knife Sharpeners

Professionals have always used a sharpening steel to keep their knives sharp. With a little practice, anyone can master the art of "steeling" to keep your knives sharp. A sharpening steel is a metal rod that consists of a slightly softer hardness factor than the knife blade. A knife's sharpness is maintained by stroking the blade over the rod on a regular basis. MORE

To be effective, though, the hardness of the sharpening steel must be softer than that of the knife. This means all steels do not work on all knives. If you do not have success in steeling your knives, the sharpening steel may be at fault or a new edge may be needed on the knife. It is best to use the same brand of steel as your knives to avoid using the wrong steel.

If you examined a knife under a microscope, you would see that the edge, even the edge of a fine edged knife, is made up of thousands of small cutting teeth. Through use, these "teeth" are bent out of line and the blades become less effective. By "steeling," stroking the knife on a sharpening steel does NOT put a new edge on a knife; it simply realigns the existing edge, increasing the sharpness.