Has anyone used the Eggington shepherds sharpening steel? Was looking at buying one.
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Has anyone used the Eggington shepherds sharpening steel? Was looking at buying one.
Is that like the little rabbiters steel that comes with the knife and sheath at most hunting shops?
@charliehorse. No, saw it at NZhunting&fishing. Top Gear nz have them as well, around $20. Same design as the Victory rabbiters steel. But I see top gear have ceramic sharpening sticks at a good price, so I might get one of those.
I saw the Shepherds steel on eBay
There is another Eggingtons, the Sportsman's steel. 2" shorter described as a fine cut with no cross bar.
Both reasonably priced I thought. I have one full sized Eggingtons. They are a decent brand
As far as a suitable steel for in the field we don't have a lot of options if you want to keep it compact. Assuming you are looking small and compact for the field @Three O'Three
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
Start sharp and the steel might be good for field maintenance, particularly if you are remote.
Honing on a stone can be slow and tedious.
You might be able to strop using your leather belt on a flat surface but that's a final touch, best on fine edges and may not help much if the knife is dull.
Fur is abrasive on blades
Small diamond steels are light but the one I have has a bulky handle.
Diamond steels are abrasive and remove the slightest about of material (neglible) a traditional steel hones and straightens the feathered edge.
If your blade is a harder variety it might respond better to a fine steel. Some commercial knives like Victorinox while good quality they are not as hard as some the Victorinox is easy to maintain and will touch up easily
I've bought the small rabbiters style Edgington steel. Guy in the shop believed it would be great for my Victory knives. I had a play with it, works great on my victory and Knifekut knives, but a bit abrasive for my lower carbon and damascus knives so I'm looking at buying the small ceramic stick and a couple of the inexpensive Lansky pocket sharpeners from Topgear.
Its not.
A steel will only work for softer simple steels. A strop loaded with compound or a small stone will work for any steel at any hardness.
I much prefer a strop for touch ups on a soft steel knife. The more complex, higher wear resistance steels don't need a touch up in the field usually (at least for my needs, 2 animals max)
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.
Only problem I have with using a steel is getting the angle right. My eyecrometer aint that good, thats why I like those pocket sharpeners.
Anyone used the Lansky pocket sharpeners? What's angle are the ceramic rods?
Does anyone how if The "Block Sharpeners" are sold in NZ? https://theblocksharpener.com
mate...try using steel away from you down onto table and stroke knife down and in towards you...a long steel and short knife is easiest...you can LOOK DOWN onto steel/knife and keep angle constant much easier this way.
my ceramic rods sit in wooden block at 25 and 30 degrees??? they look like two cigarettes.
Attachment 190038
Some of what's been mentioned.
The pen thing is a Buck knives brand I bought my son.
The diamond steels break in with a little wear
Attachment 190039
Paddle strop with red or Green rouge.
Home made strop, leather and rouge off eBay
the two on left ruin as many knives as stainless steel benches...if used wrong.... the one on right and the bottom one are great....the bottom blue one almost identicle to mine.LOL. grrr for first photo...you posted 2nd while I typing.
What I meant was getting the angle right for any individual knife as in 17deg, 20deg 25deg. I can work out 90deg and 45deg but below 45 I can't workout. Also I'm far sighted so I can't see the blades edge flat on the steel to determine the blades correct angle. I made a jig for my whetstones that I can position at any angle, all I do is get the blades angle stated by the manufacturer and set the jig accordingly and start sharpening while holding the knife at 90deg, which is easy. What I could do with is those blade angle guides.
yes all good...stoning you definately better off with correct angle,steeling is less sensitive but the more constant the better I believe.
I have wee lanski set that set angles...I get it out and use it about once every 2 years.
Attachment 190041
Various steels, coarse to fine.
You don't need them all, this is an interest and opportunistic to buy an sale etc
A nice fine steel is all you need if you can hand sharpen on a fine Aluminium Carbide stone.
Some mass produced stainless knives sharpen easily. But they have to have some quality and characteristics.
Cheap supermarket kitchen knives are hard and brittle.
F.Dick, Victorinox seem user friendly to me. Some quality brands are harder steel with good edge retention once you get there.
Some customs like Carbon Steel are user friendly , some are of a higher hardness.
I got a diamond steel but I find it too abrasive for some knives. Have the Gerber pocket sharpener, its good, would love another one. Also have a strop, well its an old belt coated in cutting paste that I jam the buckle in a door, pull tight and work away, works great. I do find using a knife's leather sheath works ok as a strop.
