On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:39:37 -0400, James Silverton
> wrote:

>On 3/16/2012 5:13 PM, David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
>> Jerry > writes:
>>
>>> I have a diamond-coated "steel" that works, but I prefer a stone most
>>> of the time. Ceramic rods are similar, but without the hand guard.
>>
>> You still want a real steel; it does different things than your abrasive
>> one. Basically, the steel straightens the edge, whereas everything else
>> takes off metal to re-form the edge (at varying rates of speeds and
>> degrees of precision).
>
>But a steel would probably not reform the edge of a ceramic knife.
>Anyone tried?

Yes. It doesn't work. The properties of ceramic are completely
different from steel (your alloy may vary). I gave away my ceramic
knives, they didn't cut muster.

I am now agnostic on knife brands but IMO harder alloys *may* keep an
edge marginally longer but need more effort to maintain the edge. I
don't do 440 SS any more; sharpenable but shortlived.

There's a Japanes Knife shop just opposite one of my 'Locals'. I need
to pluck up courage and explore it - before lunch. Could be
educational but extremely expensive.

Regards
JonH