F. Dick German made Sharpening Steels?

sodak said:
Old-School, I never thought I'd be impressed by steels, wow. Those are beautiful! About how long does it take you to get the steel polished that way assuming it's been neglected for a long time?
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Anywhere from 30 mins to 2 hours of sanding back prior to polishing depending on how badly the surface of the steel is. :)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Funny how slicks have been produced for hundreds of years but I guess no one uses them.
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Oh people do use them, most however have discovered that cutting lines in them makes them so much better though. People buy slicks to cut them simply because it's a lot less work than buying a rough steel, sanding it completely smooth and then cutting it. I've bought 2 or 3 new F.Dick slicks in the last 4 years and cut lines in them straight away with 400 grit wet/dry sand paper... 3 minute task instantly turns a tent peg into a beautiful tool for keeping a knife straight/sharp.
 
Old-School said:
Oh people do use them, most however have discovered that cutting lines in them makes them so much better though. People buy slicks to cut them simply because it's a lot less work than buying a rough steel, sanding it completely smooth and then cutting it. I've bought 2 or 3 new F.Dick slicks in the last 4 years and cut lines in them straight away with 400 grit wet/dry sand paper... 3 minute task instantly turns a tent peg into a beautiful tool for keeping a knife straight/sharp.
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If that were their intended purpose they wouldn't plate them. Just because it's how you and your crew do it doesn't mean it's how everyone in an industry does it. :)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
If that were their intended purpose they wouldn't plate them. Just because it's how you and your crew do it doesn't mean it's how everyone in an industry does it. :)
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Hehe they aren't all plated but those that are, are junk... drop it once or it swings and bangs against the bench or sink and the plating chips, the whole steel is ruined. Those are fine examples of shiny tent pegs. LOL
 
Spideyjg said:
Got an ancient Balkan missing it's rings. I'll get a pic of that also tomorrow.

What indicates pre war or age in general?
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The arrow points back towards the handle as shown in the images of mine. I have more images I need to upload of these shiny restored pre-war F.Dicks I've completed.
 
Will it be the same on the Balkan? They are in my tool bag in the sharpening van behind all the other stuff.
 
Here's another restored 12" flat Pre-War F.Dick. It's come up so freaking shiny, it looks better than any of the newly produced chrome plated slick ones.... best part is this one isn't plated and it'll last forever. Cut some lines in it with 400 grit sandpaper and it'll be B E A Utiful!
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Old-School said:
Hehe they aren't all plated but those that are, are junk... drop it once or it swings and bangs against the bench or sink and the plating chips, the whole steel is ruined. Those are fine examples of shiny tent pegs. LOL
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Nearly all steels are plated, including those by F. Dick. And they work just fine. It's good that you've found an arrangement that works for you, but the industry itself seems to have a rather significant difference of opinion, and has since before you were born.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Nearly all steels are plated, including those by F. Dick. And they work just fine. It's good that you've found an arrangement that works for you, but the industry itself seems to have a rather significant difference of opinion, and has since before you were born.
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Nearly all steels today are poorly made and therefore plated but not all. Those that are plated may work fine... for a while... they have a life expectancy of 6-12 months... they can be refurbished by removing all the plating and polishing up then cutting but chances are they'll just rust to bits. I've had 2 go bad on me in less than 3 months and was fully refunded for both, some others are lucky to get a year out of them. Wouldn't touch them again. I don't know what industry exactly you're referring too but I know for a fact there's most likely no one in Merica doing steel restorations where there's a motza of people over here in AUS doing it and the general consensus in the industry is that if you want decent steels that'll last forever, get the old ones and refurbish/restore them and stay away from the cheaply made Chrome plated garbage of today. Steels like cars like anything else... back in the day they were made quality and built to last... now everything has planned obsolescence.... throw away items, use it, toss it out, replace it... 100 year old steels...
Still going.... buy a steel off the shelf today, no one will be using it in the year 2120. Lol all that'll remain of it is the plastic moulded handle. Why are pre-war steels and vintage F.Dicks so sought after?? Because people are tired of going through half a dozen steels in 12 months.. that's the opinion of the industry and why so many people have turned to restoration of the old.
 
