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.

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.

On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 01:33:58 -0600, "Ivan"
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:

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)

You would probably be wrong. Minute industrial grit. And yes they work
amazingly well. For tools as well as knives. (Well, I have a
grindstone of the same stuff, and I use the little "steels" on
clippers etc.)

Give a couple to your wife as earrings. "Here dear. I bought you some
diamond earrings!" They _always_ know G
************************************************** ** sorry

..........no I'm not!
remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Spike....Spike? Hello?

On Tue, 02 Mar 2004 16:56:08 +0800, Old Nick wrote:

|On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 01:33:58 -0600, "Ivan"
|vaguely proposed a theory
|......and in reply I say!:
|
|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)
|
|You would probably be wrong. Minute industrial grit. And yes they work
|amazingly well. For tools as well as knives. (Well, I have a
|grindstone of the same stuff, and I use the little "steels" on
|clippers etc.)

OK, I'm convinced, and I'm tired of dull kitchen knives.
Where does one buy a good steel, and how can you tell it's a good one?
Rex in Fort Worth

OK, I'm convinced, and I'm tired of dull kitchen knives.
Where does one buy a good steel, and how can you tell it's a good one?

AAguy at a county faair was selling a knife sharpener. Did damazing things
with a mortar hoe, rusty knives, etc. Suddenly a light flashed... Now at
garage sales if I find a rusty butcher knife, it'll soon be mine. That sort of
iron seems to take a good (not long lasting) edge (slices paper-a test). It
will also raise heck with a tomato.
Paul in AJ AZ

Pep674 wrote:

OK, I'm convinced, and I'm tired of dull kitchen knives.
Where does one buy a good steel, and how can you tell it's a good one?


AAguy at a county faair was selling a knife sharpener. Did damazing things
with a mortar hoe, rusty knives, etc. Suddenly a light flashed... Now at
garage sales if I find a rusty butcher knife, it'll soon be mine. That sort of
iron seems to take a good (not long lasting) edge (slices paper-a test). It
will also raise heck with a tomato.
Paul in AJ AZ
From my experience, - my father-in-law's dad was a butcher - the steel is
1. long for a long slicing blade
2. isn't stainless steel.
3. is cut not stamped or rolled.

If you ever had a wood scraper - and know how to square the end and then burnish
it these thin slicing edges cut the wood nicely.

On a steel, the pattern is long sharp but hard and firm - not cutting sharp.

It shears metal off the knife blade with long arcing strokes.

My late father-in-law sharpened in two ways - blade away from him and slicing
away - Typically when he had to really take some metal off - due to a nick.
But the way he did most sharpening was sharp blade coming down on either sides
toward the hand that holds the handle. Nice to have a hand guard just in case
the metal breaks or jumps off the steel.

I think Steels were shaper cut - a machine like that - pulling the full length
cutting the slot. Likely a die pull. A movable gripping type to contour to the tip.

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

On Tue, 02 Mar 2004 19:09:15 GMT, (Rex B)
brought forth from the murky depths:

OK, I'm convinced, and I'm tired of dull kitchen knives.
Where does one buy a good steel, and how can you tell it's a good one?

I use a DMT 600 grit diamond plate on both my wood/metalworking
tool blades and knives. That's it for the kitchen knives, as
they work better with a bit of bite. I ScarySharpen(tm) the
shop blades with 1000 and 1500 grit wetordry sandpaper, then
finish up with a strop.


..-.
Better Living Through Denial
---
http://www.diversify.com Wondrous Website Design

"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.

The old style steels were meant to straighten a turned edge and were
not for metal removal.
The new diamond ones are abrasive and remove metal.
2 different ways of operating

Beecrofter wrote:
"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.

The old style steels were meant to straighten a turned edge and were
not for metal removal.
The new diamond ones are abrasive and remove metal.
2 different ways of operating

yes, agreed. this is the old style, a Chicago 12", it may be stainless,
but i don't know. it is only 8" of working surface, the fine longitudenal
groves. these are sold seperately or with knife sets, made in China.
WalMart carries the sets, Kohls carries the sets and the steels.

if i were doing it again, i might be tempted for a nicer, longer one,
but this one is quite handy for the length of edges i have. eventaully,
i should end up with both. dunno about the diamond type, as you say, a
different deal altogther, a newbie could probably do some real damage
to an edge.

another tip for novices, _patience_ is the key. talking to a butcher
may help but you will see/get difference techniques for everyone you
ask. also, the edge condition determines whether a steel can restore
the edge and i advise to start looking at them under 10x or so and
learn to recognize a good edge that is just dull. these two cleavers
surprised me, i did look at them and they looked fairly nice, just
dull. good luck, --Loren

In article Kp51c.165037$jk2.606971@attbi_s53, Loren A. Coe
wrote:

Beecrofter wrote:
"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.

