Quality/constitution of the resulting knife edge:
To achieve a very high and lasting sharpness. For domestic and professional applications.
The all-rounders among the sharpening steels.
Professional sharpness for flexible and/or thin grinded knives (e.g. filleting knife).
Exclusively for erecting and polishing the knife edge.
Fast sharpening results and easy handling. Due to abrasive removal, these are very well suited for the regeneration of heavily worn, blunt blades.
The material
All steels are made of alloyed tool steel (material no. 2210) with 1.15% C content (carbon), 0.6% chromium and 0.03% vanadium. The resulting high wear resistance of the surface of the steels was necessary to be able to meet the increasingly harder material quality of the knife blades.
The surface of the steels
A distinction is made between three surfaces:
Medium fine cut:
Most commonly used surface for household and kitchen steels. This steel quickly forms a new burr on the knife edge, which enables a smooth cut.
Fine cut:
Especially for butchers who resharpen knives themselves on a grinding machine, but use the sharpening steel to straighten the burr of the cutting edge in order to obtain a smooth cut.
Polished surface:
For use in slaughterhouses. As with the fine cut, the burr of the pre-sharpened knife edge is straightened for a particularly smooth cut.
The hardness
In principle, the surface of the sharpening steels must be harder than that of the knives. Otherwise, knife edges could not be kept optimally sharp, and the steel would wear out and become worthless in a short time. Knives have an average hardness between 52 and 56 HRC. The minimum hardness of steels should be around 60 HRC. Steels from Flügel are basically made of alloyed tool steel with a hardness of 65 HRC.
The hard chrome plating
Hard chrome plating largely protects the steel from corrosion. Microscopically, however, hard chrome does not have a closed surface, and so the protection is only possible to a limited extent. A thicker hard chrome layer would render the sharpness of the corrugation ineffective. Nickel plating – although it would form a closed layer on the surface – would be too soft for the demands of a sharpening steel.
The magnetism
Sharpening steels are magnetic. They absorb small metal chips that occur during the sharpening process. This prevents the cut material from coming into contact with them later.
The handle
The handle of a sharpening steel contributes significantly to optimal use. Accordingly, each handle must be assessed according to its manageability (ergonomics) and material. Handles are made of wood and plastic. Even when it comes to greater and more reliable hand protection, the advantages of plastic handles outweigh the disadvantages.
The hand guard
Primarily, this handle part should protect the hand from the knife being sharpened. The hand guard must therefore be integrated into the handle in such a way that the steel can be used effortlessly on all sides. This is offered above all by the plastic handle.
The hand guard also prevents a round steel from rolling off the shelf.
The ring
There is a good reason to hang the sharpening steel separately on its ring after use. If the sharpening steel remains in contact with the knives, they will also become magnetic after a certain time. Then sharpening chips also stick to the knife edges.
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