From: deowll@gmail.com   
      
   "Chilla"  wrote in message   
   news:4b45cc34$0$5423$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au...   
   > deowll wrote:   
   >> I tend to use a butcher steel on a couple of large knifes and nothing   
   >> else and if you tried that test on them you'd bleed. My parents used a   
   >> small file when I was growing up and you still would have been most ill   
   >> advised to squeeze.   
   >>   
   >> The butcher's steel is great for putting a micro tooth slicing edge on a   
   >> blade. It is a great way to sharpen a large working knife used for meat   
   >> processing or cutting up veggies.   
   >>   
   >> I prefer a ceramic rod for other knives. I gives a more polished edge.   
   >>   
   >> Each method quickly gives me the preferred edge for the way I use that   
   >> blade.   
   >>   
   >> Each to their own.   
   >   
   > Howdy,   
   >   
   > You sound like you look after your knives and don't hack away at bones ;-)   
   >   
   > I always look at the edge and do a cross the blade test first, before I do   
   > the squeeze test.   
   >   
   > The misconception that a "proper" steel sharpens a blade is quite normal.   
   >   
   > It's quite logical really, as the blade does feel sharper after using a   
   > steel.   
   >   
   > What actually happens to a fine edge is that it rolls over, either through   
   > normal usage or abuse.  All the steel does is straighten that rolled edge.   
   > It doesn't actually sharpen the blade.   
   >   
   > A diamond steel is actually a sharpening rod.   
   >   
   > Ceramic rods are also sharpening devices.   
   >   
   > The point where this "chef" had gotten his blade to, couldn't be fixed   
   > with a steel, it almost had to be re-ground.   
   >   
   >   
   > Regards Charles   
   >   
      
   Rubbing metal against anything hard will remove some of that metal. The   
   amount removed by a smooth steel is almost nothing. As such it isn't going   
   to do a lot fast other that realign the edge. A butcher steel is just a   
   round file. The part of the blade that comes in contact with the butcher   
   steel  is soon nice and shiny while the blade is still darkly tarnished on   
   my carbon steel knives. When I put a clean sheet of white paper under the   
   knife while I sharpen it small particles fall on it. A butcher steel is  all   
   I need to sharpen a large knife to the point I'm ready to stop on a slicing   
   cut knife or to move on to the ceramic rod if I'm going for a push cut   
   knife. Of course there is a limit on how dull  I'll let a knife get before I   
   give it a touch up.   
      
   I do agree that years of such sharpening doesn't seem  to do much visible   
   damage to the knife. I don't agree that no metal is removed or that the   
   blade is not sharpened.   
      
   One school cook  I knew, Mrs. Marjie (I spelled it the way she said it.)   
   Littrel, used the back of her cast iron skillet to good effect. She kept   
   that butcher knife blade sharp through years of use. It was sharp. I started   
   to lecture her about the right way to sharpen a knife meaning my way then   
   shut up. I was smart enough to realize that she didn't have a problem and my   
   jawing wasn't  going to change jack. She'd found a way to sharpen her blade   
   that worked and she didn't need any advice from me.   
      
   If a knife is so worn it needs reground then mere sharpening isn't the   
   issue.   
      
   The last  new knife I got with no edge was first sharpened with a file then   
   a butcher steel. It worked.   
      
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