The old style steels were meant to straighten a turned edge and were
not for metal removal.
The new diamond ones are abrasive and remove metal.
2 different ways of operating

yes, agreed. this is the old style, a Chicago 12", it may be stainless,
but i don't know. it is only 8" of working surface, the fine longitudenal
groves. these are sold seperately or with knife sets, made in China.
WalMart carries the sets, Kohls carries the sets and the steels.

if i were doing it again, i might be tempted for a nicer, longer one,
but this one is quite handy for the length of edges i have. eventaully,
i should end up with both. dunno about the diamond type, as you say, a
different deal altogther, a newbie could probably do some real damage
to an edge.

another tip for novices, _patience_ is the key. talking to a butcher
may help but you will see/get difference techniques for everyone you
ask. also, the edge condition determines whether a steel can restore
the edge and i advise to start looking at them under 10x or so and
learn to recognize a good edge that is just dull. these two cleavers
surprised me, i did look at them and they looked fairly nice, just
dull. good luck, --Loren



I have 3 steels in a rack near my knives.
A diamond steel for actual sharpening.
A standard honing steel for regular maintenance.
And a "Butcher's" Steel, a mirror finished glass hard rod of high
carbon steel used to burnish the edge perfect.

Use all 3 in succession and beware the tomato that dares offend me.

"Ernie Leimkuhler" wrote in message
...
In article Kp51c.165037$jk2.606971@attbi_s53, Loren A. Coe
wrote:

Beecrofter wrote:
"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.

The old style steels were meant to straighten a turned edge and were
not for metal removal.
The new diamond ones are abrasive and remove metal.
2 different ways of operating

yes, agreed. this is the old style, a Chicago 12", it may be stainless,
but i don't know. it is only 8" of working surface, the fine
longitudenal
groves. these are sold seperately or with knife sets, made in China.
WalMart carries the sets, Kohls carries the sets and the steels.

if i were doing it again, i might be tempted for a nicer, longer one,
but this one is quite handy for the length of edges i have. eventaully,
i should end up with both. dunno about the diamond type, as you say, a
different deal altogther, a newbie could probably do some real damage
to an edge.

another tip for novices, _patience_ is the key. talking to a butcher
may help but you will see/get difference techniques for everyone you
ask. also, the edge condition determines whether a steel can restore
the edge and i advise to start looking at them under 10x or so and
learn to recognize a good edge that is just dull. these two cleavers
surprised me, i did look at them and they looked fairly nice, just
dull. good luck, --Loren



I have 3 steels in a rack near my knives.
A diamond steel for actual sharpening.
A standard honing steel for regular maintenance.
And a "Butcher's" Steel, a mirror finished glass hard rod of high
carbon steel used to burnish the edge perfect.

Use all 3 in succession and beware the tomato that dares offend me.

How much life can we expect from a diamond steel?

On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 14:28:47 -0600, "Ivan"
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:

I hate to start a bottomposttoppost argument. But if you are going to
bottom post, could do a _bit_ of snipping before your one-liner?

How often are you going to use it? Most of them are diamonds embeddded
in Nickel or other metal AFAIK. They last a long time. They make the
job so easy they are worth it. You can _feel_ them biting.

BTW. You don't need to get a greta long one. I use a little
rectangular thing about 3cm wide and 8 cm long. I bought 3 grades for
about $15.

How much life can we expect from a diamond steel?


************************************************** ** sorry

..........no I'm not!
remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Spike....Spike? Hello?

