# Steel honing rod refurbishing?



## Ericfg (Nov 29, 2020)

Has anyone every restored/polished an older steel honing rod such as this?


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## billyO (Dec 2, 2020)

Out of curiosity, what's the problem you're trying to fix? Are you trying to restore the look to new or is your interest to just make a clean, usable tool?


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## Ericfg (Dec 2, 2020)

A little of both I guess? It's pretty heavily pitted, especially towards the tip. It's also a monster at 14 inches of rod length and almost 21" overall. So it's a little big and heavy for regular use but I do have an old Henckels 13" chef's knife that I restored and I think I may display these two together somehow.
I found some opinions on youtube which included using sandpaper up and down the rod trying to keep the grits in the rod's grooves. I tried that last night going from 150 grit to 1K and it improved the look at the very least.


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## billyO (Dec 2, 2020)

Hi Eric. You might also want to try steel wool, that may get into the grooves better than sandpaper. If it doesn't quite get you where you want, just be a bit more aggressive with your rubbing.

The reason why I asked the question is that the grooves are not important in a honing steel. A honing steel isn't really designed to sharpen the blade (I know that some out there that have diamond grit that will remove steel and are advertised to sharpen, but this isn't the best tool for that), but rather straighten any edge rolling/deflection that happens during use.


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## Ericfg (Dec 2, 2020)

billyO said:


> Hi Eric. You might also want to try steel wool, that may get into the grooves better than sandpaper. If it doesn't quite get you where you want, just be a bit more aggressive with your rubbing.



That's a good idea as well, thanks mate!



> The reason why I asked the question is that the grooves are not important in a honing steel. A honing steel isn't really designed to sharpen the blade (I know that some out there that have diamond grit that will remove steel and are advertised to sharpen, but this isn't the best tool for that), but rather straighten any edge rolling/deflection that happens during use.


Thanks for that tip. I use whetstones mostly but I will rarely use my ceramic hone when needed to touch up an edge.
This monster up above is just for display I think.


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## orangehero (Dec 2, 2020)

I think a good scrub with Bar Keepers Friend and an old toothbrush will get it looking as good as it can. I don't think you need to do anything to that rod to use it unless you just want it looking shinier.


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## Ericfg (Dec 2, 2020)

orangehero said:


> a good scrub with Bar Keepers Friend and an old toothbrush


BKF's a good idea also. Thanks for that.
This high HRC on these rods should make them more impervious to gritty and scratchy abrasives.
What's the material in these older Western rods that make them harder than Western knife steel, chromium?


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## M1k3 (Dec 2, 2020)

Toothbrush and barkeeper's friend. Wire brush would probably be a good option also. If it's greasy buildup, use some degreaser.


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## orangehero (Dec 2, 2020)

Ericfg said:


> What's the material in these older Western rods that make them harder than Western knife steel, chromium?


Carbon


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## inferno (Dec 5, 2020)

to get rid of rust like that, dunk in oxalic acid for a maybe 10 minutes, then neutralize in lye or whatever you have for a minute or 2 to stop the acid from eating the steel. acids and bases needs to be handled with care (use gloves/glasses if unsure).

to get scratches back on the rod use a coarse diamond plate, like an atoma 140 or similar.


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## billyO (Dec 5, 2020)

orangehero said:


> Carbon


This might be TMI, but to clarify, it's not just carbon, but a combination of the amount of carbon, along with the HT parameters, and other alloys in the steel. 
In general, there's a minimum amount of carbon necessary to get a steel to harden enough for the tool and task (for example, a hammer needs to be harder than what it's hitting, but not as hard as a knife), and up to a point (i.e. up to ~ 1% carbon) the higher carbon will allow for harder steel. 
Other elements in the steel (chromium, tungsten, molybdenum, vandium, niobium, etc) can also increase the hardness above what can be attained by a simple carbon steel.


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## Benuser (Dec 5, 2020)

Honing steel rods I know are hard chromium plated by galvanisation. The hardness thus obtained is some 69Rc.


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## inferno (Dec 6, 2020)

this is called hard chrome. should be in the high 60ies/low 70ies hrc iirc. i wonder how deep that cr layer is. 

i sometimes send out stuff for hardchroming at work and according to the guys doing it they can make the layers very thick. several mm. you just have to crank up the amps!


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## Twigg (Dec 9, 2020)

I don't always polish my rod, but when I do I use these:


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