"A honing steel, sometimes referred to as sharpening steel, whet steel, sharpening stick, sharpening rod, butcher´s steel, and chef´s steel, is a rod of steel, ceramic or diamond-coated steel used to re-align blade edges. They are flat, oval, or round in cross-section and up to 1 foot (30 cm) long. The steel and ceramic honing steels may have longitudinal ridges, whereas the diamond-coated steels are smooth but embedded with abrasive diamond particles.
The naming ("honing" or "sharpening") is often a misnomer, because the traditional "honing steel" neither hones nor sharpens the blade. Instead, its function is to re-align a curled edge instead of removing metal from the edge[citation needed]. The term "hone" is associated with light maintenance performed on a blade without the effort and precision normally associated with sharpening, so the name "hone" was borrowed. " - (en.wikipedia.org 20.12.2020)
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