I have had mine for 12 years and it stIn article
, Ivan
wrote:

"Ernie Leimkuhler" wrote in message
...
In article Kp51c.165037$jk2.606971@attbi_s53, Loren A. Coe
wrote:

Beecrofter wrote:
"Loren A. Coe" wrote in message
snip

another tip for novices, _patience_ is the key. talking to a butcher
may help but you will see/get difference techniques for everyone you
ask. also, the edge condition determines whether a steel can restore
the edge and i advise to start looking at them under 10x or so and
learn to recognize a good edge that is just dull. these two cleavers
surprised me, i did look at them and they looked fairly nice, just
dull. good luck, --Loren



I have 3 steels in a rack near my knives.
A diamond steel for actual sharpening.
A standard honing steel for regular maintenance.
And a "Butcher's" Steel, a mirror finished glass hard rod of high
carbon steel used to burnish the edge perfect.

Use all 3 in succession and beware the tomato that dares offend me.

How much life can we expect from a diamond steel?


I have had mine for 12 years and it still works fine

I have 3 steels in a rack near my knives.
A diamond steel for actual sharpening.
A standard honing steel for regular maintenance.
And a "Butcher's" Steel, a mirror finished glass hard rod of high
carbon steel used to burnish the edge perfect.

Use all 3 in succession and beware the tomato that dares offend me.

After I started putting the final hone on customers knives with a
little green chromium oxide on a leather belt they can slice a tomato
so thin it only has one side!

After I started putting the final hone on customers knives with a
little green chromium oxide on a leather belt they can slice a tomato
so thin it only has one side!

I use green stuff too. When I go to check a knife by shaving my arm, the
hairs jump off from fright.

On Tue, 02 Mar 2004 19:58:39 GMT, Ernie Leimkuhler
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:

This is roughly what I was going to say

I have 3 steels in a rack near my knives.
A diamond steel for actual sharpening.
A standard honing steel for regular maintenance.
And a "Butcher's" Steel, a mirror finished glass hard rod of high
carbon steel used to burnish the edge perfect.

Use all 3 in succession and beware the tomato that dares offend me.

************************************************** ** sorry

..........no I'm not!
remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Spike....Spike? Hello?

On Tue, 02 Mar 2004 19:58:39 GMT, Ernie Leimkuhler
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:

Actually, the tomatoes have a problem. Isn't it the tomato that
_pleases_ you that will see the sharp edge? G

Use all 3 in succession and beware the tomato that dares offend me.

************************************************** ** sorry

..........no I'm not!
remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Spike....Spike? Hello?

(Beecrofter) wrote in message . com...
"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.

The old style steels were meant to straighten a turned edge and were
not for metal removal.
The new diamond ones are abrasive and remove metal.
2 different ways of operating

Excellent observation, saving me a lengthy post!

I steel my knives each time I use them, so they need sharpening only
every other year. Then too, I don't own a butcher shop. :-)

Thanks! :-)

Harry C.

On 2 Mar 2004 17:32:21 -0800, (Harry Conover) wrote:

The old style steels were meant to straighten a turned edge and were
not for metal removal.

Zoltan Malocsay had an excellent article on using lapidary equipment
for sharpening knives in Rock&Gem a few years back. Can't find it now,
but I seem to remember him likening using a steel to putting a "set"
into saw teeth. Said the steel pulled the tiny teeth created by
regular sharpening into alignment, which is why butchers were
constantly using their steels on thei working blades. Goos stuff;
maybe someone has a copy. Zoltan was generally as sharp as the knives
he wrote about in the magazine.

while I have a number of steels of all grades and types, I find myself
using Crock Sticks of various types for most of t he knives on my person
or around the house.

If its really bad, Ill drag out one of the Lansky sharpening sets and
build a good edge, then finish with a crock stick

My carry Kukri ,which is very very old, will shave arm hairs using this
process. The Henkles (sp?) kitchen knives come out scary sharp

Gunner

The two highest achievements of the human mind are the twin concepts of "loyalty" and "duty."
Whenever these twin concepts fall into disrepute -- get out of there fast! You may possibly
save yourself, but it is too late to save that society. It is doomed. " Lazarus Long

"Gunner" wrote in message
...

...

Gunner

The two highest achievements of the human mind are the twin concepts of "loyalty"
and "duty."
Whenever these twin concepts fall into disrepute -- get out of there fast! You may
possibly
save yourself, but it is too late to save that society. It is doomed. " Lazarus
Long

Hey Gunner...
Isn't it time for a new sig?

I mean - its a bit sad quoting a fictional character who approved of and practised
incest.

Don't you think?

Cheers
Jeff