Every knife, no matter how hard the steel, will get eventually dull with use. A knifes edge is so finely sharpened that it actually bends and rolls over after cutting and slicing all day. Every knife will do this, whether theyre made of Japanese steel or not. Thats where the Shun Satin Steel Combination Honing Steel comes in. It straightens out that rolled edge so youre not cutting down with a blunt blade. It also prolongs the sharpness of a blade until ultimately it will require a proper sharpening.

With Japanese steel, like the material found in the Shun Premier Grey and Narukami series, youll only have to hone your knives once a week, depending on how frequently you use your knives. Thats because Japanese steel is so hard, it doesnt dull as quickly as European knives, which can require honing after each use. Its important that any blade is honed to the angle it was sharpened at, and with any Shun, youll want to hone to a 16 angle. To make this easier, Shun placed a built-in angle guide on the handle, set to 16, so youll never have to second guess yourself. The Shun Satin Steel Combination Honing Steel has two surfaces to help you keep your knives sharp: a smooth one for day-to-day honing, and a micro-ribbed one for weekly honing. This steel was built to match the beauty of the New Premier Grey and Narukami lines, but will work for any Shun knife.