Sharpening Steel Honing Steel Use?

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utopia

Joined
Nov 20, 2009
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I was give gift of a victorinox butchers steel recently. I make knife sharp with spyderco sharpmaker and use ultra fine rods for keeping knife sharp.
Shuold i be using the steel for touchups instead of sharpmaker, is this waste of blade metal? Butcher steel takes no metal. Makes blade sharper but not so much as sharpmaker.

Regard Thomas.
 
Welcome to the forum. Butcher steels are not used for sharpening but to realign the edge. Keep up with the sharpmaker when you knife looses the edge. You can run the edge on the steel between sharpenings to keep the edge in line. You should find that it cuts better after using the steel. After this does not help its time to go back to the sharpmaker. Hope this helps.
 
I agree with rptt . But there is a learning curve with using the butchers steel . They work just keep the angle the same as when sharpening and use a light touch . DM
 
I've purchased about six different ones in the last two years ( diamond , striated, smooth , etc.) and I get very good results with the smooth polished rods after my usual honing on stones ritual.
 
Thankyou for helping.

I will use hone with kitchen knive untill no longer restore edge, then resharpen.

Are hone steels any good to use for field knife such as Rat RC3, RC6, izula, 1095, spyderco/benchmade s30v folders. When hunting/camping need to restore sharpness, the hone means me not have take bigger sharpmaker/stone for touch up when dull. Would strop with compound be more usefull?

Thankyou
Thomas.
 
Keep'em in the kitchen ;)


Look up metal burnishing, it may change your mind on the use of a steel.
 
utopia said:
Thankyou for helping.

I will use hone with kitchen knive untill no longer restore edge, then resharpen.

Are hone steels any good to use for field knife such as Rat RC3, RC6, izula, 1095, spyderco/benchmade s30v folders. When hunting/camping need to restore sharpness, the hone means me not have take bigger sharpmaker/stone for touch up when dull. Would strop with compound be more usefull?

Thankyou
Thomas.
Click to expand...

Be advised , steels only ALIGN a blade edge. A strop actually is a fine abrasive ( especially loaded with compound. ) I've taken all sorts of knives to steels , and had varying results. Softer steels seem to respond better , although harder stainless , etc. seems to improve also.

I strop basically as a last polishing/sharpening step to take stone marks out, but confess that I've been sort of a convert to steels as a basic maintenance tool between stone sharpening sessions. Try different things on different knives to see what works best for you.


Pete
 
Some well known authors have written positive things about the use of knife steels .
Chad Ward and Joe Talmadge to name some off hand . DM
 
Never said they didn't work but if you look at the technical side of things they are less appealing.
 
A steel is a good tool to keep in the kitchen for daily use. Note I said 'daily.' I use a Sharpmaker in the kitchen once a week for a few strokes. Note I said 'once a week.'

It only takes a few light strokes on the steel to do its intended job. There are plenty of different opinions about the use of steels in general, smooth or striated, steel or glass. There is even different opinions about if you should steel before or after use!

I'm in the 'steel before use, smooth glass rod (or smooth steel,) use daily group. I find that giving my blade a couple of swipes along the rod gives me a much better cutting edge. As with most edge work, use very light pressure and maintain an even angle to the steel.

Try some experiments yourself. Tomatoes are good subjects for your test. They are cheap, don't complain much, and you can even eat your mistakes! Try cutting a few slices through the skin of a soft tomato. Then run your edge over your steel 5-10 strokes and try cutting the tomato again. Decide for yourself it you think your steeling has any merit.

Stitchawl
 
Stitchawl, I know a dozen licensed meat cutters who make a living using their knives that would agree with you . O' John Juranitch in his book as well . DM
 
David Martin said:
Stitchawl, I know a dozen licensed meat cutters who make a living using their knives that would agree with you . O' John Juranitch in his book as well . DM
Click to expand...

I don't know where I picked up the habit, but somewhere along the line I was taught to "trust... but verify." Ever since then, when I read something or hear something, even if it comes from the most reliable sources, I try it myself before I believe/espouse/use/recommend, etc. For every scientific 'proof' there is another, just as scientific, disagreeing with it. I never cared about a string of fancy letters after a person's name. (I've got a bunch of 'em after my name so I KNOW they don't really mean squat! :eek: ) I try things myself. If they work for me I continue to use them. If they don't, they get shoved to the back of the closet. And note that I said 'work for ME.' Probably many of these that don't work for me might work just fine for other folks.

As for the idea of steeling a knife... I've used top brands of all different sorts of steels; striated, smooth, round, oval, diamond covered, ceramic, glass, etc. I found that for ME, a smooth steel works best. I found that for ME, there is no difference between using a smooth steel rod or a smooth glass rod. I found that for ME, daily use before I begin prepping dinner gives me the best results. I chose a glass rod over a steel rod just because I like the idea! :D Of course, these are just my opinions.

You know what they say about 'opinions!' :p

Stitchawl
 
hey utopia, i try to keep the edge in shape with a steel rod. realigning the metal makes it sharper and also make it less prone to damage. it does not remove steel and keeps you sharpening less. Therefore it prolonges the blades' life
 
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