Do I still use a steel?

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Sanjosedale
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Do I still use a steel?

Post by Sanjosedale »

Apologize for the newbie question, just received my first good knife here. I have watched the videos and ordered a stone. To date, I always grab a steel before using my chefs knife (one of the popular german makes). With this new knife, do I no longer use a steel, just regular sharpening?
salemj
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Re: Do I still use a steel?

Post by salemj »

There are so many possibilities.

First off: you can still steel, but you want to do it with an appropriate steel (higher finish ceramic), and with light pressure. I believe there are some videos on the sight with Steve using a steel in different ways.

It seems a lot of forum people forgo using a steel, however. In its place, people often use a strop. My sense is that a number of pros use a strop at work occasionally to save using a steel or having to stop and sharpen. Home users often use a strop as a way of finishing a sharpen session and/or to bring back an edge every couple weeks. You can strop using all sorts of things, from a stone to a balsa plate to leather to newsprint.

I think the most important thing is probably to remember that regardless of what you use, the new knife will probably get very sharp very easily. Even using the stones, you can probably get away with less pressure and fewer strokes - by far - than what you were using on your old knife. So even if you have to "touch up" the knife regularly, it probably will require much less force, effort, and time than your German knife. The difference in time that it takes for me to put an edge on an abused knife with decent steel and the amount of time it takes me to rejuvenate a Global or Wusthof is huge, so whatever you experiment with, always start with WAY less pressure that you assume you need and work up from there. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how much life you get out of the edge with normal use and light stropping here and there.

Let us know.
~Joe

Comments: I'm short, a home cook, prefer lighter, thinner blades, and own mostly Konosukes but have used over a dozen brands.
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Re: Do I still use a steel?

Post by ChefKnivesToGo »

+1 to Joe’s entire post.

What kind of sharpening rod do you have?
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Re: Do I still use a steel?

Post by Runner_up »

I use a ceramic steel at work. But at home I use a leather strop to maintain an edge. I would say for most home users a ceramic steel is not necessary for Japanese carbon steel knives.
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