Ceramic is harder than knife steel and is therefore ideal for sharpening the blade of a knife cleanly. The grinding surfaces of this sharpening rod from Windmühlenmesser-Manufactur Herder in Solingen are made of a hard, abrasive material based on the ceramic material corundum. It consists mainly of highly compressed, fine aluminum oxides and achieves a grain size of 1,500 (according to the current Japanese standard). With just a few passes, you can sharpen the blades of your kitchen knives and keep them ready for use. To do this, either place the rod vertically on the table and guide the cutting edge from the handle to the tip at an angle of around 15-20° with light pressure along the grinding surface. Or proceed in the same way while holding the rod outstretched away from your body. You can tell whether you "hit" the cutting edge by the sound, which should sound soft and sandy (not scratchy and loud), and you will also feel it if you can perform the movement in one go. Unlike a ceramic whetstone, this sharpening rod from Herder does not need to be soaked before use. An eraser is supplied for cleaning the sharpening surface, which can be used to gently remove the accumulated steel abrasion.