Is CTX-XHP difficult to sharpen?

[catamount]

Some of the posts about this steel have given me the impression that it is difficult to sharpen. I'm talking about touching up/restoring the edge on a Sharpmaker, not reprofiling, or anything like that.

How does it compare to VG-10?

[kbuzbee]

Hi Tom, IMO, a little tougher than VG10 but not particularly difficult.

Ken

[JNewell]

My experience is that it's in the VG-10/154CM/ATS-35 range.

[jabba359]

I'm no expert on sharpening, but mine wasn't too much more difficult than VG-10.

[The Mastiff]

Tom, I'm not sure how to compare it to VG10, but to me it's pretty similar to the CPM D2 in a lot of ways.

Trying to describe difficulty or ease of sharpening is kind of subjective so I try to get it close to a steel you may be more familiar with.

In my opinion, they were both easier to sharpen, and took better edges than ingot cast D2 of the same hardness. D2 can be pretty stubborn without good sharpening equipment but I didn't find it difficult at all making these PM steels very sharp, expecially considering their fairly high level of wear resistance and decent edge stability.

It's good stuff in my opinion. Joe

[nozh2002]

Some of the posts about this steel have given me the impression that it is difficult to sharpen. I'm talking about touching up/restoring the edge on a Sharpmaker, not reprofiling, or anything like that.

How does it compare to VG-10?

It is usual complain about any new steel came to market, especially really good steel clearly better then many or even best - as it is in case of CTS-XHP.

It does not based on practical experience, but rather on wrong concept that all steel are same and if it holds edge best then you have to give up easy to sharpen or something else. Which is some more or less philosophical concept, fortunately not really related to real World.

In fact CTS-XHP are easy to sharpen and holds edge much better then any production steel including ZDP-189. It may sounds unfair, but it is fact of life.

Other usual complains for new good steel are - not enough corrosion resistant and brittle. All this have nothing to do with this steel as well as all other steels before.

Thanks, Vassili.

[tomoto]

There are few steels that get the balance between edge retention and ease of sharpening like vg10, however, with that said, XHP is fantastic. It holds it s edge amazingly and is extremely easy to sharpen relative to other steels with similar edge retention. Just roughly estimating, I would say it is about 30% harder to sharpenthan VG, whereas for reference ZDP would be over 300%.. (meaning, it can take more than three times the number if swipes, if not more to make an edge from being dull.. Boy zdp is hard to sharpen!)


Any ways, this is just my opinion but XHP may be my new favorite steel :)

[dsmegst]

Not at all. But I'm using paper wheels. Took me less than 10 minutes to reprofile to 30 degrees and hone to a hair whittling edge. Longer than S30V, VG-10 or H-1, less than S90V. I've added an extra grit step to the honing so it takes a bit longer than before.

[nozh2002]

Well let kind of make clear about what sharpening we are talking about.

I use DMT D8XX, D11C, D11E and Green Rouge to make any steel whittling hair an about 5-15 minutes. Does not matter what steel it is ZDP-189 or CTS-XHP or D2. Using this methid all steel asr the same.

Now is it possible to say what kind of sharpening is used when some steel seems to be easy to sharpen then other? I always ask this question and never have answer for some reason. But it is important to know, may be this is not steel to blame but sharpening method instead?

Thanks, Vassili.

[dsmegst]

Vassili,

I agree. With all the sharpening options available these days, I think it makes all the difference on how you go about it. It's all pretty much the same in the end. Even the hardest steel takes maybe an additional minute per wheel compared to Aus-8 or 8Cr13MoV.

It takes me longer to drag my bench grinder out and setup the wheels on it than for the actual sharpening. Amazing stuff.