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A few weeks ago I bought an awesome Global knife. I ordered this tool from Amazon:

My question: Does this tool hone the knife, or does it sharpen it?

blahdiblah
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Ram Rachum
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    Can you explain what difference you see between "hone" and "sharpen"? I thought, and so do Google and the WWW, that those terms are virtually synonymous, and not only interchangeable but very-much defined in terms each of the other. Are you suggesting that "sharpening" is the basic operation and "honing" some kind of refinement thereof, or what? – Robbie Goodwin May 26 '22 at 19:29
  • @RobbieGoodwin sharpening is removing material from the blade. Honing is shaping it into a straight edge. Both are essential parts of making a sharp edge. – Preston May 27 '22 at 18:00
  • @Preston Don't you think "shaping it into a straight edge" is achieved by "removing material from the blade"? Who doubts there are books of smithcraft explaining all that's worth knowing, and more… which you easily quote instead Posting unsupported and contentious assertion? If you know better sources, cite them! Else why not recognise that if not most, still many sources see "hone" and "sharpen" as synonymous; interchangeable and so much defined each in terms of the other that prolly any barber with a straight razor will show you the lack of difference every day? – Robbie Goodwin May 28 '22 at 21:57
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    @RobbieGoodwin - those really are the definitions of each. Honing does not remove metal, it 'bends' it back into alignment. See https://www.masterclass.com/articles/honing-vs-sharpening#how-to-hone-a-knife [& many others] Honing & sharpening are absolutely not synonymous. That people confuse the two does not change the actual definition of each term. – Tetsujin May 29 '22 at 09:38
  • @Unlisted Thanks and are there clues in the name? That tool is called a "Kitchen IQ Edge Grip 2 Stage Knife Sharpener"? Sometimes a "Kitchen IQ Edge Grip 2 Stage 'Pull Through' Knife Sharpener", as seen in search engines such as your own… Where is your view written? With a doctorate in metallurgy, I might take your word and why would you, Preston or anyone Post what might be wholly true, as unsupported assertion? Linking in Gordon Ramsay helps a bit and don't you think "Honing" and "Sharpening" belong to metallurgy and smithcraft in general and Gordon's work is more specialised? – Robbie Goodwin May 29 '22 at 16:36
  • @RobbieGoodwin - I think the onus is now on you to find a plausible conflicting reference if you still think you need one. Simply searching 'honing vs sharpening' gives plenty of data to back up my assertion. Presumably the majority of manufacturers of this equipment must count a metallurgist among their number. – Tetsujin May 29 '22 at 16:48
  • @Unlisted Please stop trying to avoid the issue. All my and none of your statements - including this last - have been backed up or clearly capable of checking. You might be right but please, stop asserting and start citing The onus has always been on you to find any reference as SE in particular scientific enquiry generally, have always said. Please don't shriek "search." You search, then present a summary of your results with the links to back that. Since we're sure to be shut down for arguing in Comments, why not either do that, or just go to Chat? – Robbie Goodwin May 29 '22 at 17:15
  • I'm not avoiding any issue. In any matter like this, there are 3 potential definitions. 1) scientific paper 2) use of the term within the industry to which it applies & 3) usage by the general population. I am using definition 2). If you want any greater detail, then its up to you to do your own research amidst scientific papers relating to the subject. It is not my research task. I've provided sufficient evidence for definition 2). I will not engage you further on this. – Tetsujin May 29 '22 at 18:38
  • Adding to the subject: it's pretty easy to feel by touching the blade - distinguish a dull blade vs sharpened vs honed. Sharpened blade has a specific rough feel, as if minuscule serrations; it's easy to cut yourself with it accidentally if you move your finger along it. A honed blade feels absolutely smooth, very similar to a dull blade - except it will dig into skin at even minimal pressure without need for any length-wise motion. The difference is striking - a sharpened blade is already okay for most kitchen applications, but honed is a whole level above that. – SF. May 31 '22 at 00:23
  • Thanks Guys. It might be true that the two are necessarily separate processes, and that sharpening must go before honing but that stopped being the issue with Preston's first Post, "sharpening is removing material from the blade. Honing is shaping it into a straight edge. Both are essential parts of making a sharp edge". Why is hard to see that even if that is, was and always will be true, it was presented here as an assertion wholly unsupported… and also confusing in its own terms? Who doubts "sharpening is (anything and)… both are essential parts of making a sharp edge" is confusing? – Robbie Goodwin Jun 01 '22 at 21:14

2 Answers2

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This is a sharpener. Everything that pinches the blade is. It's good for returning a dull knife to reasonable sharpness, to a point where it can be honed. If you put a sharp knife in it, it will make it less sharp.

