F. Dick Butcher Sharpening Steel 25cm fine cut.

[Transmaster]

I Was talking to a cousin on the German side of the family he works in a beef packing plant in Nebraska. I asked him about what he uses for tools. One of the things he told me about is most of his fellow butchers where he works use F. Dick steels. I know the brand well because this German company makes the best hoof knives that money can buy. The Steel he uses is the Butcher Sharpening Steel 25cm fine cut. It is all metal which makes it very easy to clean and sanitize and it is set up for a shoulder strap so you can carry it like a medieval dagger. Is anyone here using this steel? Fredrick Dick differentiates between Chef's steels and Butcher's steels. They have both, they have a large catalog of different types. For my use is a butcher steel OK, or should I get a Chef's steel? I am no longer going to assume anything.

 

[Benuser]

Much will depend on the knives you want to use them on. There is a tradition of using relatively coarse — called standard or fine — steels with soft knives: in fact, they redress a burr or even create one, and the positive effects will only hold very shortly. Whether it's the burr, or the weak edge made of fatigued steel: a poor solution, because neither the burr or the fatigued steel gets removed. You may use a loupe to see what those steels do. It's quite scary.
For real honing soft steel I would suggest the Dickoron Micro: it works well with both soft stainless and soft carbons, if used in time, so before it fails and a serious performance loss becomes apparent. It allows you to postpone a touching-up on a medium-coarse stone. With soft carbons like the Sabs the Dickoron Polish is another option.
For harder steel and soft carbon there are much better options: I use a Belgian Blue for touching-up almost all knives, except soft Germans.

 

[Kawa]

Much will depend on the knives you want to use them on. There is a tradition of using relatively coarse — called standard or fine — steels with soft knives: in fact, they redress a burr or even create one, and the positive effects will only hold very shortly. Whether it's the burr, or the weak edge made of fatigued steel: a poor solution, because neither the burr or the fatigued steel gets removed. You may use a loupe to see what those steels do. It's quite scary.
For real honing soft steel I would suggest the Dickoron Micro: it works well with both soft stainless and soft carbons, if used in time, so before it fails and a serious performance loss becomes apparent. It allows you to postpone a touching-up on a medium-coarse stone. With soft carbons like the Sabs the Dickoron Polish is another option.
For harder steel and soft carbon there are much better options: I use a Belgian Blue for touching-up almost all knives, except soft Germans.

But still, what makes those blue(polished) or white/silver (micro) handled dickorons a chefs or a butchers hone?

Whats the difference between chefs or butchers

 

[stringer]

For my use is a butcher steel OK, or should I get a Chef's steel? I am no longer going to assume anything.

View attachment 289303

I would say neither. The butcher's steel is a great tool if you plan on working in a meat packing plant and using very soft knives. Otherwise they probably are not the best for the knives that you are using or the way you are using them.

I have not used metal honing rods at all in many years after using them extensively in professional settings for many years. They tend to tear up your edge, damage the knife profile over time, and actually hasten how often you have to sharpen. Reducing the lifespan of your knives and the quality of your working edges. I prefer a very fine carbon rod if I am in a hurry. Learning to do touch-ups on stones is far more useful in the long run and less damaging to your equipment.

 

[Benuser]

But still, what makes those blue(polished) or white/silver (micro) handled dickorons a chefs or a butchers hone?

Whats the difference between chefs or butchers

Don't know other series than the Dickoron, all obviously with chefs in mind. From very aggressive to really fine. They do have a lot of others though, much cheaper. See dick.de

 

[stringer]

But still, what makes those blue(polished) or white/silver (micro) handled dickorons a chefs or a butchers hone?

Whats the difference between chefs or butchers

I am not familiar with the Dickorons.

I have never heard of a distinction between a chef steel and a butcher steel.

For me a cheap fine ceramic rod is all you need for emergency situations. Otherwise using stones is almost always preferable.

 

[Benuser]

I am not familiar with the Dickorons.

I have never heard of a distinction between a chef steel and a butcher steel.

For me a cheap fine ceramic rod is all you need for emergency situations. Otherwise using stones is almost always preferable.

One exception perhaps: soft stainless Germans.

 

[Kawa]

Don't know other series than the Dickoron, all obviously with chefs in mind. From very aggressive to really fine. They do have a lot of others though, much cheaper. See dick.de

I have the blue/polish and grey(white)/micro.

I only use them for my wifes cheap stainless beaters. Those knives are dull within a few meals and with the micro I can keep them usable for a little longer, without really damaging or destroying the edge like a coarse rod does.
I don't have the time nor the aspiration to use a stone every 3th day on those knives. I have lots of those beaters, and I cycle them for my wife.

The dickoron polish doesn't help me on these 5,- stainless steel knives.

 

[Transmaster]

OK, this tells me what I need to know. I will stick with the Shun steel I have and instead get some really good quality whetstones. I have learned that not all whetstones are created equal. I really miss the motorized sharpening equipment I used to have.

 

[Benuser]

The dickoron polish doesn't help me on these 5,- stainless steel knives.

The dickoron polish only makes sense with soft carbons as a Sab, again, providing done in time.

 

[user 52613]

I Was talking to a cousin on the German side of the family he works in a beef packing plant in Nebraska. I asked him about what he uses for tools. One of the things he told me about is most of his fellow butchers where he works use F. Dick steels. I know the brand well because this German company makes the best hoof knives that money can buy. The Steel he uses is the Butcher Sharpening Steel 25cm fine cut. It is all metal which makes it very easy to clean and sanitize and it is set up for a shoulder strap so you can carry it like a medieval dagger. Is anyone here using this steel? Fredrick Dick differentiates between Chef's steels and Butcher's steels. They have both, they have a large catalog of different types. For my use is a butcher steel OK, or should I get a Chef's steel? I am no longer going to assume anything.

View attachment 289303

I have this steel, often sold as the ‘Balkan’ steel, and also use the Dickoron Polish steel (although not so much these days). The Balkan is quite a fine and shallow cut, not very aggressive at all imo. I use this steel when working rotisserie (prepping and cooking 140 whole chickens a shift). I use a Sabatier 4.5” Boucher knife for trimming the birds; sharpened on a Norton Coarse Carborundum stone. I find a very coarse, toothy edge, well apexed is ideal for this job and the steel keeps the edge going very well. I touch up the edge with a few strokes every 10 birds or so to keep the edge at absolute peak sharpness, never letting it drop off. After a shift, despite going through a lot of joints and cartilage my knife can usually still do a push cut with and across the grain on parchment paper and shave arm hair. If you use softer Western knives any quality steel will work as long as it is used judiciously and with good technique.

 

[boblob]

Much will depend on the knives you want to use them on. There is a tradition of using relatively coarse — called standard or fine — steels with soft knives: in fact, they redress a burr or even create one, and the positive effects will only hold very shortly. Whether it's the burr, or the weak edge made of fatigued steel: a poor solution, because neither the burr or the fatigued steel gets removed. You may use a loupe to see what those steels do. It's quite scary.
For real honing soft steel I would suggest the Dickoron Micro: it works well with both soft stainless and soft carbons, if used in time, so before it fails and a serious performance loss becomes apparent. It allows you to postpone a touching-up on a medium-coarse stone. With soft carbons like the Sabs the Dickoron Polish is another option.
For harder steel and soft carbon there are much better options: I use a Belgian Blue for touching-up almost all knives, except soft Germans.

benuser when the dickoron micro stops working you simply go for a touchup on a stone instead of a full sharpening ?