Thanks everyone.

Jeanette - Yes, that's how I would have expected to sharpen with this rod. I still wonder what those folks at Eze-Lap mean by their instructions saying "circular motion".

The standard "slicing, drawing" motion is what I will use. I tried that a little bit ago with a Mora Clipper I have that is used around the house (cutting boxes, etc.) so it dulls quite easily. I got it pretty sharp with the rod. Not shaving sharp, but I really didn't expect that. The rod is small (about 5 inches long) and my freehand sharpening technique had always been just OK, never great. A longer rod would help in aquiring and maintaining the correct angle while sharpening, but would not be portable.

But this small sharpening rod will fit my needs perfectly. I plan to include it in my BOB for emergency field use, not use it every day.