Steeling -- What angle to use?

[Gypsy]

I have read both Talmadge and Juranitch. While both were very helpful, neither of them mentioned what angle to use. Should it be the same as when sharpening, greater, less, or does it really matter as long as too much pressure is not used?

What are some opions on using the leading edge or trailing edge?

Thanks

 

[ZUT&ZUT]

Steeling is a way to bend back an overturned edge of a blade made of relatively soft steel.
(Blades of hard steel tend to chip if overstressed. That you cannot remedy with a steel).
The correct angle would be the one the blade was ground. BUT: due to some elasticity in the blade material i'd suggest to use a bit a broader angle to "steel back".
Do steel with low pressure, repeatedly and alternating sides in order NOT to create any unwanted burr.
Happy sharpening

 

[Crayola]

Ted knows his stuff. He is 100% spot on on this.

Don't over-steel either. Steeling bends an edge back into shape. If you steel a lot, you'll bend the edge so much it breaks off. A few light strokes on each side, check, and do a few more if necessary.

 

[Raptor]

Gypsy,
Check out the Steeling Techniques Tutorial available from "Hand American", who by the way, makes a superb glass smooth steel and leather hone (strop) system. Mkae sure that you scroll down the entire page as you'll also find other valuable information there.

*Note-I have used their techniques, while also using their steel, and have had very good results.

--The Raptor--

 

[Wirebender]

The Razor Edge folding steel from John Juranitch has a handle and two steel rods which fold down from it. The handle has marks at 35 degrees to position the rods, so evidently, this is his recommended angle. This steel is sort of an upside down Sharpmaker, in that the knife is held vertically and the angle of the rods determines the steeling angle. The adjustment of the rods is continuous, not discrete, so you could use any angle you want. Like the Sharpmaker, the main skill involved is holding the knife straight up and down.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Wirebender :

The Razor Edge folding steel from John Juranitch has a handle and two steel rods which fold down from it. The handle has marks at 35 degrees to position the rods, so evidently, this is his recommended angle.

This assumes your knives are sharpened with his guides. If your edges are more obtuse than the setting on the steel you will do nothing except buff the shoulders of the bevel. Ted described the correct precedure in his post above.

-Cliff

 

[exechobo]

Cliff, I sent you an e-mail last week, but I think it din't make it out of the box- I used a hi-tech device. If you sent an answer, thanks, and I am sorry for the redundancy.

My question is... now that I have my Strider, Boye and even Greco nice and sharp with a convex edge, how do you recommend I maintain that in the field? I am thinking backpacing and hunting. Is the Razor Edge folding steel enough to get you through a couple of deer, and what if I ding the edge on bone? So, what makes a good field maintenance kit for traveling light when you are a convex user?

Paul

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Paul, for working on convex edges while out and about I used to use the razor-edge steel, and a small folding hone that I made. It was two pieces of Lexan (1" x 4") that was hinged with a piece of duct tape. On one of the faces I glued a piece of leather. I then had several pieces of sandpaper cut to size that would fit over the leather. The Lexan would fold over and the sandpaper would fit inside. I would then put a couple of rubber bands around it to keep it in place. I then had a full range of abrasives to use from coarse sandpaper (220) to plain leather.

However unless you visibly damage the edge, you really don't need anything beyond 5 micron SiC, and the CrO paper will work fine in most cases. I generally carried a very wide range of grits simply because I was constantly changing the finish on the edges and seeing how it effected the cutting ability and edge retention. I would often stop to resharpen multiple times when doing very small tasks.

Currently I sharpen my convex edges freehand using small DMT hones. The knife is held fixed and the hones worked in sections along the blade. You follow the curvature with the flat hone and thus arc it to match the bevel. It is not trivial, I was shown this method quite awhile ago by a traditional maker. I have only became decently proficient (fine shaving edge) with it recently. It is far more difficult than trying to freehand sharpen a flat bevel as you are constantly changing the angle of the hone during every pass, whereas with a flat bevel you just work on the one angle constantly. As well since only a small portion of the hone hits any part of the bevel it is slow going when you do a full sharpening. However for field use, you are not resetting a bevel, just maintaining an existing one and that is *far* faster.

Currntly, I carry a fine/x-fine DMT duafold for heavy field sharpening, a small piece of CrO loaded leather sandwitched between two lexan slabs and the razors-edge steel, to keep sharp blades sharp, and a small tungsten carbide burnisher/cutter which serves as a as a rough sharpener for soft alloys. I am still practicing with the carbide.

-Cliff