Steels -- Metal, Ceramic, Glass?

[ziggy925]

I'm thinking about adding a steel to my sharpening tools. I already have a diamond steel, but now that I've learned here a steel isn't really for sharpening, what is this used for? I also have a steel which is a metal rod with tiny grooves in it running lengthwise. With people talking here about smooth steels and glass rods, what is this used for?

My understanding is that at steel is used more to hone the blade and straighten the blade, so why the grooves and diamonds? Should I look for a smooth steel, and where do I find it, or should I just use a strop instead? I'm having good luck with my strop on my EDC knives.

I watch butchers using steels all day long, rarely sharpening their knives. What do they use?

Sorry for all the questions, but how you gonna learn?

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Both the diamond rod and the grooved steel are SHARPENING ABRASIVES in rod form. A smooth steel supposedly "re-aligns" the edge-it really just bends a wire or deformed edge back straight. They don't work very well.

 

[knarfeng]

I watch butchers using steels all day long, rarely sharpening their knives. What do they use?

What happens often to a knife is that the edge rolls or bends. A steel straightens it back so that you are cutting with the edge, and it does so very quickly, more quickly than you can sharpen. But the resulting edge is weaker than before it was bent and straightened. Commercial butchers mostly use non-premium steel blades of lower hardnesses. So the edge bends more easily and they have to steel more frequently. And they are on the clock. Steeling quickly gives them a working edge. But it does not sharpen. That is, it does not remove metal.

I use a steel on my kitchen knives. Frequent steeling means that I am always cuttin with the edge instead of a bent edge.

I don't use one on my pocket knives. I put a finer edge on them than the steel produces and I don't want the weakened edge that I would get from an edge that has been bent, then straightened.

 

[stitchawl]

Anything that is abrasive isn't 'steeling.' Ceramics, diamond coated rods, deeply serrated rods, etc. all remove some metal, although not very much and not very aggressively. Regardless of their shape, they are not what is used when you steel an edge.

There are two types of steels; butcher's steels and meat packer's steels. There is also borosilicate glass (Pyrex) in rod shape that can function in the same manner. The Butcher's steel is the rod with the shallow groves running parallel to the lengh of the rod. The Meatpacker's steel is a smooth rod as is the borosilicate glass rod. All three work for their intended purpose but are not something that one would use on hard D2 steel or many of the newer hard steels found in better folders and fixed blade knives.

These three are designed to be used with softer carbon steel blades, NOT with hard steels. While there is some debate about the actual function, most of that boils down to language. The result of steeling is that the very edge is straightened and the metal behind the edge is burnished/compacted to make it firmer and support the edge better. The longer the blade, the better the effect of the steel, as the length of the blade increases the amount of pressure against the steel. Unlike stropping, steeling does require a little more pressure to make it work. It's not real effective for a folder with hard steel. It IS great for a carbon kitchen knife.

Steels don't replace strops, rods, or stones. They are part of the daily maintenance of kitchen and butcher knives.

Stitchawl

 

[David Martin]

Joe Talmadge says in his writing that steeling works even on the very good steels such as ATS-34.DM

 

[Knife Outlet]

Honestly, the material from which a steel is made is unimportant. I use pot lids a lot ro steeling. What is more important is how it is used. That means steels should be used with no pressure. Then they will straighten an edge without grinding it. As soon as you apply pressure to a steel, you are trying to sharpen it and steels don't make good sharpeners. If you can't straighten the edge with the steel, then the blade needs sharpening and you should put the steel away and get out the sharpening equipment.