Questions about sharpening steels

[rich pierce]

I have a couple questions for knife makers and historical types regarding the use "sharpening steels" to sharpen knives. I have a large sharpening steel that is slightly ribbed. It quickly puts an edge on a knife that needs touching up. Even when fairly dull, a couple minutes and the edge is renewed. This seems faster than using a series of successively finer grained sharpening stones.

Questions:
Is there any functional advantage or disadvantage to an edge maintained by using a steel versus stones? Durability, quality of edge, etc.

I believe I have seen references to period use of sharpening steels by buffalo hunters. This is quite late. Are there indications in trade lists or by artifacts or references that steels were used in colonial times on the frontier by folks who were not butchers?

[Naphtali]

Rich:

This is the first I've heard that a steel sharpens. I had been informed that a steel will straighten an otherwise sharp edge that - through use - has bent over slightly. And that, I had been informed is the reason professional chefs seem to constantly steel the edge of the knife they happen to be using. If this information is accurate, then the purposes of steels and stones becomes more obvious.

Hope this helps.
***
Is Kemoll's still in existence? In the same twitchy north St. Louis location? And if still here, are their once/month gourmet nights where a city or type of cuisine's food is sampled by way of many tiny portions?

[PPatch]

A steel is a butcher or chef's tool were time is money and a quickly renewed edge a plus. A steel "sharpens" by creating a raggedy edge, giving the edge a comparative tooth so to speak. For a regular use knife once you get its edge sharp and polished a quick stroke on a very fine stone is all that is required to keep it sharp for a long time until it requires more attention.

I use a steel in the kitchen for the very reason you mentioned, the knives get a lot of use and me not wanting to spend time stoning them. The steel I use isn't, its diamond coated.

As to functional advantage my opinion is that would depend on what use the blade is put to Rich. If you are doing a great deal of cutting a steel has the advantage, for a regular carry knife for occasional cutting a stone sharpened blade is my choice. Take my pocket knife which I use probably several times a day, I shaped, sharpened and stropped its three blades to super sharp, I maintain those edges with an infrequent fine stoning and stropping. That happens maybe once a month or month and a half.

As far as HC, I don't know.

dave

 

[Don Steele]

Hey Rich,
Here's what I can share regarding the use of sharpening steels. My comments are based upon 25 yrs of EXPERIENCE in Beef slaughter and processing. We used bench mounted oil stones, outside the processing area to "create" the bevel we wanted on a blade. A butcher or boner typically carried several knives for their work. Sometimes you'd want a shorter bevel for harder cutting, a longer bevel for finer work.
To your question about sharpening steels: often times we'd carry 2 steels. One with the ridges you mention, the other perfectly smooth. Each has a distinct function in keeping/restoring an edge. The bottom line, as previously mentioned is the need to quickly and effectively restore an edge with a few strokes on a steel without having to stop working or leave the work station. A steel will only do so much however. Every morning before work began...guys were at the bench stones re-establishing the edge on their knives for the day. Drawing the edge across your thumbnail gives you a good idea how smooooth and clean it is. You'd also take that time to rub down your steel(s) with a piece of brick, or broken chunk of stone to clean it up as well so it would put that final "polish" on an edge and really smooth it up.
Using a steel CORRECTLY requires attention, and careful application to preserve the bevel you've created. I sometimes laugh out loud when I see some "supposed expert" grab a steel and knife and go to banging away...!!
 
When you're watching someone who knows what they're doing..you won't even hear the blade make contact with the steel.
I don't know that any of this adds much to your original question, but I thought it might not to be too far off topic and I enjoyed sharing the memories. Thanks for the opportunity. 
 

[Hefner]

My mother and grandmother(B. 1898) used to run the kitchen knives across an unglazed edge of a earthenware "crock" bowl.  I'm not sure if that substituted for the steel or oilstone, but it seemed to sharpen the blades.

[WadePatton]

On the other side of the world traditional cutlery never sees a steel, but is kept sharp by honing on waterstones every single day.  I speak of Japan with single-bevel edges and layered steels.

I hone razors as well and when a fellow starts talking about "bevel angle per job" he's in the know of cutting edges.

Only use my steel (anymore) if doing a marathon session of boning out venison (group processing).  Prefer to swap knives to get a fresh bevel.  

Those "pull-through" sharpeners of steel, used very lightly are nearly as good (as a steel) and quite fool-proof for quickies.  Ceramics (found in same configuration) remove metal and are used differently.

[Joe S]

Rich

Sharpening an edge with an abrasive removes metal from the edge.  A steel does not, it causes the edge to cold flow.  If you look at the edge of a sharp blade with SEM, an abrasive sharpened edge will look like a saw blade, and a steeled edge will be smooth and polished.  A properly steeled edge is sharper than an abrasive sharpened edge.

The advantage of steeling an edge is the higher level of sharpness, plus it’s a lot more efficient to maintain a sharp edge than it is to use it until it’s dull, then resharpen with an abrasive.  In practice, steeling is more or less analogous to stropping – it’s all about edge maintenance.

I sometimes strop my wood carving gouges, and sometimes I steel them.  I think I can tell the difference, but it may just be my imagination.  For knife blades, it’s easier to steel them than to strop them, at least for me anyway.

[fastfrankie]

     I also use a "steel" in my kitchen when I am cooking.I have several from the traditional butchers steel to one made of ceramic. Lately I have using the ceramic one as it takes fewer strokes
     I also remember how and when I learned to use the steel and how many times I cut my hand.

           

[rich pierce]

Thanks fellas for the responses.  I'm using it in the kitchen.  Whenever one of my knives gets a little dull and won't sliced a tomato easily, a few swipes on the steel and it's good to go.

[PPatch]

Ah, the tomato skin test - I use that too.

dave

[WadePatton]

Ah, the tomato skin test - I use that too.

dave

actually, a really cleanly honed edge is not good on a tomato skin.  Works much better with a little "tooth" to it.  A tiny burr will even help.  But then kitchen knives are rarely honed out to the finest grits and this is about steels and not bevels and truly fine honing. 

I'm going to refresh a razor on 12k waterstone now, then strop 100x. It's been about 6 months, nothing lasts forever (i jest, the blade is 150+ years old).

What is amazing about the shaving edge is that you can't "see" the truly sharp/comfortable edge--we have tried with microscopes and all you can see is sharp-and when the steel starts breaking down at the grain level (a combined function of alloy and heat treatment).

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