Honing steel
A sharpening steel or sharpening steel is used for sharpening knives. The sharpening steel is often rod-shaped and is made of hard steel with round, oval, square or flat cross-section. For better handling, it is usually provided with a handle and finger guard.
Steel
The hardness of the steel is, depending on the manufacturer, between 60 and 70 HRC. Today steels are usually additional hard chrome plated to give a hardness of 69 HRC can be achieved. (For comparison, knives are usually between 55 and 65 HRC, most reached 57 HRC).
Species
There are very different types of sharpening steels, most of which are obtainable only in stores, for example Butchery supplies. Basically there are two groups of sharpening steels: Directing steels in which the steel is only directed, and chipping steels, in which material is removed.
Teaching sharpening steel
The directing sharpening steel is polished or has a micro-fine structure. It is used to deduct a very sharp knives, which lose little of their sharpness in use. When removing the blade is not polished, but directed: The very sharp edge of the blade that is bent away when using the microscopic level to the side is raised up by the steel again. In this case, no material is removed, as it would be when sharpening with a whetstone the case. The removal of the sharpening steel before or after the use of the knife and gets the focus, which increases the service life up for resharpening.
Such steels are primarily in the professional sector (meat processing, catering, etc.) and for high-quality knives for use. The use in private households is usually not necessary and therefore rare.
Clamping final sharpening steel
This is the kind of sharpening steel, which can be found in most households, as they are widely available and costs very little money. The finer or polished steels are less well known.
The cutting steels are for sharpening and usually have so-called trains, which are incorporated on a special machine. These trains there ( coarse, fine, micro-fine - the latter is one more likely to be non-cutting ) in different versions. Further, there are coatings made of sapphire and diamond, as well as sharpening rods ceramic or stone. These surfaces are usually more aggressive than the trains. The use of these steels is already show with mediocre sharp or even dull blades a result, since material is removed relatively quickly, so that the blade is sharp again. The cutting edge is produced, however rough and therefore does not provide optimum clarity. For most users and for less demanding work, it is sufficient.
Among the cutting sharpening steels, there are large differences in aggressiveness. The ceramic rods can be so fine that they come close to a Mikrofeinzug depending on the version. An old, worn steel with trains can be like a polished steel almost as fine.
Use of the sharpening steel
To sharpen the knife is applied at an angle of approximately 20 degrees to the steel and moved with slight pressure from handle to tip over the steel ( sharpened ). This is the most secure method of working, the movement away from the body. You may also recognize the hilt of the knife at the top of the steel and then drive along the steel until the knife tip from the handle of the steel is. This is done alternately left and right ( ie front and back of the knife ). It is pushing work ( cutting) or pulling. Withdrawing from this in principle, no steel of the blade, the blade is not so polished as the use of a grindstone, provided, of course, is used a polished steel, which is non-abrasive. Instead, set up again, so that they again form a straight line and better able to cut through the sharpening, microscopic irregularities on the blade. A sharpening steel is therefore only really effective if the blade already has a sufficiently good ground, in principle, to the dangers of using small bumps have emerged that are raised by the sharpening steel again.
If the use of a sharpening steel no longer produces the desired sharpness of the blade needs to be sharpened again using a grindstone or the like, with a little steel is removed from the blade.