Mercer CulinaryMercer Genesis Knife Sharpening Steel, 10 Inch M21010, 10-inch, Multi

Ordered this for a young lady who put it on her wish list. Quality is good, shipping was quick and price was great.

I have purchased two of these for myself and one as a gift. Takes only a few swipes to get a burr, then a couple more to remove it. Leaves knife razor sharp.

I bought a longer one earlier, but it was too tall for my knife rack. This is a nice length and good quality. Use it every month to hone my knives.

I don't know why it is called a sharpening steel when it does not sharpen. It is a honing steel for straightening an already sharp edge. As far as honing goes, it works very well. I use this right after I use my blades and because of this, I rarely have to sharpen my blades.I have two problems with this honing steel: 1) When I first got it, there was a burr on the steel. Fortunately, my blade did not strike this burr too hard and it was fairly easy to get the burr off the steel. However, I am disappointed with the quality control. 2) The handle is an ovoid shape which forces me to hold the steel a certain way and therefore hone my blades on specific sides of the honing steel comfortably. This will lead me to use one area of the honing steel more than the other areas, causing unequal wear on the honing steel.Other than those two gripes, this is a good honing steel and I am glad I purchased it.

A number of years ago, I purchased high quality Henckels cutlery set, which came with a sharpening steel. The knives are awesome, the steel not so much. Yes, it did sharpen the knives, but it wasn't long until the steel rod started coming out of the plastic handle. I tried several times using different adhesives to get the steel rod stay in the handle. It would work for a while, but eventually the steel rod would start falling out of the handle again. This made the sharpening steel pretty much unusable. So I purchased this sharpening steel as a replacement. I've used it several times now and it sharpens our knives better and with less strokes than the original Henckels steel and best of all, the steel rod is staying in the handle. Great product and sharpens very well!

Very happy. Purchased a razor sharp Mercer Genesis Cleaver recently and I needed a honing rod to maintain my edge. The rod was delivered this morning at 7:20 AM. I have to say I love Amazon. I am making a Moroccan Tagine today and was concerned I wouldn't get the rod in time, but no, it's already here. After watching Instructional videos on YouTube I felt I was ready to try it on my less expensive knives. After about three minutes you become attuned to the angle and you can feel it when you do it correctly; the blade sings. When you do it wrong, like I did when I became overconfident thinking I could do it fast, it makes a weird crunch; it allows you to correct the angle and proceed. The ultimate result, my knives are razor sharp. Even a knife I bought in a pinch at a 99 cent store! Truly remarkable. I would definitely purchase this product, and once again I am very happy with the quality of Mercer products.

There's jargon involved with knives that can make it hard for a novice to find knife info and merchandise online. I read lots of reviews about different types of sharpeners, and I watched videos on the motions involved in using this kind, which is called a "knife sharpening steel." After a bit of practice, I got comfortable with holding it still on a padded, non-moving surface and swiping various kitchen knives across its rounded surface. NOTE: It shouldn't be used for bread and steak knives with scalloped edges. For those you need a serrated knife sharpener :-) I also don't know or have forgotten what "sheerness" means.

I am a 100% fan of all mercer products, I have several of there knives with the genesis handles, the non slip capability is amazing, this steel keeps my knives true! I highly recommend.