Which steel "spoiled" you?

[David R]

Hard to say. Maxamet was a real eye opener. K390 too. A fixed blade LC 200 N fishing knife is just a miraculous thing.

[David R]

Hard to say. Maxamet was a real eye opener. K390 too. A fixed blade LC 200 N fishing knife is just a miraculous thing. I like all the Spydero steels I've tried.

[loamy47]

For me definitely H1/LC, for being maintenance free and so easy to sharpen.

+1 for H1. I just got my first Spydie (that happens to be in H1) a few weeks ago and even though it has relatively low edge retention vs. modern supersteels, it still held up beyond anything I had ever seen before. Add it being essentially impervious to rust and corrosion, and I can't look at any of my lower quality knives quite the same way again.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

LC200N

CTS-XHP

Cruwear

VG-10

ZDP-189

Sorry best I can narrow it down.

[Baron Mind]

S110v. Not because of it's actual performance, but when I decided to move on from hardware store knives, I googled best pocket knives, and was a bit taken aback by the prices at the time. Naturally my next question was "what makes these knives so much more expensive?". I read about blade steel attributes, and was immediately infatuated. My first real knife was an s110v para 3 and I never looked back.

[Baron Mind]

Since then, Cru-wear was the first low chromium/tool steel I tried, and i suppose you could say I was spoiled by it as a sharpener. It felt like the steel was working with me. I didn't have to fight it to get sharp like s110v. I've been in love with low chromium, or tool steels, whatever nomenclature we're using these days, ever since.

[Tucson Tom]

52100 - Spoiled me by being ridiculously easy to get sharp.

[jpm2]

T42, in 1985.
It's about like rex45 with a little more tungsten and cobalt.
I made it from a parting tool.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

T42, in 1985.
It's about like rex45 with a little more tungsten and cobalt.
I made it from a parting tool.

Thank you for mentioning this. This is the first time I have read or heard of it. Here is some data sheet information I found:

https://www.gurugautamsteels.com/high-s ... -bars.html

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10. ... ode=ymst19

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 3607009065

That is some durable steel.

[jpm2]

T42, in 1985.
It's about like rex45 with a little more tungsten and cobalt.
I made it from a parting tool.

Thank you for mentioning this. This is the first time I have read or heard of it. Here is some data sheet information I found:

https://www.gurugautamsteels.com/high-s ... -bars.html

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10. ... ode=ymst19

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 3607009065

That is some durable steel.

This is what it was.
https://www.rigpl.com/hss-tools/hss-par ... -tools-bsw

This is what it became.



I was a lonely soul in the knife world for a long, long time. No one wanted to grind this devilish stuff into a knife blade, and I don't blame them.
It would be more than three decades before anything like it would be offered (maxamet/rex45). Thanks Spyderco.

...anyway, that little knife forever changed how I thought about edge performance almost 35 years ago.

[vivi]

T42, in 1985.
It's about like rex45 with a little more tungsten and cobalt.
I made it from a parting tool.

Thank you for mentioning this. This is the first time I have read or heard of it. Here is some data sheet information I found:

https://www.gurugautamsteels.com/high-s ... -bars.html

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10. ... ode=ymst19

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 3607009065

That is some durable steel.

This is what it was.
https://www.rigpl.com/hss-tools/hss-par ... -tools-bsw

This is what it became.



I was a lonely soul in the knife world for a long, long time. No one wanted to grind this devilish stuff into a knife blade, and I don't blame them.
It would be more than three decades before anything like it would be offered (maxamet/rex45). Thanks Spyderco.

...anyway, that little knife forever changed how I thought about edge performance almost 35 years ago.

That's an awesome story. Thank you for sharing.

[jpm2]

That's an awesome story. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks. I'd like to tell the whole story, but too long, probably too boring, and for a different thread.

Reflecting back, not just on the knife steel experience, it's interesting how the combination of many many small, seemingly unrelated things can combine to shape your overall future thoughts/ideas.

hmm, haha, I like reading this kind of stuff from others, but feel kinda goofy saying it myself, so enough of that. :o

[cycleguy]

Spoiled? ... I'll read this as which steel has become your standard steel ... for me VG10. Was 420HC. Exploring the other steels but have NOT reached the point where VG10 is not good enough anymore. I can likely pass on 420HC nowadays unless there is something about the knife that I absolutely must have; then I'd still be OK with 420HC but preferring something better.

CG

[Pelagic]

CPM CRUWEAR.

[Jim Blooey]

Tain't steel for me. It's grind.

[Woodpuppy]

M2HS first. Then CPM M4!

My first tool steel was D2. I had a D2 AFCK that had an edge blowout; lost ~3/8” strip of the edge. Sold it after fixing it. 710HSSR M2 was easier to sharpen and never had that sort of edge problem. But M4 is much mo betta!

[A.S.O.K.A]

D2 was the first steel that spoiled me. I had learned very quickly that it takes about three sharpenings before performance got better. Fast forward to today, for a stainless steel, S90V is my current spoiler. For a non-stainless steel, I would have to give that title to M4 until I put my 4V and REX45 through the paces

[crazywednesday]

K390. This P4 I bought on the used market never stops amazing me. I wish Spyderco would spread K390 like a wild fire.

[Sumdumguy]

LC200N did it for me.

I have abused it since new and it just keeps on going. A few passes on the fine stones every once in a while and it's ready for more.

[JD Spydo]

I have to go by the different eras and time periods on that one. Because back in the mid 90s when I got my first Spyder with GIN-1 I thought it was right on with serrated edges. But then when I got my very first JD Smith model in the late 90s with ATS-34 I had thought that was a premium steel and one I could really rely on>> I still have a couple of ATS34 Spyders. Even though it wasn't long after that until Spyderco released ATS-55 of which I still have quite a few models made with that steel and I think it's better than ATS-34 in PE & SE both.

OK let's fast-forward a bit. In 2005 when I got my Burgundy Caly Jr with ZDP-189 I thought for sure I had hit the pinnacle for a high end blade steel for plain edges>> but it wasn't too long after that I got my first Spyder with S90V which I liked better for a few reasons especially in PE.

But in the past 3 years my personal favorite has been the ultra-reliable M390 even though I also like XHP for different types of blades>> I'm hoping to get a serious Spyderco model with Teeth with XHP because I think that might just be the best SE blade steel out there.

But at this present time the winner will be M390. :cool: Because I use my M390 Millie quite a bit throughout the week. Although I admit that there are 3 supersteels I haven't gotten to try out yet that I've heard that rate higher than M390. But it will have to be a real "Barn Burner" to beat out M390 IMO :cool: