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Honing Rods

It's supposed to keep your knife sharp, but does it work?

By Published July 18, 2019

What You Need To Know

We've all sat at holiday tables watching our host put on a show before carving the roast, slashing a knife in the air, back and forth, against a honing rod—swish, swish, swish. It sure looks impressive, but I've always secretly wondered: Does that really sharpen a knife?

To find out, I bought nine honing rods. All had the same basic design, a sticklike rod with a handle on one end. T...