My best friend and I agree on a lot of things. We both like to barbecue and
grille, we both like Canadian whisky, we both like to look at pretty women,
and we both like sharp knives - which is where the disagreement comes in.

I sharpen my knives on Arkansas stones, a soft stone to get the initial edge
back, and a hard stone to finish it off.

He "sharpens" his knives on a steel, like the butchers use.

I maintain that a steel does not sharpen a dull knife, in the sense that it
does not remove any of the knife blade metal. The purpose of a steel is to
correct a wire edge on a knife. A wire edge is a knife edge that has rolled
over from hitting a bone or something hard. In the sense that it corrects
the wire edge, it does make the knife sharper, but once a knife is dull, a
steel will not sharpen it.

We have a steak dinner for four riding on this, so come on people - I need
some support here. Thanks

Bob-tx

On Aug 28, 1:27*pm, "Bob-tx" <No Spam no contact> wrote:
> My best friend and I agree on a lot of things. *We both like to barbecue and
> grille, we both like Canadian whisky, we both like to look at pretty women,
> and we both like sharp knives - which is where the disagreement comes in.
>
> I sharpen my knives on Arkansas stones, a soft stone to get the initial edge
> back, and a hard stone to finish it off.
>
> He "sharpens" his knives on a steel, like the butchers use.
>
> I maintain that a steel does not sharpen a dull knife, in the sense that it
> does not remove any of the knife blade metal. *The purpose of a steel is to
> correct a wire edge on a knife. *A wire edge is a knife edge that has rolled
> over from hitting a bone or something hard. *In the sense that it corrects
> the wire edge, it does make the knife sharper, but once a knife is dull, a
> steel will not sharpen it.
>
> We have a steak dinner for four riding on this, so come on people - I need
> some support here. *Thanks
>
> Bob-tx

Where's Fosco when ya need him?

Anyway, you are corrrect. As proof, challenge him to find online
instructions on knife sharpening that uses a steel. A Steel
is for maintaining the edge made by a stone.

http://www.hub-uk.com/cooking/tipsknives.htm

"Bob-tx" <No Spam no contact> wrote in message
...
>
> My best friend and I agree on a lot of things. We both like to barbecue
> and grille, we both like Canadian whisky, we both like to look at pretty
> women, and we both like sharp knives - which is where the disagreement
> comes in.
>
> I sharpen my knives on Arkansas stones, a soft stone to get the initial
> edge back, and a hard stone to finish it off.
>
> He "sharpens" his knives on a steel, like the butchers use.
>
> I maintain that a steel does not sharpen a dull knife, in the sense that
> it does not remove any of the knife blade metal. The purpose of a steel
> is to correct a wire edge on a knife. A wire edge is a knife edge that
> has rolled over from hitting a bone or something hard. In the sense that
> it corrects the wire edge, it does make the knife sharper, but once a
> knife is dull, a steel will not sharpen it.
>
> We have a steak dinner for four riding on this, so come on people - I need
> some support here. Thanks
>
> Bob-tx

Technically, you are correct. A properly steeled blade will cut better than
a stone sharpened blade that has not been maintained.

You really need both. Depending on use, a couple of times a year on the
stone, a couple of times a day on the steel. I've watched butcher that
steel the blade after only a few cuts, then have the blade sharpened every
week.

Now, over dinner you can argue over what angle the blade should be sharpened
to.

On 28-Aug-2011, "Ed Pawlowski" > wrote:

> "Bob-tx" <No Spam no contact> wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > My best friend and I agree on a lot of things. We both like to barbecue
> >
> > and grille, we both like Canadian whisky, we both like to look at pretty
> >
> > women, and we both like sharp knives - which is where the disagreement
> > comes in.
> >
> > I sharpen my knives on Arkansas stones, a soft stone to get the initial
> > edge back, and a hard stone to finish it off.
> >
> > He "sharpens" his knives on a steel, like the butchers use.
> >
> > I maintain that a steel does not sharpen a dull knife, in the sense that
> >
> > it does not remove any of the knife blade metal. The purpose of a steel
> >
> > is to correct a wire edge on a knife. A wire edge is a knife edge that
> > has rolled over from hitting a bone or something hard. In the sense
> > that
> > it corrects the wire edge, it does make the knife sharper, but once a
> > knife is dull, a steel will not sharpen it.
> >
> > We have a steak dinner for four riding on this, so come on people - I
> > need
> > some support here. Thanks
> >
> > Bob-tx
>
> Technically, you are correct. A properly steeled blade will cut better
> than
> a stone sharpened blade that has not been maintained.
>
> You really need both. Depending on use, a couple of times a year on the
> stone, a couple of times a day on the steel. I've watched butcher that
> steel the blade after only a few cuts, then have the blade sharpened every
>
> week.
>
> Now, over dinner you can argue over what angle the blade should be
> sharpened
> to.

