Smooth Sharpening Steel

W

Wankel

Joined
Jan 22, 2009
Messages
3
Finally found one and ordered it. Its amazing how difficult it can be to find a smooth steel relative to the abundance of grooved steels in stores.

Why is this so? If grooved steels aren't the best choice for everyday steeling, why are they so common in stores? Marketing? Are there any applications where a grooved steel is preferred?
 
Probably because the general populace doesn't know how to properly maintain their knives, and as such a steel that lightly sharpens is most appropriate for their uses. An experiences individual should of course use a smooth steel.
 
A sharpening steel is harder than most knife steels, yes? If so then unless is has a grit size of infinity, it must have some abrasive effect. Sure if you are using a very soft or perhaps ductile steel like INFI the edge may need frequent realignment but without some abrasive sharpening effect it wouldn't be of much use IMO. Grooved steels I'm guessing provide greater abrasive action and are therefore more suited for use on harder knives and/or less frequent use.
 
FTB, is correct. :thumbup:
Proper sharpening must be done a certain way.
 
I've been experimenting with the two types (grooved and smooth). The smooth steel seems to work in a burnishing manner. It takes some force to achieve the desired result. The grooved steel acts more like a file so it requires less force. I'm using these on Henckel kitchen knives. Both the smooth and the grooved steel seem to work ok. I'm not sure I can tell the difference so far other than requiring more force for the smoothed steel. :confused:
 
All a knife steel should do is re-straighten the edge. The actual edge gets rolled and dinged with use, creating the feel of a dulled edge. A steel realigns the edge, restoring the sharpness. If you are cutting in the kitchen on a good board and not hacking apart bones, you are doing very little dulling of the edge.
 
With a smooth steel its purpose is to realign the edge only, without abrasive effect. This is better for those who have a very finely sharpened blade and do not wish for the file-like surface of a grooved steel to make your edge coarser than the edge already present.
 
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