You probably bought one of those diamond coated steels. They're nice. We
have a butcher shop on our farm. We went from having our knives ground
often to keeping our own knives sharp with the diamond coated. (well that's
what they call it anyway....I doubt if there's diamond on it)
Ivan
"Loren A. Coe" wrote in message
news:45U0c.96296$Xp.428508@attbi_s54...
last year i bot a cheapie HF sharpening grinder (with slow water
cooled 2"x8" wheel) worked fine, restored many edges over several
weeks. then, after talking my brother, who worked in a slaughter
house as a youth, i bot a decent steel (steele?).

i have yet to use the grinder again (for kitchen knives). today
was the real test, a couple of _really_ dull 6" cleavers that i missed
last year. not wanting to set up the grinder for just two edges
i tried just the steele. it did the job just fine. i just sliced
some onion with each of them. go figure, too soon old, too late
smart. --Loren

p.s. just fyi, for newbies, i have "played" with steeles for years,
never appreciating the results. there is some technique, and a decent
steel is required. prior (dismal) attempts were with chrome plated
(cheapie) models.