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I’d like a round steel for non serrated knives - are they all equal or any recommendations?
Over the past 20 years I've had a couple of steel ones and one ceramic one. They all sharpen the knives fine but the steel ones did seem to lose their "bite" after a while, so I've stuck with the ceramic one for a few years now.
Having said that, I used to be a butcher and the boss absolutely swore by a steel steel.
Chef for 30+ years and the best steel that I ever had was a diamond steel . You have to clean them regularly or the grooves fill with swarf and they don't work so well .
I think they are not equal but you need to check them yourself.
I only use the steel for honing but not to sharpen it.
I have steel, ceramic and diamond honing steel but I tend to use diamond then ceramic.
Not sure about you lot but have you noticed some of the honing steel (made it China) feels a bit "alloy"?
Also have you noticed a lot of the so called "stainless steel" (made in China again) feel very light and soft? i.e. they scratch and dent very easily by comparison to the old fashion steel which is rather hard to scratch and dent. Is it me or their steel has been mixed with more alloy whatever they are? They don't say it is alloy instead they called it "stainless steel". Have a look and check it yourself.
I never understand the difference between sharpening and honing . I have a knife that won't cut a tomato . I put it on the steel and now it will cut the tomato. Surely I have sharpened the knife ?
I never understand the difference between sharpening and honing . I have a knife that won’t cut a tomato . I put it on the steel and now it will cut the tomato. Surely I have sharpened the knife ?
If you are using diamond steel then you are "sharpening" while also honing it because you are taking away "more" steel from your knives then say steel steel or ceramic steel.
For me I tend to sharpen knives using sharpening stone then hone them from time to time using steel and ceramic. I only use the diamond steel for my cheapo knives i.e. with low carbon contain. I would use the diamond steel to hone them to death. 😀
I have steel, ceramic and diamond honing steel but I tend to use diamond then ceramic.
To clarify for my cheapo knives it will be diamond steel honing whatever.
For my more expensive knives it will be ceramic.
For my hard wearing high carbon knives it will be steel first follow by ceramic and sometimes a bit of diamond.
Not sure that the dictionary agrees with you .
hone
/həʊn/
verb
1.
sharpen (a blade).
"he was carefully honing the curved blade"
synonyms: sharpen, make sharper, make sharp, whet, strop, grind, file, put an edge on; More
2.
refine or perfect (something) over a period of time.
"some of the best players in the world honed their skills playing street football"
noun
1.
a whetstone, especially one used to sharpen razors.
I never understand the difference between sharpening and honing .
Both refer to sharpening a blade edge, but honing is more to do with refining the edge, polishing out scratches and edge ‘wire’ produced by the main sharpening.
I never understand the difference between sharpening and honing . I have a knife that won’t cut a tomato . I put it on the steel and now it will cut the tomato. Surely I have sharpened the knife ?
As regards the words they mean the same thing in my book. A traditional steel does neither. The edge of a sharp knife can become misaligned and "Wavy" or bent/rolled over in use making it feel blunt. A few passes on a steel will reprofile the edge bringing it back in to line and making it feel sharp again.
Good practice to look after a quality knife, but eventually it will need to be sharpened/honed which means removing steel on a sharpening stone of some sort whether traditional, diamond etc.
I don't understand why someone would by a round steel for home sharpening. They're more a convenient way to give a bit of a sharpen for someone using a knife throughout the day. The average home user is better off with either a decent knife sharpener (electric or manual) or if they really want some extra faff then a whetstone (but then it takes time to use one well). A lot of people won't even know the angle of the edge on their knife and yet they're going to be running it across a round steel and expecting it to do a good job of honing the edge.