"sharpener's steels"

[vivi]

Vg10, h1, s30v, cruwear and let us not forget aus8 and bd1n! Those 2 are such a joy and I don’t think anyone has mentioned it yet.

Did not mention it in this thread indeed, but in several others already: For me BD1N has probably the best "ease of sharpening /edge holding -ratio" I have personally experienced so far (as far as a pretty mediocre sharpener like I am can tell).

This for me is due to how extremely easy and quick it sharpens, while being not great, but decent in edge retention.

Agreed. Similar to PE H1, it's far from an edge holding king, but it touches up so fast and effortlessly.

[DavidNM]

I don’t have the experience some of the other members have here, mainly S30v, s35v and 1095.I did get one of the recent Sprint Run Delicas in Super Blue steel and that has to be the easiest steel to get a scary sharp edge. Much easier and a sharper edge than anything I have in S30v or S35v.

Ease of sharpening is important to me when talking about a sharpener’s steel, whatever that means.

[electro-static]

I sat down to sharpen my k390 endela on my wicked edge using Diamond stones… didn’t know what to expect given the high HRC on those k390’s… I literally put my stones down after 5 minutes and laughed in disbelief and how quickly a bur formed and how easy it was to get it screaming sharp…

This is my experience as well.

[SaltyCaribbeanDfly]

BD1N,VG10,Cruwear,Magnacut,H1,LC200N get my vote for ease of sharpening and getting wicked sharp…Cruwear would be my top dog…unfortunately I can’t comment on k390 or Spy27 as I don’t own any but that will eventually change

[u.w.]

Vg10, h1, s30v, cruwear and let us not forget aus8 and bd1n! Those 2 are such a joy and I don’t think anyone has mentioned it yet.

Did not mention it in this thread indeed, but in several others already: For me BD1N has probably the best "ease of sharpening /edge holding -ratio" I have personally experienced so far (as far as a pretty mediocre sharpener like I am can tell).

This for me is due to how extremely easy and quick it sharpens, while being not great, but decent in edge retention.

Agreed. Similar to PE H1, it's far from an edge holding king, but it touches up so fast and effortlessly.

Agreeing with the BD1N comments. I've got a Drop Point UKPK with BD1N, that I have thinned and put a 300-ish grit edge on. Good experiences only.

A week-ish ago I picked up the AEB-L Mule & a Stretch 2 Xl LW Plain Edge. I'm left wondering if Spyderco changed their heat treat on VG-10. That Stretch 2 XL LW sounds and acts like a harder VG-10 than I recall in the past; and it's edge holding has been quite nice too. I am very much liking the knife, AND it's VG-10 blade.

u.w.

[Wartstein]

....

Did not mention it in this thread indeed, but in several others already: For me BD1N has probably the best "ease of sharpening /edge holding -ratio" I have personally experienced so far (as far as a pretty mediocre sharpener like I am can tell).

This for me is due to how extremely easy and quick it sharpens, while being not great, but decent in edge retention.

Agreed. Similar to PE H1, it's far from an edge holding king, but it touches up so fast and effortlessly.

It really does, and one does not have to be a sharpening expert for achieving this.

As far as I can recall the (FRN) Chief LW was displayed at some show in BD1N, and if it actually will come in this steel I won´t complain at all (true for both PE and SE). Should be a great, user-/service - friendly larger EDC then.

[Surfingringo]

I have my favorites (cruwear, lc200n, hap40, etc) that I feel are steels that just WANT to get sharp, but honestly, they’ll mostly all get to the same level. For me, the outliers are not the ones with the BEST sharpening response but rather the ones with the WORST. Two that come to mind are s90v and s110v.

I almost hate discussing this because my opinions about my experience with these steels are so open to misinterpretation…but I’ll try.

Any steel will get sharp. Any steel will get hair popping sharp. They do NOT all respond the same to the same sharpening protocols though. My main protocol is establishing a clean apex at 14-15 degrees per side then very lightly microbeveling at 40 degrees on the SM. On some knives I will go lower and microbevel at 30. When you do this you get to see an IMMEDIATE response from the steel. If you bring something like lc200n to a clean apex and start to make light passes on the brown SM stones, it will go from sharp to tree topping hairs in a matter of 5 or 6 light passes. The response is immediate. Try the same with s90v or s110v. 5 or 6 passes on the microbevel will greatly increase the sharpness but those steels will NOT grab the hair of ones head or beard with the same “stickiness”. I have spent HOURS and HOURS with these steels trying to get them to respond the same and I simply cannot. Even if I continue making light passes on the microbevel…no matter how many, those steels will NEVER achieve the same stickiness at the same grit as some other steels.