What Ed said. Though a steel of the file type does remove metal from the
blade, it takes too long to RESHAPE a knife. I reshape my
knives about once a year with a 400 grit belt sander followed by 800 grit,
followed by a diamond hone. I use the diamond hone on a daily basis. My
Chinese knives are particularly susceptible to edge curling.

--
Brick(Too soon old and too late smart)

"Bob-tx" <No Spam no contact> wrote in message
...
>
> My best friend and I agree on a lot of things. We both like to barbecue
> and grille, we both like Canadian whisky, we both like to look at pretty
> women, and we both like sharp knives - which is where the disagreement
> comes in.
>
> I sharpen my knives on Arkansas stones, a soft stone to get the initial
> edge back, and a hard stone to finish it off.
>
> He "sharpens" his knives on a steel, like the butchers use.
>
> I maintain that a steel does not sharpen a dull knife, in the sense that
> it does not remove any of the knife blade metal. The purpose of a steel
> is to correct a wire edge on a knife. A wire edge is a knife edge that
> has rolled over from hitting a bone or something hard. In the sense that
> it corrects the wire edge, it does make the knife sharper, but once a
> knife is dull, a steel will not sharpen it.
>
> We have a steak dinner for four riding on this, so come on people - I need
> some support here. Thanks
>
> Bob-tx

I disagree with the comments posted thus far. What is the definition of
"sharpen"? I think it is to make a knife cut better. so, a steel, even
though it does not remove metal, makes a knife cut better, thus sharpening
it. If not, why do it?

Definition of SHARPEN
transitive verb
: to make sharp or sharper;


Sharpening, in various forms, is accomplished in various ways, including
truing the blade, honing the blade, grinding the blade, etc.


But, I have long tired of this debate. You both loose - send the steak
dinner to me.

"Bob-tx" <No Spam no contact> wrote in message
...
>
> My best friend and I agree on a lot of things. We both like to barbecue
> and grille, we both like Canadian whisky, we both like to look at pretty
> women, and we both like sharp knives - which is where the disagreement
> comes in.
>
> I sharpen my knives on Arkansas stones, a soft stone to get the initial
> edge back, and a hard stone to finish it off.
>
> He "sharpens" his knives on a steel, like the butchers use.
>
> I maintain that a steel does not sharpen a dull knife, in the sense that
> it does not remove any of the knife blade metal. The purpose of a steel
> is to correct a wire edge on a knife. A wire edge is a knife edge that
> has rolled over from hitting a bone or something hard. In the sense that
> it corrects the wire edge, it does make the knife sharper, but once a
> knife is dull, a steel will not sharpen it.
>
> We have a steak dinner for four riding on this, so come on people - I
> need
> some support here. Thanks
>
> Bob-tx

Just buy a ceramic knife and you shouldn't ever "steel" it because there is
no metal edge to bend or roll over.

On 8/28/2011 3:27 PM, Bob-tx wrote:
>
> My best friend and I agree on a lot of things. We both like to barbecue
> and grille, we both like Canadian whisky, we both like to look at pretty
> women, and we both like sharp knives - which is where the disagreement
> comes in.
>
> I sharpen my knives on Arkansas stones, a soft stone to get the initial
> edge back, and a hard stone to finish it off.
>
> He "sharpens" his knives on a steel, like the butchers use.
>
> I maintain that a steel does not sharpen a dull knife, in the sense that
> it does not remove any of the knife blade metal. The purpose of a steel
> is to correct a wire edge on a knife. A wire edge is a knife edge that
> has rolled over from hitting a bone or something hard. In the sense that
> it corrects the wire edge, it does make the knife sharper, but once a
> knife is dull, a steel will not sharpen it.
>
> We have a steak dinner for four riding on this, so come on people - I
> need some support here. Thanks
>
> Bob-tx


This is a site that has a lot of good information on sharpening. I use
a round sharpening steel. I try and hold it at 22° and run the knife
across 10 times on each side. If it can cut a newspaper cleanly, I call
it sharp.

