Steels: What Has Been Your Experience?

[The Meat man]

Hello all, I am a relatively new Spyderco user. Up until a few months ago my most advanced blade steel was 8Cr13MoV. (Kershaw Chill; great EDC). I've always been interested in trying out new and different steels, so discovering Spyderco has been a dream come true. :)

But beyond the rudiments found in Spyderco's catalog, I don't know much more than the basics about metallurgy (or more precisely, how certain steel elements translate into everyday use).

So I decided to turn to the vast repository of knowledge here on the forum. My question is this: What has been your honest, everyday experience with any given blade material, in terms of 4 factors:

1. Corrosion resistance
2. Ease of sharpening
3. Edge holding
4. Edge toughness

(Rate on a scale of 1-10)

I know this has been tried before, but it never seems to get anywhere.

I fully realize this is all very subjective and no answer will be in any way conclusive. But I'm not looking for a a once-and-for-all list, all I'm asking for (being a naturally curious guy) is your heavily biased, intensely subjective opinions based on your everyday experience. :)

Thanks!

[ZrowsN1s]

1. Corrosion resistance
2. Ease of sharpening
3. Edge holding
4. Edge toughness

(Rate on a scale of 1-10)

H1
1. cr - 10
2. eos - 10
3. eh - 4
4. et - 9

[ZrowsN1s]

ZDP-189
1. cr - 7
2. eos - 6
3. eh - 10
4. et - 7

[Stuman]

CPM 20CV, LC200N, CPM S110v, CPM S90, CPM S35VN, CPM S30, CPM 3V and 4V and then there is the 5 heavy hitters but lack corrosion resistance, CTS Maxamet, CPM 10V, CPM CruWare, and ZDP 189 and the big hitter CPM Rex 121.

All the top ones are good at keeping an edge and rust resistance and all the bottom ones are not that good at keeping rust at bay but are very hard steels and have generally speaking keep an edge for far longer but there is a brilliant app you can get that will tell you all about the steels you come across. Just go on the App Store and down load KnifeSteelChart it’s got a knife on the emblem with Fe and 26 in the top right corner. It’s brill and it’s a vast database on metallurgy and it’s what I use.

[Stuman]

Oh sorry I forgot CPM M4 Which is a High Speed steel as is most of those bottom ones. I just thought it would be easer to get the app and when you come across a knife you can reference the steel in the app to see what it is.

[shunsui]

My experience is there's a lot of steels out there.

I value stainless and edge retention.

I generally don't abuse knives these days after an educational knife abusing childhood.

I own diamond stones.

For me, Spyderco's S110V line are the knives I'd recommend for the 21st century customer.

[ejcr98]

This is a great idea. Would love to reads people’s feedback regarding LC200N, VG-10 and S30V.

Maybe setting up benchmarks for the comparisons would be great. Like H-1 is a 10 in corrosion resistance and Maxamet is a 10 in edge holding. H-1 is also probably a 10 in ease of sharpening and toughness.

[Canazes9]

LC-200N is a far better steel than many realize. Easy to sharpen, tough, great edge retention, zero corrosion issues. I think this is just the beginning of what is possible in steels, looking forward to future iterations of nitrogen steels.

DVid

[npad69]

my experience using the 8Cr13Mov as baseline:

8Cr13Mov (Resilience)
1. Corrosion resistance 5
2. Ease of sharpening 10
3. Edge holding 5
4. Edge toughness 10

VG-10 (Delica4 and Stretch)
1. Corrosion resistance 8
2. Ease of sharpening 8
3. Edge holding 8
4. Edge toughness 10

H1 (Pacific Salt PE)
1. Corrosion resistance 10
2. Ease of sharpening 10
3. Edge holding 4
4. Edge toughness 10

CPM-Cruwear (PM2)
1. Corrosion resistance 7
2. Ease of sharpening 6
3. Edge holding 10
4. Edge toughness 10

LC200N (Spydiechef)
1. Corrosion resistance 10
2. Ease of sharpening 8
3. Edge holding 9
4. Edge toughness 10

MBS-26 (Santoku and Utility Serrated)
1. Corrosion resistance 8
2. Ease of sharpening 10
3. Edge holding 7
4. Edge toughness 10

i have the sharpmaker with UF stones
my favorite stainless: LC200N
my favorite tool steel: Cruwear

[murphjd25]

I really like M4, Cruwear, XHP, and HAP40 because of there strengths, nice toothy edge retention and ease of sharpening, But I really can’t complain about any steel.

[TomAiello]

Try Maxamet. You will not be sorry. Unless you regularly take your knives into salt water. Then you still probably won't be sorry.

For corrosion resistance, LC200 is awesome, but it's pricier, and if you don't need total rust resistance, probably unnecessary. Almost every steel I've tried has been "good enough" for normal use, in terms of corrosion resistance (even the non-stainless ones).

For ease of sharpening (and ease of sharpening to super sharp) I've actually been very impressed with VG-10. Especially if you're new to sharpening, I think it's a good choice (and generally pretty underrated when compared to the newer "super" steels).

