I have a steel that was once used by one of my German Butcher uncles. I do not know who made it, but it must be at least 95 years old. I once tried to use it on a modern Wüsthof French knife. I got a quick education on how knife steel has advanced. The Wüsthof started to curl chips of metal off of the rod. The steel on this old rod is too soft to use on a modern knife. I looked around for a truing steel that was more or less like this antique. I found the Shun Steel not as long but with the smooth surface, the old steel had. It works great. I gave up trying to do the upright 2-armed swish-swish my uncles did and followed Shun's excellent instructions. I sure wish I knew who actually made the knives my Uncles used. I know what they looked like, the same as is used now, but not who made them, and the people who might have known are long gone.
