MAC Ceramic Honing Rod

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Need to get a honing rod and thinking about getting a MAC Black Ceramic Honing Rod 10.5" for $48. Is this rod generally well received? Is there a better option out there? My knife list currently includes (with more to follow!): Shun Pro Usuba, Shun Classis Pairing, Wustohf Classic Chef, Wustohf Classic boning.

Also, because I'm not too confident in getting my angle correct when honing Im thinking about getting an Angle Cube for $32. Is this a good product? On my Shun knives I want to hone at 16degrees and on my Wustohfs I want to hone at 20degrees correct?
 
The Mac is a solid purchase. I have a vid somewhere on how to use it properly. Just use the hand guard as a guide for your angle. The lower side is for Japanese knives, the higher side is for German. Just place the point of the heel on the rod with the spine resting on the hand guard and lightly swipe 2 or 3 times max. Simple.

[video=youtube;jAWcQOc93ec]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAWcQOc93ec[/video]
 
The black MAC rod is the best in class. As for angles, lower angles are sharper but less sturdy. I'd say 16 deg is a bit fat for a Shun. I like to get under 15 deg. I use about 20 for Wusthof but again, it's really about how the edge performs for you, personally.
 
The black MAC rod is the best in class. As for angles, lower angles are sharper but less sturdy. I'd say 16 deg is a bit fat for a Shun. I like to get under 15 deg. I use about 20 for Wusthof but again, it's really about how the edge performs for you, personally.

I thought I was supposed to hone at the angle the knife is at? Aren't Shun's cut at 16 at Wustohfs at 20? Sorry stupid question but I'm still learning.
 
I thought I was supposed to hone at the angle the knife is at? Aren't Shun's cut at 16 at Wustohfs at 20? Sorry stupid question but I'm still learning.

It's not a stupid question at all. What tk means is your Shun could be sharpened (on stones) at a lower angle than 16 degrees. When you hone your knife you want to use the knife that it is currently sharpened at, 16 degrees.

If you want to sharpen at a lower angle down the road you'll also hone at that angle.
 
im not a fan of honing rods but i own the mac one and its fantastic. ceramic is really the only way to go in my opinion for higher quality knives
 
It's not a stupid question at all. What tk means is your Shun could be sharpened (on stones) at a lower angle than 16 degrees. When you hone your knife you want to use the knife that it is currently sharpened at, 16 degrees.

If you want to sharpen at a lower angle down the road you'll also hone at that angle.
Thanks for explaining!
 
No problem. Correction to a mistake, it should be "When you hone your knife you want to use the angle that it is currently sharpened at," not "knife that it is currently sharpened at."
:biggrin:
 
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