found this old steel

[robpa]

it appears to be pretty old? handles are bone, steel is not very round, lots of dips and swells, quite smooth. really does a nice job on a knife. felt good about the 8 bucks I gave for it.

[FRJ]

Yes, that does look old.
Nice find.
Any stamping along the shaft?

[treefarmer]

robpa, does it have a name on it? Seem like most steels have round handles, that one is really unique!
Treefarmer

[catspa]

Good find.

I use a trailing stroke with my antique steels. Some of them have pitting or other scars, and I don’t want to push a blade edge first across that. Trailing, the edge just doesn’t get contact at those small spots, no big deal.

Parker

[philco]

I'll agree it looks old. Reminds me of some old time table ware I've seen. I have a no name steel my uncle gave me year ago. It works wonders on my kitchen cutlery. I've had it for years and wouldn't take a share in the railroad for it.

[robpa]

Not a mark on it anywhere. My grand dad was a butcher and in his meat shop were a lot of what Id call goodies today. I used to go one day a week and cut meat, mostly trimmed out parts to make ground beef or pork sausage. Used to go to the packing plants and watch the process from kill floor to finished products. What I recall most was the size of the cleavers used on the kill floor, HUGE. And all the steels hanging from the guys belts, which were in constant use.

[btrwtr]

Very cool old steel. Are you sure the handles are bone, they look like water buffalo horn.

[Froe]

Although I’ve been a knife guy for years, I’ve never used steel sharpeners. Only stones. Do you gentleman that use steels restrict their use primarily to kitchen cutlery? And are they as effective as stones or just more expedient?
Thanks
Froe

[C-WADE7]

Although I’ve been a knife guy for years, I’ve never used steel sharpeners. Only stones. Do you gentleman that use steels restrict their use primarily to kitchen cutlery? And are they as effective as stones or just more expedient?
Thanks
Froe

The steel won’t remove material to form a new edge, just align it back and get the rolled portion back to center and sharp. It can be used to touch up a pocket knife and I have done it, but use it more in the kitchen. After a while the steel won’t work and it’s back to the stone.

[FRJ]

Froe, I use a steel to realign a edge and that is what they are designed to do. They do not sharpen.
I have seen "chefs" slap their blades to the steel and quickly draw it down the steel. This is drama and entirely unnecessary.
The blade edge can slowly and firmly and methodically be drawn down the steel on both sides of the blade a few times to achieve the desired alignment.
Truth be told one could actually achieve this procedure on a large hardened screwdriver shaft. It's not rocket science and it does make a big difference.
It can be done on any blade that would need aligning.

[robpa]

The handles are bone, not horn. The butchers at the packing plants carried their steels on their belts and used them fast and often. Those guys could really weild a knife.My grand dad and uncle kept their steels in a notch in the butcher blocks and placed the end on the block and stroked down to whet. They used to take their knives to a guy for sharpening periodicly. I recall his name was Heinz Panzeroff who they called heinie Pants off! He had a nice side hustle sharpening lots of knives.
I use my truck window often to hone, roll the window down and stroke on the pane edge, works pretty good.

[Quick Steel]

As C-Wade and others have correctly pointed out, a steel is for realigning the microscopic teeth of the blade edge not to sharpen it.
However, I have noticed in recent years that diamond-coated "steels" are being sold. These will definitely remove material and sharpen an edge. I believe that using one of these will greatly shorten the life of any blade. Especially true is this if a person imitates the frequent and high speed strokes of many chiefs.

Using a plain steel will prolong the sharpness of a blade to a considerable degree.

[Froe]

Thanks for the replies. It makes sense now. I’m not sure if I could break the habit of using a stone, but I might give it shot given the abundance of used steels out there.
Froe

[catspa]

IME, the trick is to burnish on the smooth steel when you first notice any loss of cutting performance. Often it’s not dull yet, just microscopically bent. Catch it then and you can restore the good edge.

The longer you wait (and the farther actual rounded-off dullness progresses), the less effective the smooth steel will be, until eventually abrasive sharpening is necessary to create a fresh apex that can once again be touched up by burnishing.

Meatcutters who cut 6 or 8 hours per day develop a sensitive touch to impending not-quite-as-sharpness, that’s why they burnish often.

QS, I have a couple of the diamond rods, and find them useful for certain tasks. But you’re right, they do wear down a blade much sooner than burnishing. I also avoid steels with ridges or grooves in them, they act like a sideways file and can tear small bits off your edge.

Parker