Honing steel for knives

[ComputerGuy]

Now that I have my knives sharpened, I need to get a new honing steel. Different than a sharpening steel, my Henckels appears to have worn down all its ridges. All I could find at Sears, Liverpool, and the kitchen/bath store at Plaza Galerias were cheap, short ones. A steel needs to be a couple of inches longer than your longest knife. I have not tried Belle Cuisine on Ninos Heroes yet... but I was wondering if we have any experts around here who know about these things.

I get different answers all over the Web. Even Henckels' website has opposing views: "lasts a lifetime", and "replace every 10-15 years". When I look at mine, it feels much smoother than the cheapy I got, yet the ribs are the same the entire length, indicating that it is not worn out at all. I have no way of knowing if my Henckels is a diamond-grit or not, as there is another viewpoint that the diamond-grits wear out much faster than the plain steel.

[El Saltos]

There's a pretty good cutlery store in the Galerias.

[Oatsie]

Ojeda's also sell steels.... but I guess you will have to either drive to Sayula or wait until chili cook-off.

[Fox]

ComputerGuy,

Found a little info you may ( may not ) be interested in. OH! by the way, I am NOT an expert!

Does a sharpening steel ever need to be replaced? [duplicate]

up vote5down votefavorite

Possible Duplicate:

Do honing steels wear out?

I've been using my sharpening steel for several years. The tiny little ridges that run along its length seem to be somewhat worn, although they're still visible. I'm wondering if I'd get a better job from a new one, but they are rather expensive so I thought I'd ask first. Is there a way to tell when a steel needs replaced, other than just by the performance of the knives that are honed with it? I don't have a way to compare with a different sharpening steel, or a new one. Or are they the type of thing that you can buy one time and use forever?

I'd just add that the point of the steel is not to sharpen, but just to straighten up the thinnest part of your knife's blade. That's why you can have a ridge less steel and why steels don't really wear out. The ceramic and diamond steel help remove some minor burrs that can appear in the metal of your knife, but once you get too many of those, it is time to really SHARPEN your knife, which requires removing some real metal. Steels do not do that. – Doug Johnson-Cookloose Oct 2 '11 at 22:59

@Doug Johnson-Cookloose: I'm editing this to make it slightly clearer that the goal of a metal steel is to ALIGN the edge. Ceramic and diamond steels are, of course, just the same as the equivalent fine-grit whetstones; they're good for touching up most edges, as long as they are not badly worn or deeply chipped. Burrs don't have anything to do with it, it's simply a matter of how slowly they remove metal.

I do a lot of fishing and filete some of the fish I catch, I need a very sharp knife for this. I have some Ojeda knives, also brought some Chicago cutlery with us almost 10 years ago .

When I do not have a steel available, I have used the backside of another knife, to accomplish pretty much the same effect of a steel.

Good luck,

Fox

[ComputerGuy]

Fox, thanks... those are part of many website answers I got during my research.

Oatsie: twice I stupidly forgot to check with the Ojedas while I was getting my knives sharpened. Duh.

El Salto: there's a cutlery store there? Can you give me a general indication of whereabouts?

[El Saltos]

If you enter by Liverpool it's way down to the right on the 2nd or 3rd level, same level as the Home Store and near the Home Store. If you come to the Home Store you've gone a little too far. I hope this helps. It's fun wandering the Gallerias anyway!

[ComputerGuy]

Thanks. Hardly ever anyone wanders that stretch, unless they come out of the theatres. I will mos def check it out.