I do have a smith sharpening system similar a Lansky system but don't like it, probably will put it the buy and sell.
Yes, I read your post. I'm supposed to be digging out some gear for Easter trip.
I will never wear out the gear I have accumulated. But I am capable of misplacing it. Unless I lose it I should refrain from buying more.
There are Lanky sharpeners and copies. There are heavy duty types like the Scary Sharp made in NZ.
Then there is crack sticks, Warthog and others.
They all work and are good for those who can't master handsharpening.
Both knives and sharpeners need to be decent quality to be any good, even for recreational use.
A $30 steel might not be half as good as a $50 one, but like scopes after the that the improvement might not be proportional to the outlay but if you appreciate good gear you will see the value.
today I paid princely sum of $6 for a bone handled sheffeld steel in 2nd hand shop...didint need it ,but couldnt resist...2 others are still there with $12 price tags.
Well $6 won't blow the budget hopefully. Probably small enough to keep in a field kit. Another for the collection.
Being older it's gotta be better value than what a $6 Chinese steel would be.
nah its in the knife block at home...my field kit has plenty enough in it already,cambrian rabbiters steels in both sheath knives too.
1000-6000grit stone by spartan siting on a jig I made to set angle of stone, not blade. I made a mistake in previous post, I don't hold knife at 90deg its horizontal at 180deg.
Gerber and Smith pocket sharpeners. Gerber is good on knifes, Smith is too abrasive for knives but good for machetes' and axes.
Steels top to bottom. Eggington. Knifekut which seems too coarse for the knife it came with unless its user error and don't remember brand of diamond steel. Find Eggington better than Knifekut.
Baccarat 360 maybe 400-600grit diamond stone, makes quick work of reprofiling edges.
And my old leather belt strop.
Attachment 190067
You don't néed to over complicate angles.
Put the knife on the stone at 90 degrees, tilt it halfway. Now you are at 45, half the angle again and start sharpening.
It really doesn't need to be super precise to get a razor sharp edge. Just sharpen until you get a burr, then strop or hone to remove the burr and you will have a sharp knife.
What ever angle you sharpen at you steel at. Ceramic steels are good but are brittle and don like being bashed around diamond steels are knife reackers and generally to coarse and strip the edge of your knife. You need to match your steel the knife ie low carbon soft stainless needs a fine steel and will be easy to sharpen but needs more steeling to maintain. A high carbon steel takes a bit more to sharpen and needs a coarser steel to push the edge back straight. Disadvantage of high carbon is it doesn't like to flex much and shatters easier. The small steels like the rabbiter/eggington are generally coarse and need to be rubbed down with a green scouring pad or wet and dry sand paper. The ultimate is to rub it down on your stone do it matches the stone. you can get away with a piece of stainless rod but they tend to be a bit soft and dent after awhile. Another option is to cut a full length one down if you have a few around the house
@country cuts "The small steels like the rabbiter/eggington are generally coarse and need to be rubbed down with a green scouring pad or wet and dry sand paper. "
That's what I always did to my steels when I was butchering
If anyone is looking for a custom knife with a steel/sheath option member Von Gruff does them.
I'm not sure of the grade/grit.
I do know he makes these , he could possibly make to size etc.
yes I did spot the three dots.......very tidy workmanship as always.
@bumblefoot. Rubbing down the steel with a scouring pad, by how much?
till the grooves are smother,not sandpaperlike old boys would bury steel in pot plant/garden for months to achieve same result. you are smoothing out the sharp edges so it rolls the feather edge rather than remove it.
one of the steels I have has completely smooth bits on two quarters of steel..eg from 12-3 and 6-9 o clock the other two quarters are fine normal steel grooves.
@Three O'Three Until smooth. I used a wet and dry sandpaper to make even the fine butchery steels smoother.
I've just bought an Egginton Sportsman Steel - Fine Cut for my little Victory Drop Point Hunter. A cool little steel, but big enough for a hunting knife. I'll tie some orange baling twine on the ring though as it'll be easy to lose it if I drop it when dressing an animal in grass. It is fine, but could still be smoother....
Attachment 190416
@Three O'Three I just bought another drop point hunter today in a "very hard to lose" colour.... ;)
Attachment 190440
@bumblefoot. Nice. Mines the traditional blue. Very sharp, holds edge well, easy to maintain, worth the money.
@Three O'Three I've already go 3 of the blue handled ones.... I am not a hoarder, I am not a hoarder, I am not a hoarder... ;)