F. Dick Steel Hones

G

Greggy

Joined
Feb 4, 2022
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549
Before you ask, yes I did search for previous threads regarding the subject. And I found a single thread that was underwhelming with respect to information and ideas. So here I go.

I recently purchased the F. Dick Packinghouse Steel 10 inches. This is a smooth polished steel, which is what I was looking for. I spend enough time on my water stones and don't need a steel hone that abrades the edge aggressively.

Question 1: why is this model so inexpensive compared to F. Dick's other offerings in honing steels?
Question 2: am I missing the boat by keeping only a single polished smooth hone in the kitchen, and am I missing other advantages to using a fine or medium coarse hone?
Question 3: Actually, I do not have a third question at the moment. Just trying to learn more about hones, beyond what I already know.

Thanks again!
 
Couldn't comment on the price of Dick's polished steels, but I've used a smooth hone -- actually, an oval burnishing rod about 8" long made for reshaping scrapers -- for decades. Works great, doesn't remove metal like a hone. The stem of an auto or truck valve also works great as a steel -- you can probably find one free at any automotive machine shop.
 
You would likely get more information if you would have posted in the maintenance sub forum. They deal will all things sharpening related.
 
1) dunno, haven’t ever bought a burnishing steel new. Most of mine are from between the wars that I’ve picked up at swap meets or yard sales for 5-10 bucks (although I have paid as much as 25 for a really nice specimen).

2) yes, you are missing the boat by having only a single smooth steel in the kitchen. You should have half a dozen there, and not less than a couple each in the dining room, hallway, bathroom, bedrooms and closet. Additional steels may be stored in the garage or in a detached outbuilding. If you build an outbuilding dedicated to burnishing steel storage, it may be referred to as the “steel shed”, or if it contains a comfortable chair and beer fridge, the “honing hideout”.

Your question 2 is actually 2 questions crowded into one number.

So here’s a nutshell description of how burnishing steals work: many times, an abrasive sharpened knife will lose its super keen edge after some cutting. It’s not rounded-over dull, but the microscopic apex has been bent away from the centerline. It still cuts, just is no longer super keen. Stroking it down a burnishing steel realigns and recenters the apex, and depending on the steel and heat treating, sometimes microscopically “smears” the scratches left by abrasives, making them less jagged.

There are a number of variables in this process, including metallurgy, geometry, and how dull the knife is allowed to get before honing.

A glass smooth, or meatpackers’ steel aligns the apex with very little friction and therefore removes no steel molecules from the knife. It produces no swarf. A burnisher with small fine grooves generates a little friction, and removes a tiny amount of steel from the edge. A rod with pronounced grooves removes steel aggressively from the knife edge, similar to a file.

As Ed mentioned, this action doesn’t require a dedicated honing steel. I have used a length of drill rod, the round shank of a bigass screwdriver, and the barrel of a .22 rifle, among other things. All produced an improvement in edge centering on 1095-ish steel.

Parker
 
If you are using common knives like the German variants with their standard stainless running an HRC of 57~58, these will work great at keeping the edge in alignment down the length.

On an HRC 62 Gyuto from Japan, I would not use a steel.

Regarding the grooved ones, on cheaper stamped knives, they will work pretty darn good in most cases. Those knives are soft enough to pull a meaningful amount of steel off a dull knife, in addition to aligning the edge, to bring sharpness back up to a level good enough for service.
 
I agree with Sid about the gyuto, there are some metallurgies/geometries that a burnishing steel is not right for, and in fact may damage the knife. Hard thin Japanese edges may fracture and peel off in a wire edge, for example.

I partly agree about the cheap stamped knives, an aggressively grooved steel can tear some chunks out of a dull one so it can kinda claw its way through some stuff. However, when I’ve looked at that edge under magnification, I’ve seen a raggedy jaggedy mess similar to what a carbide pull through produces, and decided I can get a better edge straight off my stones.

If I was held at gunpoint to use an aggressively grooved steel, I’d apply it in a trailing stroke. In fact, I favor a trailing stroke in general, because some of my antique steels have pitting, nicks or other flaws that I don’t want to slam my edge into leading. Trailing, the knife just bounces over those flaws.

It takes a few more strokes trailing to achieve the same results, a welcome trade for reducing the risk to my edges. It makes me believe that trailing strokes are gentler to the knife.

Parker
 
catspa said:
2) yes, you are missing the boat by having only a single smooth steel in the kitchen. You should have half a dozen there, and not less than a couple each in the dining room, hallway, bathroom, bedrooms and closet. Additional steels may be stored in the garage or in a detached outbuilding. If you build an outbuilding dedicated to burnishing steel storage, it may be referred to as the “steel shed”, or if it contains a comfortable chair and beer fridge, the “honing hideout”.
.

Parker
Click to expand...

There is some real truth to this answer. 😂😂
 
Alberta Ed said:
Couldn't comment on the price of Dick's polished steels, but I've used a smooth hone -- actually, an oval burnishing rod about 8" long made for reshaping scrapers -- for decades. Works great, doesn't remove metal like a hone. The stem of an auto or truck valve also works great as a steel -- you can probably find one free at any automotive machine shop.
Click to expand...
like a tire valve stem?
 
AS, thanks for posting that link. Lot of interesting stuff in there.

Few points I disagree on, too. I have no electron microscope, so I can only judge my results by cutting performance in various materials.

But the bottom line, Greggy, is now that you have it, get acquainted with it by extensive use and experimentation. Another tool in the toolbox can’t be a bad thing.

Parker
 
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