Sharpening Rods & Systems

Sharpening rods and other sharpening systems are commonly used in Western-style kitchens. Chef's enjoy using honing steels to quickly re-align the edge of their blade, however, honing steels and rods aren't originally made for sharpening, and are only effective on knives crafted out of soft steels. The more traditional, eastern knives are usually crafted with harder steels and therefore aren’t affected much when their edge is attempted to be aligned with a honing steel. YanagiKnife recommends using honing steels for knives whose blades are crafted with soft steel, while using whetstones for Japanese knives that typically have harder steel.