Sharpening question

[Habber]

While sitting at the tavern last night..the talk turned to sharpening.There was a fellow there that told me that he was taught that using a steel,at the proper angle,you removed NO metal from the knife,and that the true sharpness came from the aligning of the electrons caused by magnetizing the blade by the rubbing on the steel.I have never heard this,and think that the electron thing might occur as a side-effect of the rubbing,but I don't see that being the main cause of sharpness or how using a steel,or any other form of sharpening can remove nothing from the knife.Has anyone heard of this theory,or have any ideas about it?I believe he told me it was on the Henkels site,and that he was taught by Chefs,and science teachers/proffessors.Thanks

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

What a steel does is reform the wire burr on the edge.It does not remove steel.
The magnetism thing only works when done by Mark Williams on the equinox,while facing true north.
Stacy

 

[Steve Hayden]

While sitting at the tavern last night..the talk turned to sharpening.There was a fellow there that told me that he was taught that using a steel,at the proper angle,you removed NO metal from the knife,and that the true sharpness came from the aligning of the electrons caused by magnetizing the blade by the rubbing on the steel.I have never heard this,and think that the electron thing might occur as a side-effect of the rubbing,but I don't see that being the main cause of sharpness or how using a steel,or any other form of sharpening can remove nothing from the knife.Has anyone heard of this theory,or have any ideas about it?I believe he told me it was on the Henkels site,and that he was taught by Chefs,and science teachers/proffessors.Thanks

That is only true if the steel has been blessed by an Illuninati monk of the Jewish/Catholic Cabal that runs the world.

Oh, and it has to have been properly edge-packed.

 

[miden]

When will a tongue-in-cheek postie be available for Stacy and Steve?
Amazing what you can learn about electrons and magnetism in a tavern.

Mike

 

[Habber]

OK these were the responses that were going through my brain as I talked with him,but...I had never heard of such a thing,and the man IS intelligent and swore up and down about it for the hour or so that we debated it,so I figured I'd see if there was anyone else that did hear anything like this before.Lord knows I don't know everything,and I thought for sure that any type of sharpening did take some steel off the blade...so I did wind up learning a bit from this bar room debate.Thanks for the input.

Amazing what you can learn about electrons and magnetism in a tavern.

Ever since we bought the tavern...I'm amazed almost daily as to the things I learn when within it's walls!

 

[Daniel Koster]

Regardless the theory/science behind why it works, there is no denying that it does not remove steel and indeed aligns it.

It is before for maintenance, than sharpening. Works better on a convex micro-bevel than either a hollow ground edge or flat micro-bevel.