Steeling a knife

A steel is a rod made of steel (smooth is best) that re-aligns the edge of a blade. It is what you see the butchers, etc. using all of the time to remedy a rolled edge.

It significantly extends the time required between sharpenings. In theory, the steel does not take off any metal. Whereas a ceramic rod will take off metal to sharpen the blade. It is best to steel often and always before sharpening.
 
I have found that I like to use a ceramic rod 1200 grit more so than a smooth steel. I do have both and if I was only going to get one the ceramic is the one I would get.
 
There are also diamond steels. They will really take off steel from your blade. The
ceramic ones work well but will break if you
happen to drop them. All around it is tough
to beat the high carbon steels. They can also
be used for other things
biggrin.gif
since they are
pointy on the end usually.

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http://www.imt.net/~goshawk
Don't walk in tradition just because it feels good!!!!!
Romans 10:9,10
Hebrews 4:12-16
Psalm 91

 
From my point of view:

The main objective in steeling is to re-align the edge. You want to re-align the edge because it brings back performance without having to re-sharpen -- in other words, the main objective of steeling is to keep from having to sharpen. You can steel as much as you'd like until the edge stops freshening-up. Then, you'll finally have to sharpen. But you can put some serious distance between sharpenings if you steel regularly.

Smooth steels do exactly that -- re-align the edge, and nothing more. Grooved steels can be more aggressive, but can remove some steel and even worse, can bite into the edge.

There's no such thing as a ceramic or diamond steel. These are rod-shaped sharpeners, not steels. They remove metal, which is the exactly what we're trying to avoid when we steel. If you use your ceramic sharpener between each use the way you'd use a steel, you'll just wear the knife away. Steels and ceramic/diamond rods are two completely different pieces of equipment which perform complementary but different functions -- in fact, the function of the steel is so you don't have to use the sharpener as often.

Joe
 
Theoretically, you can steel forever without sharpening if you avoid hitting hard objects with your edge.
Some Japanese meat cutters go amazingly long periods without sharpening, even claiming never to sharpen.
In the slaughter house of my experience, everyone steeled when they picked up a knife and when they put it down.
They only cut meat and did that on wood cutting boards.
Those knives stayed sharp and lasted a long, long time.
In the real world knives take more of a beating, encountering hard objects and big side loads, and so steeling will not completely repair them.

I find that my non-stainless knives tend to grow dull in storage and that a light steeling brings them back to popping sharpness, instantly.
It must have something to do with corrosion and I don't fully undestand it, I only observe it.

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Luke 22:36, John 18:6-11, Freedom

 
Steeling a knife requires some skill, it helps alot if no one see's you pick it up, then get it in your pocket and act casual
smile.gif

Unless your going to be using a knife alot i.e a butcher, I wouldn't worry that much about steeling. Just don't let the knife get really dull. Honing it every once in awhile when it doesn't take much shouldn't wear the knife out to quickly.

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
I agree that a ceramic "steel" is not a steel at all, but if used carefully they can serve an intermediate function between steel and hone. I've got a ceramic steel in my knife drawer that I sometimes use a little bit like a strop. I lightly swipe a blade edge-trailing across the ceramic rod a few swipes to pull up the burr and slightly hone the blade. This seems to be one of the quicker things to do with knives that have harder blades than average kitchen knives. Yes, it is wearing down the blade, but life is short and it gets me where I want to go faster than steeling on some blades.
 
Doed anyone know the approx. hardness of a good quality smooth steel?I have some carbon steel rod and a propane forge so I was thinking about making a nice steel for my knives.Should it be harder than the knifes edge?thanks
troy
 
It would have to be harder than the knives (most knives aren't a lot harder than RC 61, MOST I said). I don't know how much harder, though. If it isn't harder than the knives, the knives will, ummmm steel the steel.

Also, I haven't sharpened, or seen my dad sharpen, one of our kitchen knives in YEARS; always use a butcher's steel on them.

Howie.
 
You can steel a knife with something softer than the blade. All you are working with is the *very* thin edge, it will distort much easier than the surface of the steel even if it is far harder. Look at the brass rod test for example.

However for best results have the steel as hard as you can. It will have far greater wear resistance and you don't want the surface of your steel becoming uneven. I used to use a piece of steel stock (not very hard, could saw it with a hacksaw no problem), and had to resurface it from time to time with fine sandpaper.

-Cliff

[This message has been edited by Cliff Stamp (edited 22 December 1999).]
 
Right -- because you're pushing the edge back into shape, not abrading it, the steel doesn't have to be harder than the blade to work; in fact a smooth brass rod works very well. The trouble is soft metal will get all scraped up and nicked by the burr on the edge. You want it smooth and you want it to stay smooth. The guys on rec.crafts.metalworking often make steels out of drill rod or use mild steel rod and case harden it. It's easier to polish it if you do it before you harden it -- polish the heck out of it, then harden it, then touch up the polish a little and you'll have a steel that'll last a lifetime with reasonable care -- don't let it rust, mostly.

You can steel with all kinds of things as an expedient; it doesn't have to be perfectly smooth and it doesn't have to be hard if you're only going to use it once. A badly rolled edge can be improved a great deal by using a stropping motion on a piece of wood, with a lot of force -- the burr will scrape the wood and tear it up, but at the same time it'll be pulled back into alignment. Any old piece of metal, edge of a glass or a car window, an iron fence, a smooth rock -- whatever's handy, just about anything will work.

I like to use a latigo leather strop glued to the back of my hone and impregnated with tripoli compound. Stropping has an aligning effect as well as a fine abrasion effect. A badly rolled edge will scrape up the strop visibly for the first several strokes before it gets aligned, but it does no harm to the strop.



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-Cougar Allen :{)
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This post is not merely the author's opinions; it is the trrrrrruth. This post is intended to cause dissension and unrest and upset people, and ultimately drive them mad. Please do not misinterpret my intentions in posting this.
 
The hardest knives I have are swedish carving knives that register at Rc 64. With the grind they have I think you would have to have the steel harder than the knife because the cutting edge doesn't roll easily at all.

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
Steeling the edge may also be consolidating the edge as well as aligning it. It would be nice to view edges with electron microscope to see the effect.
 
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