Sharpening Steels: A Complete Guide

I wrote this article as a way to organize the wide range of Sharpening Steels available. As a Product Specialist here at Sharpening Supplies, I answer many calls regarding sharpening steels, and well, steels are confusing. There are a lot of them. They all look basically the same. Some aren't even made out of steel. There's a lot going on there.

So I set out to present our selection of sharpening steels in a more cohesive form. This is what I have come up with. The intention is to give you an overview of the different types of steels, how they work, what they have in common, and what the differences are, all with the idea of making them less confusing.

Rods with Handles

In modern usage, a sharpening steel is a rod, usually with a handle, that is used to sharpen knives. Sharpening steels are made of various materials and come in different sizes, but it is that basic rod with a handle shape that makes a sharpening device a steel.

Historically, the rods were made of hardened steel, thus the name. In modern times with modern materials however, things have gotten more complicated. The name steel is commonly applied to any rod-shaped sharpening tool with a handle, whether it is made of steel or not.

Fast on the Spot Edge Maintenance

Sharpening steels are best used for maintaining edges where you are working. The classic example is in kitchens.

It is easy to keep a steel at a workstation and use it to keep your knife sharp with minimal interruption to your work. Performing this task with sharpening stones would be cumbersome.

Steels are not a substitute for sharpening stones. Eventually, knives will become dull or damaged beyond the ability of a steel to easily sharpen them. When this happens, it will be necessary to go back to stones to reestablish an edge. But for maintenance while working, steels are more practical than stones.

Traditional Steels and Abrasive Steels

We divide steels into two broad categories: Traditional Steels and Abrasive Steels. These names aren’t official or universal; we use them to differentiate between steels made of steel (Traditional Steels) and steels made of other materials such as diamond or ceramic (Abrasive Steels). These are very broad categories, and technical hairs could be split discussing them, but they provide a useful framework for organization.

Traditional Steels (Steel Steels)

Traditional Steels made of steel are what most people are probably thinking of when they hear sharpening steel. I often refer to these as Steel Steels. (Have I used the word "steel" enough yet? I’m steeling myself to its overuse.)

Push Metal and Cut Like Files

Traditional steels are made of very hard steel. (F. Dick brand steels are at least 66 HRC, for instance.) Because they are harder than the knives they are used to sharpen, sharpening steels literally push the malleable metal of the knife edge into alignment to create a sharp edge.

But there’s more to steels than just pushing the edge. Most traditional steels have grooves cut into the steel rod. These grooves make the steel cut like a file, so they remove metal from the edge of the knife as well. These grooves range from pronounced for aggressive material removal, to subtle for delicate removal of metal. As traditional steels age with use, the edges of the grooves get rounded, making them less aggressive. Thus, traditional steels remove less and less material as they age.

Profiles: Round, Oval, Square

Traditional steel steels are available in a few different cross-sectional profiles, including, but not limited to, round, oval and square.

• Round is the most common profile. A round profile concentrates the effort of pushing the knife blade against the steel and is arguably the easiest to use. It does not matter which face of the round steel you use as the result will be the same.
• Oval is the next most common profile. The variation of the curvature on oval profile steels allows you to achieve different sharpening effects because the level of force applied to the blade varies depending on whether you are using the flatter portion or the tighter curve.
• Square steels have four different facets. Square profile steels are not as common and are usually found on combination steels. These are steels that have different groove patterns on different facets of the steel. For instance, a square combination steel might have two faces with standard grooves and two with fine grooves.

Grooves: Standard, Fine, Polished

We divide the Traditional Steels we carry into three categories depending on the nature of their grooves: Standard, Fine and Polished.

Standard Steels

Standard Steels have the heaviest grooves, and as the name implies they are the most common type. They are efficient for putting an edge on dull or damaged knives.

Standard Steels are often used in situations where knives take a lot of abuse such as in butchering or commercial food preparation environments, though they are popular in home kitchens as well. Standard Steels will leave a toothy edge that will cut well, but may have a bit of a sawing action to it. They can be used as stand-alone steels, or as a coarser lead-in to fine or polished steels. If you have just one steel, it is likely a Standard Steel.

Most Standard Steels are round in profile, but there are also oval options, and standard cuts can be found on some square steels as well.

We have a wide selection of Standard Steels available. Some of the names used by various manufacturers to label Standard Steels include:

• Euro Cut
• Butcher’s
• Coarse
• Trade Cut
• Regular Cut
• Standard Cut

Fine Steels

Fine Steels have lighter grooves than Standard Steels and are less aggressive. A Fine Steel will work well to maintain a fine slicing edge on a slightly dull knife, but will not be an efficient choice to take a damaged knife back to a cutting edge.

Fine Steels are used in situations where a more refined, less toothy edge is required for finer slicing. They can be used alone or after a Standard Steel to continue the sharpening process.

Most Fine Steels are round in profile, but there are also oval options and fine cuts can be found on some square steels as well.

Fine steels are given various names by the manufacturers we carry including:

• Sapphire Cut
• Ultra Fine
• Silk Cut
• Fine Cut

Polished Steels

Polished Steels have no grooves at all. These smooth steel rods technically remove a small amount of metal from the edge being sharpened, but their primary function is to burnish knives to create the finest cutting edges. They are not aggressive enough to put a fresh edge on a dull knife.

