Review of A.G. Russell Ceramic Rod Sharpener

The ceramic rod type sharpeners are very effective and easy to use, and the ones that are set up in an angled fixture make it very easy to maintain a consistent angle by simply keeping the blade vertical. The Spyderco Sharpmaker is another of this type of sharpener--although its innovative rod design makes it useful with a wider variety of serrated edge types.

The key to ceramic sharpeners (all sharpeners, but especially ceramic sharpeners which tend to be very fine abrasives) is twofold.

1. Don't let the blade get really dull as most ceramics are not really that aggressive and it can take awhile to sharpen a knife that really needs serious edge geometry reconstruction. When I get a knife like that, I tend to use an aggressive diamond hone to get the geometry right before moving to the ceramics.

2. Think of your sharpening as happening in stages. In the beginning, you're trying to grind off metal to get the blade shape right--so applying some pressure isn't out of line at this stage. In the second stage you're trying to refine the edge shape and start to smooth the bevel. You don't want to press hard at this point in the game or you can actually damage the edge geometry you worked hard to set in the first stage. In the final stage, you're just trying to polish the edge. The weight of the knife is enough pressure during the final stage.

...the knife is so sharp that I'm scared to put my thumb on it.

Click to expand...

Scaring thumbs everywhere one sharpening at a time!

Is it better to sharpen against a round ceramic surface versus a flat one?

Click to expand...

I have used both and I still don't have a solid/across the board better/worse judgement.

I do think it is probably a little easier (and faster) to sharpen on a round ceramic stick vs a flat one. The round stick will tend to cut/grind the metal faster since there's a smaller surface area in contact with the stone and therefore more pressure being applied to that small surface area. Remember that pressure is pounds per square inch and if you reduce the area (square inches) of contact then the pressure goes up even if you're still applying the same force (pounds).

My hunch/gut feel is that you can get a finer edge on a flat stone but 1) I'm not sure that there's really a practical difference for 99% of sharpeners and 2) I'm really going out on a limb. I don't have enough information to argue the point.

I like the triangle shaped stones because the corners work very well for sharpening serrated knives, and they're also more aggressive when you need to remove metal. And then (at least for plain edge knives) you can finish up on the flat surface which is what I'm used to.

Where the round and triangle stones really shine is dealing with complicated cutting surfaces like recurved edges or serrated edges. I have one knife with a recurved cutting surface, and sharpening it on a flat stone is really difficult. It's a piece of cake with a round or triangle ceramic sharpener. I sharpen all my serrated steak knives periodically using the corner of a triangle-shaped ceramic rod.

By the way, if you're using diamond abrasives, then you don't need to (and don't want to) apply a lot of pressure to the blade. A lot of people think that because they're using the diamond sharpener to remove a lot of metal, they should press down hard to speed the process. The diamonds will cut aggressively, but they are brittle. If you press hard, it just breaks the diamonds and wears the sharpener fast. Even with relatively light pressure a good diamond stone will take the metal off very rapidly. I tend to use them only when a knife really needs some significant metal removed (very dull/rounded or chipped blade). If you can look at the edge and clearly see that it's dull or chipped then it's time for an aggressive sharpener. For most sharpening, you don't need a coarse or aggressive sharpener.

And one more by the way. Eventually, a ceramic sharpener will start to load up with metal particles. I remove the buildup periodically by rubbing the sharpener with a white plastic eraser.

I have a couple of the special-purpose erasers. One by Lansky and another (can't remember the brand) that has embedded metal particles. They are more aggressive the white plastic eraser and I use them when the white plastic eraser isn't doing the trick. Which is pretty rare. Once in awhile, a particular knife steel will seem "stickier" than most and may build up enough on the stone that the plastic eraser can't keep up.

Bon Ami to clean sharpening stones is what I use.

I've used scouring powder to clean the sticks, but I worry if I'm making them too smooth to sharpen?

Click to expand...

They are very, very hard. I have resurfaced ceramic stones with diamond hones, but it's unlikely softer substances will have much effect.

Bon Ami to clean sharpening stones is what I use.

Click to expand...

I have used Comet on at least one occasion and it worked well. It's just a lot more convenient to use an eraser--I haven't used anything else since I discovered that method.

John, are you using a standard white drafting eraser or the even more common red erasers?

The red/pink conventional erasers can leave a smear on the stone. The smear doesn't hurt anything as far as I can tell, but I don't like it. Also, I think the white plastic erasers clean better/quicker.

A common brand is the Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser. I just happen to have a new one in the desk drawer and I can tell from the stamping that it's the same brand as what I'm using now. So I know for a fact I have used that brand for this purpose, but I may have used other similar products without paying attention to the brand.

An a related note, I just got a Spyderco Golden Stone today. It's an interesting (more compact) take on this style of sharpener. Instead of having angled rods, it is a single stone with an unusual base that allows the stone to be held upright in two positions--tilted either one way or the other. So it can serve as either angled rod depending on which way it is tilted. In addition, it is quite large and can be used as a regular bench stone. I haven't used it much yet, but so for I like it. Price is on the high side--there are cheaper products that will probably work just as well or better.

Yup. Clean them and they're as good as new.

I will admit to having worn out a ceramic sharpener, at least I dished part of it out enough that it wasn't suitable for precise sharpening any longer--or at least that part of it wasn't. A "dished" stone can put a functional edge on a knife, but it's impossible to get it really sharp because it's so much harder to keep a consistent angle on the edge when the angle of the stone to the knife varies over the course of a sharpening stroke due to the stone being dished. If you see a conventional stone start to dish, you'll want to try to get the surface flat again if you expect to get a precise edge.

Anyway, it was sort of a special case. First of all, the stone was small/short (about 4" of working length), so there wasn't much working area. Second, it was a triangle profile stone and I used one of the corners a LOT to reprofile the bevels on knives that had been abused. So that further limited how much of the stone I was using. Even so, it took a lot of abuse and it's still usable as long as you turn it so you're not using the dished surface. That still leaves 3 flats and 2 corners.

The red/pink conventional erasers can leave a smear on the stone. The smear doesn't hurt anything as far as I can tell, but I don't like it. Also, I think the white plastic erasers clean better/quicker.

Click to expand...

I found an old art gum/artgum/artist gum eraser in a drawer the other day and, as an experiment, I tried using it instead of a white plastic eraser to clean a ceramic stone. It seems to clean faster and better than the white plastic. So I've returned the white plastic erasers back to actual erasing duty and have replaced them in my sharpening kits with art gum erasers. I think that part of it is that the art gum erasers have a tendency to crumble a little bit--which releases contaminated particles of the eraser while in use. That keeps the contaminated surface of the eraser from rubbing back over the stone. The white plastic erasers are a tougher and don't come apart quite as easily so they're more likely to wipe the contaminated area of the eraser back over the stone as you're trying to clean it.

Besides the added performance/efficiency, I've always liked the smell of art gum erasers--probably an association from when I was very small and used to watch my mom draw. So, I guess that's kind of a bonus.