Thread: Eggington shepherds sharpening steel

the very best steel I ve used for in the field was smaller than a big pen...rod fitted inside handle and turned around and screwed in place for use...got pinched/lost somewhere in distant past...Ive got a similar one from fishing shop marketed as hook sharpener,basically a 3" rod about 1/4" round that is gritted somehow...pretty course but works well and weighs next to nothing.

the question was asked,difference between steel and stones.

a stone removes material to form a sharp pointy edge with tiny feathery bits...your ginsu 2000 or mums bread knife are the extreme HUGE version of the feather edge...whats on a good blade are tiny,all the steel does is restraighten them when they get bent/folded over.... a really hard steel blade wont get a lot of good from a steel,it will sort of only polish edge...as has been said a soft knife will readily be sharpened with a steel as it is aggresive enough to remove some material to reform edge...when in previous life I spent weeks n weks on filleting line...you steeled like normal,then put tip of steel on bench,leant on it and scraped knife DOWN steel away from self towards bench watching angle from above...you can put an edge back on and might gain you a few more hours cutting before needing to go over and restone blade.

the oval diamond steels are very aggresive and work fast on most knives . SS blades have always given me issues being so hard.... give me a simple soft steel blade anyday...or a bacho,those puppies just work.