Now, I CAN get them to that same level of “sticky” or “hair biting” sharp but it involves at least one more level of refinement. In other words, I have to microbevel s90v/s110v on the fine white rods to get the same level of “sharp” that I get from something like lc200n at the next lower grit. Given my affinity for more agressive edges I will always gravitate towards steels that will give me the same level of “sticky sharp” at a lower, more agressive grit.

I also find it interesting that I often hear people talking about what an “agressive edge” they get out of these steels (s90/s110v). My experience is the exact opposite. At any given grit, (including very low grits) the edges I get from microbeveling steels like Cruwear or Lc200n are both sharper and notably more agressive than what I can get out of s90/s110v.

If the results I’m noting don’t match up with your experience I’d love to hear what others have found. I would only suggest that before we debate results, you try the same sharpening protocol that I’m discussing, ie microbeveling, so we know that we are comparing apples to apples.

[DavidNM]

I have now been using my new Zome and Super Blue Delica for a week or so and while this may not be a revelation to many here but that Super Blue steel seems to lose its edge rather quickly. My experience with the latest steels is pretty much limited to S35v and S30v steel so take it easy on me. With it said that the Super Blue loses its edge quickly it also takes like three swipes on my Sharpmaker and the thing is scary sharp again. This steel just WANTS to get sharp and easily at that. I think I can live with this.

[Bemo]

I have my favorites (cruwear, lc200n, hap40, etc) that I feel are steels that just WANT to get sharp, but honestly, they’ll mostly all get to the same level. For me, the outliers are not the ones with the BEST sharpening response but rather the ones with the WORST. Two that come to mind are s90v and s110v.

I almost hate discussing this because my opinions about my experience with these steels are so open to misinterpretation…but I’ll try.

Any steel will get sharp. Any steel will get hair popping sharp. They do NOT all respond the same to the same sharpening protocols though. My main protocol is establishing a clean apex at 14-15 degrees per side then very lightly microbeveling at 40 degrees on the SM. On some knives I will go lower and microbevel at 30. When you do this you get to see an IMMEDIATE response from the steel. If you bring something like lc200n to a clean apex and start to make light passes on the brown SM stones, it will go from sharp to tree topping hairs in a matter of 5 or 6 light passes. The response is immediate. Try the same with s90v or s110v. 5 or 6 passes on the microbevel will greatly increase the sharpness but those steels will NOT grab the hair of ones head or beard with the same “stickiness”. I have spent HOURS and HOURS with these steels trying to get them to respond the same and I simply cannot. Even if I continue making light passes on the microbevel…no matter how many, those steels will NEVER achieve the same stickiness at the same grit as some other steels.

Now, I CAN get them to that same level of “sticky” or “hair biting” sharp but it involves at least one more level of refinement. In other words, I have to microbevel s90v/s110v on the fine white rods to get the same level of “sharp” that I get from something like lc200n at the next lower grit. Given my affinity for more agressive edges I will always gravitate towards steels that will give me the same level of “sticky sharp” at a lower, more agressive grit.

I also find it interesting that I often hear people talking about what an “agressive edge” they get out of these steels (s90/s110v). My experience is the exact opposite. At any given grit, (including very low grits) the edges I get from microbeveling steels like Cruwear or Lc200n are both sharper and notably more agressive than what I can get out of s90/s110v.

If the results I’m noting don’t match up with your experience I’d love to hear what others have found. I would only suggest that before we debate results, you try the same sharpening protocol that I’m discussing, ie microbeveling, so we know that we are comparing apples to apples.

I wanted to follow up on this after giving it some thought. No lie I've had this post open in my browser since you made it and have been pondering it almost daily. I love this approach and it's got me thinking about changing mine up, so thanks for that.
A couple questions though. Have you tried the UF rods for a few strokes on the micro bevel? I did that recently on 20cv and wow. Also, have you tried adding in any stropping? I imagine not since you're going or a coarser edge (which probably answers question #1).
Science of Sharp did a series of articles on S110v that seems relevant (https://scienceofsharp.com/2022/11/17/c ... -part-2-3/).
It seems to me the challenge is how do deburr of of coarse diamonds without weakening the microbevel too much or over polishing and taking the bite out.

Thanks again for the post.

[Josh Crutchley]

I have my favorites (cruwear, lc200n, hap40, etc) that I feel are steels that just WANT to get sharp, but honestly, they’ll mostly all get to the same level. For me, the outliers are not the ones with the BEST sharpening response but rather the ones with the WORST. Two that come to mind are s90v and s110v.

I have decent results with 110V and S90V but I use bonded diamond stones. Have you tried anything other than the Sharpmaker?