As a kid, to check the sharpness of skates we would run the blade across
our thumb nail. If we got shavings, the skates were sharp. If not, time
to scrounge up 2 quarters and head off to Ace Hardware to get them sharp
again. I don't know if this technique works well for knives.

http://sharpeningmadeeasy.com/

From what I gather in this thread, it is a draw. Let him order the
steak dinner first, that you pay for. And you order second a dinner
that he will pay for. That way you can come out ahead....

BBQ
--
Vegetarian

An old Indian term for poor hunter...

bbq > wrote:
> On 8/28/2011 3:27 PM, Bob-tx wrote:
> >
> > My best friend and I agree on a lot of things. We both like to barbecue
> > and grille, we both like Canadian whisky, we both like to look at
> > pretty women, and we both like sharp knives - which is where the
> > disagreement comes in.
> >
> > I sharpen my knives on Arkansas stones, a soft stone to get the initial
> > edge back, and a hard stone to finish it off.
> >
> > He "sharpens" his knives on a steel, like the butchers use.
> >
> > I maintain that a steel does not sharpen a dull knife, in the sense
> > that it does not remove any of the knife blade metal. The purpose of a
> > steel is to correct a wire edge on a knife. A wire edge is a knife edge
> > that has rolled over from hitting a bone or something hard. In the
> > sense that it corrects the wire edge, it does make the knife sharper,
> > but once a knife is dull, a steel will not sharpen it.

Who was it said, "Ya cain't polish shit!"

> This is a site that has a lot of good information on sharpening. I use
> a round sharpening steel. I try and hold it at 22° and run the knife
> across 10 times on each side. If it can cut a newspaper cleanly, I call
> it sharp.
>
> As a kid, to check the sharpness of skates we would run the blade across
> our thumb nail. If we got shavings, the skates were sharp. If not, time
> to scrounge up 2 quarters and head off to Ace Hardware to get them sharp
> again. I don't know if this technique works well for knives.
>
> http://sharpeningmadeeasy.com/
>
> From what I gather in this thread, it is a draw. Let him order the
> steak dinner first, that you pay for. And you order second a dinner
> that he will pay for. That way you can come out ahead....

That's good, Rick!

--
Nick, KI6VAV. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their
families: https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/ http://anymarine.com/
http://www.specialops.org/ http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/
You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! ~Semper Fi~

On Aug 28, 4:27*pm, "Bob-tx" <No Spam no contact> wrote:
> My best friend and I agree on a lot of things. *We both like to barbecue and
> grille, we both like Canadian whisky, we both like to look at pretty women,
> and we both like sharp knives - which is where the disagreement comes in.
>
> I sharpen my knives on Arkansas stones, a soft stone to get the initial edge
> back, and a hard stone to finish it off.
>
> He "sharpens" his knives on a steel, like the butchers use.
>
> I maintain that a steel does not sharpen a dull knife, in the sense that it
> does not remove any of the knife blade metal. *The purpose of a steel is to
> correct a wire edge on a knife. *A wire edge is a knife edge that has rolled
> over from hitting a bone or something hard. *In the sense that it corrects
> the wire edge, it does make the knife sharper, but once a knife is dull, a
> steel will not sharpen it.
>
> We have a steak dinner for four riding on this, so come on people - I need
> some support here. *Thanks
>
> Bob-tx

Theoretically, you're correct. However, in the absence of a stone, I
have brought a blade back to life by using a steel. I ran the blade
over the steel for quite a while. It's not the correct way to do
things, but it seemed to work in a pinch. However, use a stone if
possible, and if you can get your knives to a grinder, then do so.

Might as well go for the black stone to sharpen those knifes.