This is the type for honing.

enter image description here

SF.
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    Those come in two flavours, though - honing & sharpening. Watch out you get the right one. – Tetsujin May 24 '22 at 16:17
  • @unlisted I have yet to see the sharpening type alone though; what I see is either a set of 2, one for sharpening one for honing, or honing only. – SF. May 26 '22 at 22:01
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As already pointed out, it's a sharpener - worse, it's probably a 20° sharpener & a Global will be a 15° blade.

When you get into good knives, be aware that you will also be paying proper money for a sharpening system, unless you want to spend 10 years of your life learning to do it manually. Don't put good knives anywhere near drag-through sharpeners of that type. See How to maintain my knife? What am I missing, and what am I doing wrong?

Füri used to make a 'TechEdge' system [very hard to find now] & whilst you can throw away the drag through sharpener, I've ever seen as good a honer as that. I've had mine 25 years & it's still in use, even though I now have a foolproof electric sharpener, the Füri is my daily honer. The bendy finger structure makes sure you just can't get the wrong angle or pressure.
[I actually went back to it a few months after my answer on the linked question above. It's more gentle than the honer in my electric system & doesn't need setting up & putting away every time.]
I have a steel, either it's rubbish or I am [I would bet on the latter].

If you do decide to go with a traditional steel, make sure you get a honing steel - they also make sharpening steels.

Tetsujin
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    disagree about the 10 years. I think most people can do a decent job with an hour or two of practice and a youtube tutorial. – Aequitas May 25 '22 at 06:34
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    Everybody says that. I disagree. If you get it, you get it, if you don't you won't. – Tetsujin May 25 '22 at 06:37
  • Love my Spyderco sharpmaker. – Scott Seidman May 25 '22 at 23:58
  • @ScottSeidman - that's included in my range of wobbly, hand-operated failures in the linked answer [not that specific make, but one very similar.] – Tetsujin May 26 '22 at 16:47
  • how would we verify that someone with two hours of practice is honing to the same quality as someone with a decade of experience? it's opinion on both sides here... – jcollum May 26 '22 at 16:47
  • @jcollum - It's opinion on both sides, but one side has 30 years of trying & failing, the other side has "I'm sure you could do that if you tried". Well… I tried, & failed, with a dozen different systems. I base my 'opinion' in that, though I'm pretty handy in many other respects, after 30 years of various hand-held systems I got a better edge after 5 minutes on a serious electric sharpener than I'd ever got in my life before. Personally, I need no further convincing. – Tetsujin May 26 '22 at 16:55
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    I found this article interesting. https://www.kitchenknifeguru.com/honesandsteels/whats-a-honing-steel/#tab-2 -- still looking for an EM comparison of sharpened vs honed – jcollum May 26 '22 at 17:12
  • @jcollum - what's an 'EM comparison'? Sharpening takes metal off the surface, honing merely points it in the right direction. – Tetsujin May 26 '22 at 17:14
  • EM = electron microscope -- and really it would need to compare expert honing vs trained honing – jcollum May 26 '22 at 17:23
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    @jcollum - seems a bit extreme when you can just cut a tomato to see if it's sharp. By the time you've made dinner you've cut enough things to know if it worked or not. – Tetsujin May 26 '22 at 17:36
  • I like evidence and "it cuts a tomato well" doesn't seem like much in the way of evidence to me. Lots of things cut a tomato well, how do you compare well vs well to figure out which is more well? – jcollum May 28 '22 at 04:40
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    @jcollum does it really matter which is "more well" when "it cuts a tomato" is most definitely *good enough* for most people? – Esther May 31 '22 at 22:02