You keep doing you, if it makes you happy. I disagree with your narrative and assessments, but don't think we'll make any meaningful progress in discussing it further, so I'm gonna' bow out.
 
Some free advice, if you want a steel that'll surpass anything made today, get a pre-war F.Dick, or vintage Henckles Twin Works or H. Boker & Co Solingen, specifically the one stamped with a sycamore tree. I have 2 here for restoration now, hard to come by today, I think I've seen 4 ever in person.
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This piece will be MAGNIFICENT when finished.
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FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades , O Old-School ,

For what it’s worth I’ve found this a very interesting discussion. I certainly don’t have the experience or knowledge to make a firm assertion, but I find the more philosophical side of the argument interesting.

By that I mean the difference between a more scientific outlook and crowd based experience.

When working in an industry with hundreds of colleagues how much does tradition and corporate memory get represented as fact, vs an external view of what should be the best technology without being directly involved in the nitty gritty of the industry. What is right?

From my background in science I struggle with the assertion that pre-war technology represents the pinnacle in available tooling, but agree that the longevity of plated steels would be significantly less than older materials.

I think I’m sticking by my opinion in a previous post that pre-war manufacturing vs the mass production culture we have today yielded manufacturing that tended to be of a better quality and longevity than tends to be achieved in the modern world (for some but not all tools); however if someone set their mind to creating an equivalent pre-war FDick in today’s society it would invariably be a significant improvement.
 
Craig James said:
but agree that the longevity of plated steels would be significantly less than older materials.
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This is the crux of the whole new vs old right here. Anything plated isn't worth a hill of beans. It's an inferior way of producing a product... just like the old fittings... solid brass over the new... brass plated.. garbage all of it.
 
Probably the best by far modern made F. Dick steel is this one... Orange handled 10" polished and unchromed. A lot of people use these because they are NOT plated. These will last forever if cared for, after use, cleaned and wiped with WD40 or INOX but the disadvantage of them is you need to cut lines in them almost every second day as they're not as hard as the older ones. I have a few of these in the kitchen utensils drawer, one in the fishing tackle box and a few in the shed. The only modern F.Dick worth buying in my honest opinion.
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Will pick these up anywhere from around $30 - $60.

"The F Dick Non-Chromium polishing steel is also called a butchers steel. It is stainless and perfect for softer steel butchering knife lines like Victorinox and Dexter. The reason that it is not chromed is in meat packing plants, many cutters like to scuff this smooth steel with sandpaper to suit their individual preferences."

Being non plated it won't fail and become completely useless after 3 months however if dropped or accidentally banged against a table or wash bay, it'll need to have new lines put in it almost immediately but a very popular little steel and one worth having if newer steels are your thing. Bullet roof bit of gear. The standard high vis orangle handles can be removed too and fitted with custom ones.
 
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Craig James said:
FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades , O Old-School ,

For what it’s worth I’ve found this a very interesting discussion. I certainly don’t have the experience or knowledge to make a firm assertion, but I find the more philosophical side of the argument interesting.

By that I mean the difference between a more scientific outlook and crowd based experience.
....
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As a Scientist, I like to separate the observations from the explanations. Simply because the explanation doesn't hold up to Scientific scrutiny isn't a reason to dismiss a staggering amount of hands on experience and observation. Based on my knowledge of how a steel works, I would expect that the surface preparation is more important than the bulk properties of the steel itself. We can include in that not only the texture imparted, but also the sandpaper grit incorporated into the steel (which I guarantee is happening). So comparing a modern steel to one these restored beauties is meaningless.

As a first experiment, I would want to see how a modern steel, prepared in the same way compares to the restored vintage steel. Maybe that includes allowing the steel to corrode (and pit) for some time before restoring it.
 
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