On Wed, 18 Jun 2003 06:12:56 +1000, "David Hare-Scott"
wrote:


You use a soft material so that it can be easily sharpened but loses its
edge quickly?
And you don't use a hard material that keeps its edge longer than a soft
one because it is too hard to sharpen?

By this logic there would be no use for hard steel at all.

Not all stainless steel is especially hard. Most chefs' knives
(including the better ones) in the specialty equipment shops around here
are stainless steel and this does not stop them being polished on a
steel or sharpened with a stone. If fact some of the "better" chefs'
knives are ceramic which is so hard that they cannot be sharpened at all
except in the factory. All of whcih probably has nothing to do with
spades.

David


In my experience having used stainless steel tools before, including our chef
knife set, it takes quite a while before it loses it's edge. The whole trick of
using any sharp edged tool in clay is to be sure it is properly irrigated and
not too dry or wet. My rusty spade cuts like budduh! I have a steel, to
sharpen my knives and a electric grinder which has many different type tools to
sharpen many different materials.