F. Dick German made Sharpening Steels?

Old-School said:
Hi mate, they're better because they're a lot harder than anything made today. Pre-war steels are low background steel, as is any steep produced before the detonation of the 1st nuclear weapons in 1945. Any steel produced after the nukes were detonated is now unfortunately contaminated with radionuclides. All old steels can be restored, mine when I first came across them were the same... heavily ages and water marked and virtually useless but after a sand and polish they come up with a mirror finish... completely smooth. I then cut some lines in with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper and then very finely smooth them over with a single pass of 1200 grit. You then have the best knife honing steel you can use. I'm about to head to work now but I'll show you some photos of my restored pre-war F. DICK steels this afternoon. They look like brand new.
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Welcome to BF.

I admire and respect your butchering experience and hope you continue to share.

However, the post-war radionuclides thing is going to be a long up hill road for me.

Larrin Larrin have you ever heard this?
 
Eli Chaps said:
Welcome to BF.

I admire and respect your butchering experience and hope you continue to share.

However, the post-war radionuclides thing is going to be a long up hill road for me.

Larrin Larrin have you ever heard this?
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It's fairly well known in my line of work, measuring low count rates of nuclear particles in steel vacuum chambers.
In the past, radio isotopes weren't tracked very well, so they often ended up in the recycle. Now, with terrorism concerns, every radioactive source is severely documented.
 
ToddS said:
It's fairly well known in my line of work, measuring low count rates of nuclear particles in steel vacuum chambers.
In the past, radio isotopes weren't tracked very well, so they often ended up in the recycle. Now, with terrorism concerns, every radioactive source is severely documented.
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No kiddin huh?

I work in high purity metals but not steel and the only time I can remember this kind of thing coming up was with lead and alpha breakdown.

But it is also not a thing we look for either.

Interesting subject.
 
Some of my Pre-War F.Dick Restorations that I use daily. I wouldn't use anything else. These surpass all.

Before restoration:
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After:
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I am currently working on another 3 Pre-war F. Dicks, a 14' round, 12' round and 12' flat. They will be brought back to their original beauty with original brass fittings kept and new custom designed VIKINGS Resin handles to replace the original timber and antler handles.

Once they are restored like this, I cut lines in them with either 400 or 600 grit sandpaper (once a month) and they are beautiful to work with. These restored 14' rounds are my faves... without the handles and fittings attached, these 2 come in at 497 grams and 523 grams. Absolute gems.

Will hopefully have the 12' flat finished later this afternoon.
 
ToddS said:
Thats a beautiful collection. Thanks so much for sharing.
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I just picked up another two from eBay, one from Michigan and one from California. I should receive them in the mail in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to bringing those back to life also.
 
The restoration of the pre-war F. Dick flat steel in now complete.
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I've got 5 more rounds, a 10", 2X 12" and 2X 14" that I picked up in America on their way over here now in the mail to Australia, can't wait to restore them!
 
Old-School said:
Having been a slaughterman pulling 5-6 day weeks for the last 17 straight years on what's probably Australia's fastest single chain slaughter floor operating at 178 head/hour, there's only 1 brand of steel I use and it's F. DICK and if it ain't pre-war it ain't worth using. "They don't make 'em like they used to" rings true here, I have a small collection of pre-war steels, 14', 12' rounds and a 12' flat and they'd be worth more to me than a millionaire's collection of sport cars. As for knives, I have 3 favourite makes... 1. Victorinox Swibo, 2. F. Dick and 3. Solingen. High carbon all the way, easy to sharpen and holds an edge all day... also, I'm not one for hollow grinding my knives. I work with a lot of blokes that are hollow grinding those New Zealand made VICTORY skinning knives... I've used them and yeah... if you really want to work for your $$ then be my guest but I like my knives to do the hard yards and I'll stick with Victorinox Swibo, F.Dick and Solingen for the rest of my working life. As for steels, I won't touch those fancy new modern Replicas. Pre-war all the way!
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Hello & Welcome, I hope you realize that Solingen Is A City in Germany & not a Brand... The Town goes back to at least the Middle Ages when Swords, Armor Lances & all kinds of Steel weaponry was made there due to streams/rivers to run water wheels etc.. Both Wusthof & Henkel are made there today. There really isn’t a Brand of Solingen... F. Dick started as a file company in another town..

ToddS said:
There's an old "story" I've read about vintage iron mined from certain parts of the world (eg from a meteor) that produces harder steel because it is higher purity than any iron available today presumably due to recycling. Iron is very difficult to purify, and is surprisingly expensive to purchase in high purity. Coincidently, the people who have told this story are also in the business of selling vintage razors or knives made from pre-war munition shells.
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That’s what it is. An old story. ;-) while Meteorite Steel is beautiful , as far as harden ability or edge retention etc. it isn’t at the top of available steels by a long shot!
Larrin said:
Low background steels are real, necessary for certain applications where accurate radiation readings are necessary. Doesn’t mean much for knives of course.
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There is a interesting show on Discovery by “Jeremy Wade“ Biologist & fisherman about how pre WWII Ocean wrecks are being illegally salvaged for the metals to make the Scientific instruments you are referring too..
 
They are really beautiful - good job.

Regarding the pre/post war piece. I think it’s fair to say that modern technology allows iron to be purified and hardened to levels unimaginable in the early 1900s, the trouble is that manufactures simply don’t do it with regularity due to cost.

Picking up on the carpentry point, veritas today make exceptional hand planes (Still based on the old Stanley Bailey design) but with thicker irons and some other minor modifications. They are without a doubt better quality than any vintage model you can buy and restore. They will also set you back £600. You can go on the bay and find a vintage Stanley Bailey for £20-30. Now here is where the difference is. With vintage pieces there is a notable difference is quality and finish of those planes when looking pre and post war. Post war pieces tend to made with poorer quality materials, finished to less exacting tolerances with less attention to detail. Advent of poor quality control mass production.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the same were true with steels.

Interestingly the same is true with cast iron cookware. The technology hasn’t changed when making cast iron; however vintage pieces tend to be better finished and sanded smooth where as modern prices are left with the sand casting pattern on them ultimately impacting the natural nonstick surface that develops on cast iron and carbon steel cookware.
 
I won't use any steels other than pre-war F. DICKS. The rest just aren't worth the time.of day. Once you go pre-war, you'll never go back.
 
I own the Veritas No.4 plane in PMV11, and a few Stanley Bailey pre and post war No.4s.

To be honest they are all great, but for regular use, taking and holding a fine edge the PMV11 wins the game.

I have no experience of steels and certainly not your knowledge of butchery so won’t be arrogant enough to try to tell you your art. If it works for you then great and your collection is beautiful.
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
There is a interesting show on Discovery by “Jeremy Wade“ Biologist & fisherman about how pre WWII Ocean wrecks are being illegally salvaged for the metals to make the Scientific instruments you are referring too..
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Sounds like something that would happen.
 
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