steeling doesn't remove metal so tecnically it isn't sharpening
true.
not to split hairs, but since straightening the edge makes it sharper/cut better, you could think of it as sharpening. My steeling rod has ridges, so it may also take off steel (<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />) Not sure. I need to get a cera. rod soon. Any brands that you prefer? Also, i fear that my stropping may be dulling the edge... advice?
Technically, steeling a knife is called burnishing. You move metal on the edge around, you don’t remove any. When a carpenter uses a burnishing rod to “sharpen” a metal scraper plate, he’s really pulling steel from the square edge of the plate so that it overhangs the formerly square corner. He is creating a wire edge, which is what does the scraping to smooth a floor or piece of molding or whatever. When you steel a knife, you are doing the opposite; straightening a crooked wire edge so it’s in line with the blade’s edge.
But steeling is only burnishing if you use a smooth steel. That’s what professional butchers use. Steels with ridges act like files, not burnishing rods.
Make your ridged steel nice and clean. Steel your knife with it. Then wipe your steel with a paper towel. Examine the towel. You’ll see tiny filings that used to be on your knife.
