Thread: Eggington shepherds sharpening steel

Originally Posted by caberslash

Don't mean to de-rail the thread, but can someone explain to me why a steel is preferable to a small sharpening stone and strop (leather belt) for in-field blade touch ups?

A stone to sharpen and a steel to keep it sharp. Can't speak for the leather strop as I've never used one, maybe I'm too young.....but I'm guessing it does the same as the steel. An extra fine edge or shit steel would require more maintenance.

Then there's the steel, coarse, fine, combi.........we used to use wet and dry sand paper to rub them down to desired coarseness.

My 2c