For edge holding, definitely Maxamet. It's unreal. I own _a lot_ of knives, including some expensive customs. I've never had a knife that holds an edge as well as my production Spyderco Manix 2 LW Maxamet. The only one that's close is a K390 custom, and even then I think the Maxamet has an edge (if you'll forgive the pun).

For edge toughness? 3V has been the best for me, but honestly I don't use any folder hard enough for edge toughness to be a huge issue. If I'm doing something like that, I'm generally going to a fixed blade. I may get strung up as a heretic for saying this here, but the toughest edged knife I've owned isn't a Spyderco--it's a Survive! 3.5 GSO in CPM 3V. I've abused the heck out of that thing and it just keeps going.

But seriously, if you're looking for insane edge holding, "good enough" corrosion resistance, and "good enough" toughness (for an EDC folder) get a production Maxamet Spyderco and prepare to be impressed. You may have to work on your sharpening for it, but you'll have months to practice on other knives before the Maxamet needs it (or you can just send it in to Spyderco to sharpen).

[TomAiello]

LC-200N is a far better steel than many realize. Easy to sharpen, tough, great edge retention, zero corrosion issues.

Definitely. It's like uber-stainless VG-10, with a bit better edge holding. Or uber stainless S30V that's easier to sharpen.

The only downside is cost, really. Well, that and that it comes short of the uber steels in toughness (like 3v) or edge retention (like Maxamet). But if cost is no issue and you are going to sharpen yourself, it's a great choice for a first "nicer" EDC knife.

[Canazes9]

LC-200N is a far better steel than many realize. Easy to sharpen, tough, great edge retention, zero corrosion issues.

Definitely. It's like uber-stainless VG-10, with a bit better edge holding. Or uber stainless S30V that's easier to sharpen.

The only downside is cost, really. Well, that and that it comes short of the uber steels in toughness (like 3v) or edge retention (like Maxamet). But if cost is no issue and you are going to sharpen yourself, it's a great choice for a first "nicer" EDC knife.

Exactly!


David

[JDennis]

IMO,

VG10 is great for light duty edc stuff. It is kinda good at everything but not great at anything

BD1 I really like for office carry or fresh water fishing, it is good stainless and can take a wicked edge, but loses the edge quick on harder materials. Stupid easy to sharpen.

M4 is hard as heck and can hold a edge forever but isn't stainless and will rust as quick as heck if you have any kind of salt media. Not easy to sharpen.

S35vn is my favorite all around steel. Tough, doesn't chip easy, stainless is great and can get stupid sharp. And it is easy to sharpen as long as your not free handing it.

Imo LC200n is the absolute rockstar all around. Easy to sharpen, won't rust, and holds a edge for a long time. If a knife I like is available in LC200N, that is the only steel I will buy it in.

[Stuman]

LC-200N is a far better steel than many realize. Easy to sharpen, tough, great edge retention, zero corrosion issues. I think this is just the beginning of what is possible in steels, looking forward to future iterations of nitrogen steels.

DVid

I agree completely and steels in general are only going to get better and with PM steels they can do some Funky Magical things, the LC200N is a really fantastic steel though and so is CPM 20CV

[SpyderEdgeForever]

LC-200N is a far better steel than many realize. Easy to sharpen, tough, great edge retention, zero corrosion issues. I think this is just the beginning of what is possible in steels, looking forward to future iterations of nitrogen steels.

DVid

Agree completely.

To answer the original post:

1 H1 steel. I have not yet had the experience of Lc200n but I am looking forward to it with the Caribbean.

As far as the others, for me at least, VG10 answers them all. The S30V of one of my Native models follows VG10.

[The Meat man]

Thanks everyone! Great info here.

Stuman, I'll look into getting that app. Sounds like a good resource.

LC200N sounds interesting... and I'd love to try out S110V sometime. In fact I just got a native 5, and it was a toss up whether to get it in S110V or Maxamet. Maxamet won this time. :) I haven't had it for long enough to judge it's properties, but I like what I see so far.

So many steels, so little money! :)

[Sharp Guy]

Stuman, I'll look into getting that app. Sounds like a good resource

I use that app all the time. You can also access that info from ZKnives website.

http://www.zknives.com/knives/steels/steelchart.php

[Stuman]

Thanks everyone! Great info here.

Stuman, I'll look into getting that app. Sounds like a good resource.

LC200N sounds interesting... and I'd love to try out S110V sometime. In fact I just got a native 5, and it was a toss up whether to get it in S110V or Maxamet. Maxamet won this time. :) I haven't had it for long enough to judge it's properties, but I like what I see so far.

So many steels, so little money! :)

yeah it is a really cool app and it really helps one to decide which steel to get. If you remember 20 years ago you only had the choice of A2 or O1 tool steel but even then there were more 1080 and 440 knives avalable and the tool steel knives were a rare commodity, now look at it, the generations of steels and wide range of steels to chose from so that app is a god send because it’s kept up to date which is handy real handy. I’m glad some one thought of it !