Polished Steels are used to maintain knives for the finest slicing activities. They can be used alone or after a Standard or Fine Steel to finish an edge.

Polished Steels are commonly available in oval profiles, but can be found in round profiles and as part of a combination on square steels as well.

Names commonly used by manufacturers for this type of steel are:

• Polished
• Smooth

Abrasive Steels (Non-Steel Steels)

Abrasives Steels rely on abrasive materials to remove metal from the knife instead file-like grooves on hard steel. We call them Abrasive Steels, but we could also call them Non-Steel Steels, or my personal favorite, Sharpening Stones on a Stick. I like that silly name because it accurately describes them. They are the same material as diamond or ceramic sharpening stones, they are just formed into rods with handles instead of plates.

In practice, Abrasive Steels are used the same way that Traditional Steels are used, and they will have much the same effect. However, unlike steel steels, they rely solely on abrading material away from the blade to create and refine the edge.

Abrasive steels can be found in the same range of profiles as Traditional Steels. Most are round in profile, but oval and square exist as well, and even a few examples of triangle profiles pop up.

The two primary types of Abrasive Steels are ceramic and Diamond. They are named for the type of abrasive material they use. Let’s have a look at each type.

Ceramic Steels

Ceramic Steels are rods of ceramic material, like the Ceramic Sharpening Stones we offer. They are sometimes called honing rods, and tend to the medium to fine grit range as compared to sharpening stones. They are used mostly for maintaining fine slicing edges and are generally not aggressive enough to restore dull or damaged edges. They can be used to refine edges after sharpening with a coarser steel and are often used after diamond steels.

Ceramic Steels are mostly found in round profiles, however there are oval options and at least one option exists with ceramic as one of the faces on a Square Diamond/Ceramic Combination Steel.

Diamond Steels

Diamond Steels are metal rods with diamonds attached to their surface. They are the same construction as the Diamond Sharpening Stones we offer. Diamonds are very hard and cut quickly and aggressively. They tend to the coarse to medium grits in the overall spectrum of sharpening stone abrasives, and leave toothy edges similar to the results from standard or fine traditional steels. Diamond steels are excellent at restoring dull blades quickly.

One feature of diamond steels is that some of them give a grit number. This makes comparing the relative coarseness of steels practical.

Diamond Steels are used in situations where a fast cutting steel is favored, and are favorites in kitchens. They can be used on their own or as a coarse step before refining with a ceramic steel.

Most Diamond steels are round in profile, however, there are some variations that have multiple sides each with a different grit of diamond. Also note the above mentioned Square Diamond/Ceramic Combination Steel.

Length

A quick glance at our offerings of sharpening steels will show that they are available in multiple lengths. Options exist from 8” up to 14”.

Like many things in life, choosing the length of steel is a balancing act. The choice of length depends on a couple of factors: Ease of Use, and Storage.

Longer is Easier to Use

For use considerations, a longer steel will generally be easier to use, especially with large knives. A 14” long steel provides plenty of room to sharpen a knife with a 9” long blade. The same action will be awkward on an 8” long steel.

Shorter is Easier to Store

However, the opposite is usually true when it comes to storage. 8” long steels will fit in many countertop knife blocks. 14” long steels not so much.

Choosing a steel length requires finding a balance between these factors. A glance at the available options will show that 10” and 12” are the most common options, and in general either of these sizes are practical for most sharpeners.

Pull Through Steels

I haven't mentioned Pull Through Steels yet, but they are an important consideration. I've saved them for the end because they’re a bit of an odd duck and don't really fit into my clever classification scheme.Pull Through Steels are functionally the same as all other steels, but instead of the rod with a handle format, these devices sit on a countertop or are bolted more permanently in place.

Crossed Arms

There are several variations, but they all have two arms that cross each other in a v shape. The knife is drawn through so that one arm hits each side of the blade. The arms can move and are pressed against the blade either by counterweight or by spring action.

Abrasive Options

On each arm there is one of several sharpening surfaces. Some use grooved steel rods like traditional steel. Others use hard polished steel or carbide pads. There are also diamond coated rods and ceramic surfaces as well. Some of the Pull Through Steels give you the option to replace the arms with different abrasives, increasing their versatility.

Easy To Use

The big attraction of Pull Through Sharpeners is their ease of use. Put the knife between the arms and draw it through. Very straightforward. Unlike the rod-with-a-handle typical steel, there is very little skill involved in using a Pull Through Steel. They are popular in busy kitchens where the priority is to maintain a good cutting edge as quickly and efficiently as possible, and are especially useful in setting where multiple people may need to use the same sharpener.

Know Your Sharpening Steels

Sharpening steels are a valuable part of the sharpening tool kit. They are perfect for use maintaining knives at the desired sharpness in an efficient manner while on the job. Hopefully, this article has given you a better understanding of the types of steels available.

As I said in the beginning, there's a lot going on in steels. I've done my best to give a good overview, but if I missed something and you do have questions about sharpening steels, or anything else sharpening related, let us know.

-Dan