Chef's Choice 130 Manual Del Usuario página 8

UNDERSTANDING THE PROFESSIONAL STEELED EDGE
® ®
With the Chef'sChoice Professional Sharpening Station you will for the first time be able
to experience the pleasure of cutting and slicing with perfectly steeled edges. You can
in just seconds create steeled edges with that extra "bite" and sharpness unmatched by
even the most experienced professionals.
The steeling Stage 2 contains a unique miniature steel made of a special high carbon steel
hardened to about Rockwell C-65 which is much harder than any commercially available
cutlery. Consequently this special rod will show very little wear from repeated contact
with the edge as you steel your finest and hardest knives.
Precision knife guides in Stage 2 control and precisely align the face of the knife as the
blade is inserted into the slot between the guide and the blade retention spring (See
figure 8). To use, insert the blade alternately into the left and then the right slots and
pull forward so that the knife is held securely and the edge slides along the surface of
the hardened miniature steel. When steeling, it is not necessary to turn on the electrical
power, however power is always needed when using Stages 1 and 3.
The steel rod is supported by flexible materials that allow the rod to deflect when exces-
sive force is applied to the blade. This feature and the ultra-precise and consistent angular
contact maintained stroke after stroke between the knife edge and the hardened steel
rods are key to optimizing the edge structure. Viewed under a microscope, the edge cre-
ated by steeling in Stage 2 presents a uniform formation of exceedingly fine and super-
sharp micro-serrations. Even after many uses and steeling of the knife edge, the original
edge geometry is maintained and the edge does not round-off like it would using a
conventional manual steel, which has no angle control.
Because of the consistent and precise angular control, Stage 2 maintains a shaving sharp
edge while it creates the uniform row of microscopic serrations along the knife edge. If
the edge is damaged when used for cutting, the Steeling Station will restore the edge
micro-serrations while maintaining the sharpness of the edge. This type of edge
conditioning is unique to the Sharpening Station.
At the top of the miniature steel rod is a slotted cap that accepts a coin or other tool so
you can rotate the steel rod slightly (one "click") to expose a fresh area of the steel rod
surface (Figure 9). This is necessary only if the rod becomes sufficiently worn locally that
the edge conditioning process slows significantly. When the rod is rotated, fresh surfaces
of the steel are made available in both the left and right slots. A spring finger extends
from the end of the knife retention spring and clicks into a shallow groove in the cap on
top of the steel rod. When a new surface on the steel becomes necessary, rotate the slot
counter-clockwise one click. By this means, approximately 28 pairs of "steeling" areas are
available over the lifetime of the rod. Because the knife edge can be pulled over a given
Figure 8. Blade should be Steeled alternately in left Figure 9. Rotating the steel with coin in slot.
and right slots of Stage 2.
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