were just as impressed as I was the first time I used it.The test subject was a sheet of dry kitchen towel rolled up like a cigar into a tight roll.Before - the slicer made a respectable cut through many layer to about half way through the roll with a reasonable amount of applied force.After stroking with the diamond steel - the slicer went right through the rolled up paper towel with a lot less force than in the previous example.Note: I don't recommend cutting wads of paper normally because the titanium dioxide whitener can dull the edge quickly - but this was an easy way to demonstrate the incredible sharpness the you can easily obtain with the diamond steel.The microscopic industrial diamonds are embedded in a coating around the length of the steel rod so it probably has a limit to how many times you can use it. I suspect if you apply too much force when stroking your blade - you could cut or wear through the layer of binder holding the microscopic diamonds in place.I have been using my Diamond Steel regularly for about a year and I see no degradation in its performance.I use a very light "kiss" while stroking the knife along the rod, so very little material is being removed by the diamond steel to reach the razor sharp edge.I recommend that you add one of these to your sharpening tools. Put it in the "steel" hole in a wooden knife block to protect the diamond surface. Don't put it in a knife drawer loose with all the other utensils - It deserves better treatment than that.If you know someone that is meticulous about how they keep their knives sharp you should get one of these for them.