sharpening a knife with a steel versus honing- Chuck, Wick, other knifemakers?

[rich pierce]

I am wondering about the type and durability of an edge put on a knife using a steel.  You know, the old school tapered steel set in a sturdy handle, stropping the butcher knife, zip, zip, zip.  That's what my grandpa always did.  I picked up a steel this weekend at an antique show, a Green River, for $10.  It's a real big one and has very fine longitudinal striations.  It seems to set a real good wire edge the way I am using it, but the edge does not seem as durable as a honed edge.  It picks up very quickly however with a few strokes of the steel.  Is this because of technique, the type of steel I am using (striated), or because "that's how it is"?

[Ian Pratt]

  What you may be doing is realigning the "wire edge" with the steel. Works like this - the wire edge becomes for lack of a better term "folded over" during use, which would explain why the seemingly dull cutting edge picks up quickly with the use of a steel. This can usually be remedied by either changing your edge geometry to a slightly more open angle, or often times by simply honing the existing edge longer to remove the wire. I'd try that first.

[LRB]

  I have no opinion on using steels. I've never used one, but it seems that many, or most,  professional meat cutters like them, so I would figure there's a good reason why. I can go through skinning and quartering 2 to 3 deer before I think my blade needs a touch up, then I use a stone.

[T.C.Albert]

Yes..I butchered on the kill floor at Dubuque...and steels were mandatory....not for technically sharpening a blade, but for maintaining its edge...it works as Ian says...

we used a professional grade "Chicago" brand smooth steel, but "stoned" it from time to time to raise fine irregular scratches in it so that it would "grab" the edge of a knife better and pull those micro wires off etc...you can really feel a sharp steel grab on a knife edge...on the kill floor our knives would literally cut to the bone with just the lightest slice.

that was quite awhile ago...but I expect its still that way?
TCA

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

A butcher who uses a steel, and they all do, to sharpen their knives, maintain the same angle always.  They use the steel several times a day.  A knife that has come from a butcher shop will have lost a lot of it's steel up close to the handle where most of the pressure is applied.
A hunter who uses a steel, or for that matter a household cook - male or female - will continuously open the angle and end up with an edge that resembles a splitting maul.  It will be round, and require a grind to re-establish the relatively thin factory edge.  Also, the more a knife is sharpened, the further toward the back goes the edge, and consequently, the edge becomes much thicker, if the angle is opened to make sharpening fast and easy.  I operate a sharpening service for households, restaurants, and hairstylists, and I've seen it all.
I carry a small flat Gerber steel when I hunt to touch up an edge that has run hard down a bone and taken away that shaving edge.  But I use my 6 x 48 belt grinder to get my angles back, and then water stones and finally leather strop charged with French rouge.  The steel is just a temporary measure, but indispensable.

[T.C.Albert]

we sharpened our own blades right on the kill floor as needed...had a big 12" motorized flap wheel and a soft white polishing wheel, I dont know what it was made of but it seemed like some kind of clay impregnated felt wheel...

After our shift we could turn our blades in to have them "re-ground" as needed.
An older gentleman actually had a tool type room all to himself where he hand stoned the angles and edges back onto our knives for us...

the lines were all mechanized, and we were carving on moving targets alot of the time, so hitting a bone occasionally was about unavoidable, and that could lead to a regrind in a heartbeat....so we carried a whole holster full of knives at the ready.

It was all wood handled carbon steel Chicago cutlery at that time believe it or not...I think its molded plastic handles now for sanitary reasons...in the 1930s my grandpa was a butcher too, and he swore by Dexter and I still have and use his knives at home...today we use stainless Dexter Russell at the factory...and sadly, the Chicago brand aint what it used to be...

Anyhow..I learned to use a steel, and wouldnt be with out one now...
TC

[Pete G.]

Is there ANYTHING that Taylor hasn't done (and I'm sure, done well)?

[doulos]

Taylor is right about belt sanders. You'll find a good number of custom knifemakers sharpen knives with a belt sander.  Not all but many do.  I use a small 1x30 belt sander to sharpen my knives and then strop on a leather. I haven't found anthing better and I have tried a lot of sharpeners. I found it easy because I'm not that skilled.  A friend who ran a wholesale butcher shop did all his sharpening also with belts. Guys like Taylor can probably use almost anything and get an edge.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Don't be spreading it too thick fellas...I'll need to go out and buy new hats - my old ones won't fit anymore.

Daryl and I used to be allowed to stand in the corner of the local butcher shop and watch them work.  It was just a small rural shop and the whole building probably didn't have more than 1000 square feet, so no conveyor lines.  Those guys used their steels every couple of minutes, and if there was a flap wheel or grinder in the building, I didn't see it used.  I'll bet boys now a-days don't do that.