Finally Found Field Sharpening Steels

pitdog, i know that it is the prefered edge maintenance tool for the pros, but i figure they need high speed and they don't need the most perfect edge in the world...and you don't need hair splitting to process meat.

but if you peek into a woodworker's shop and look at them sharpening their tools at the end of the day, you will likely see stones and strops to give that perfect edge for perfectly clean cuts in all manner of wood.

i find that my needs are closer to those of the woodworker's than the butchers, so i sharpen accordingly...

not to turn this into a sharpening style debate...just felt like saying.
 
siguy said:
pitdog, i know that it is the prefered edge maintenance tool for the pros, but i figure they need high speed and they don't need the most perfect edge in the world...and you don't need hair splitting to process meat.

but if you peek into a woodworker's shop and look at them sharpening their tools at the end of the day, you will likely see stones and strops to give that perfect edge for perfectly clean cuts in all manner of wood.

i find that my needs are closer to those of the woodworker's than the butchers, so i sharpen accordingly...

not to turn this into a sharpening style debate...just felt like saying.
Click to expand...

That's a good point that you make bro !
Woodworking tools do actually require a very fine edge or else they will leave very fine scores in the wood. Butchers and fishmongers actually favour a rougher finish, although it will still shave hair, but under a microscope the edge will have micro serrations which help when cutting through flesh.
I guess with that reasoning someone who hunts would be better with a steel and someone who is planning on a lot of bushcraft would be better with fine stone and strop !!!:thumbup:
 
pitdog said:
That's a good point that you make bro !
Woodworking tools do actually require a very fine edge or else they will leave very fine scores in the wood. Butchers and fishmongers actually favour a rougher finish, although it will still shave hair, but under a microscope the edge will have micro serrations which help when cutting through flesh.
I guess with that reasoning someone who hunts would be better with a steel and someone who is planning on a lot of bushcraft would be better with fine stone and strop !!!:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Actually, I think siguy's point was that the steel was better for speed.

A diamond rod or steel will also give you a toothy edge. If you are not a butcher, you wont need that kind of speed. You can still get a better edge for processing meat with a stone or diamond rod.
 
There are steels, and there are steels (not talking sharpening steels here). In the butcher shop, I maintain a variety of steels with different cuts. Don't need to go into detail on how and why these are used in a meat cutting environment. The F. Dicks are among my current favorites.

On my field and utility cutlery, I will sometimes use a *smooth* steel to maintain a very sharp edge. The smooth steel requires a very, very light touch in order to get the most from it. They work well if the user does his part and is a student of his edge.

One of my favorite small folding smooth steels is the Raz-R-Steel. Super easy to use, too. Just the weight of the knife dropping down the steel is all that is necessary. You simply hold the knife straight up and down in your hand. No pressure is desired or required. I only drop the edge down the smooth steel once or twice to get the edge back in alignment. More effort than this serves no purpose.
razrsteel3tw6.jpg
 
Dannyboy Leather said:
There are steels, and there are steels (not talking sharpening steels here). In the butcher shop, I maintain a variety of steels with different cuts. Don't need to go into detail on how and why these are used in a meat cutting environment. The F. Dicks are among my current favorites.

On my field and utility cutlery, I will sometimes use a *smooth* steel to maintain a very sharp edge. The smooth steel requires a very, very light touch in order to get the most from it. They work well if the user does his part and is a student of his edge.

One of my favorite small folding smooth steels is the Raz-R-Steel. Super easy to use, too. Just the weight of the knife dropping down the steel is all that is necessary. You simply hold the knife straight up and down in your hand. No pressure is desired or required. I only drop the edge down the smooth steel once or twice to get the edge back in alignment. More effort than this serves no purpose.
razrsteel3tw6.jpg
Click to expand...

Good info. Thanks for that.

Doc
 
Don't know if its useful or relevant,but Swiss Army sells little steels and some of their Zermatt pouches have steel included.
 
Having owned a fish store and cutting many boxes of fish I can attest to benefit of using a steel to maintain a working edge on a knife. It just works!

For a speedy touch up I would put a steel in the same catagory as a strop. My question would be which one would be more effective in a wet enviroment? A steel in your PSK will work even if slightly rusted from being soaked in water, I am not so sure if a piece of cardboard or even a piece of leather loaded up with compound would fare that well. It's just something to think about if we are talking about outdoor survival and bulletproof gear.

Paul
 
A lot of good information and excellent food for thought. I'm going to experiment with my cutlery steels and my stones more now. : ) Thanks folks.

Mark
 
I think that it bear repeating that a steel does not remove steel from the blade (at least smooth steels do not). As a deformed edge (that can be realigned by a steel) is likely the cause of initial dullness noted by the user, realigning the edge increases the useful lifetime of a blade- as you are not grinding away the blade with a stone.

Steels have been used for hundreds of years for quick touch-ups of blades. The edge of a freshly steeled blade can be weaker than that of a freshly honed blade, as the steeling process bends the very edge back into alignment. And, as the steel merely alignes the edge, it can not revive a chipped edge or an edge that has been dulled by abrasion.

Steels have their place, as do stones and strops.
 
There are a lot of things to take into account when you`re talking about steels as a sharpening tool. Hardness of knife, what kind of steel the knife is made of, and what it`s going to be used for. Most knives used in the food-processing industry is made from stainless or simple carbon steels, with a rockwell hardness of around 55-58, which is soft enough to be able to use a steel without chipping the edge. That is, the steel is malleable enough so that steeling it will realign the edge sufficiently, so that the knife will continue to cut.
I`d actually recommend diamond or ceramic rods, over sharpening steels, and proper sharpening stones, be it diamond, ceramic or natural ones over rods. Stropping is in a whole different category for me, as it`s not so much about sharpening, as it is gaining a maximum of sharpness from an already sharpened edge.

I heard a reason for why the pro's in the food-processing industry use sharpening steels on their knives. It`s not to sharpen their blades, it`s to remove "gunk" from the edge, and possibly to realign it slightly. But never to sharpen. Mind you, this is something i heard, so i`m not saying this is absolute fact.

Just my two cents. ^_^
 
I got a small steel with a sheath pouch fron Openiel (holds my gardener) it works wel on that blade.
 
My Dad was a butcher for many years and I never saw him pick up a knife without picking up a steel. A stone was used about every two or three weeks. He never had a knife on the block that was not shaving sharp except when my brother and I would mess them up. I use a steel the same way today. I have the one he used. It had slight grooves but it is worn smooth as silk.
 
Steels are very usefull. They realign the blade. When a blade is no longer razor sahrp it doesn't mean it needs a full sharpening. A quick few strokes on a steel or a strop and it is good to go. If you think they are useless ask just about every chef in this world! There comes a point when a steel will not do and it is time to sharpen. But a steel just "maintains" the blade.
 
in the same vein as sharpening steels, carbide sharpewners can either burnish a blade or hone a blade,i have been using an inexpensive sharpener i found at lowes in the gardening section has a small carbide insert in the end, it can remove metal or just be used to hone the blade , it is light weight and carries easily, does not take up much room, so if i am going light this is the only sharpener i carry, i do take more robust steels and stones if i am in a vehicle.

corona sharpener:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=70443-63731-AC8300&lpage=none

alex
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top