CPM 15V Sprint sharpening and performance thread

[troutinCO]

Alright got mine "done" for now. 14dps with a microbevel at 15. It is sharp, could be better I think. I did not do a very good job with the grind line, edge is fine. It shaves really wel, it is eating cardboard and still shaving. I think I will take it to 13dps eventually. I need a bit more time with 15V to get the edge I want for sure, for now I'm going to use this edge I put on.
I have not sharpened my Maxamet yet so I can't compare to that. But I agree with the K390 feel, I will throw my Z-max mule in there too on the feel. I do like these kinds of steels.

This pile will get much bigger, I have lots of cardboard to cut up.

[vandelay]

Do you guys think that 15V has made maxamet obsolete for knives? The performance predicted by Larrin's testing made it look pretty close to maxamet and the price of this sprint was substantially lower than anything in the maxamet lineup. Unless maxamet's real-world performance is substantially better, 15V seems like the better option.

[Wandering_About]

Too early to say things like it will make other steels obsolete. If 15V performs very closely to Maxamet in the real world, from a production standpoint I could see Spyderco switching to it, if it's much more economical to make knives out of it. But Maxamet is still a very interesting and good steel, well worth trying even with a little 15V out in the wild.

[vandelay]

I already have a maxamet knife to play with and the 15V knife is in the mail. I don't have the harshest use cases, so I doubt I'll see too much difference.

It would be sad to see the maxamet lineup disappear, but I would also like it if they brought out a standard 15V lineup similar to their maxamet lineup. It'd probably be a lot harder to sell maxamet knives if that happened though. It'd probably be harder selling S30V knives too if they can keep this price point.

[vivi]

S30V should have an advantage in toughness, and definitely corrosion resistance and ease of sharpening. 15V has god like edge holding and edge stability but doesn't offer the balance of traits S30V does.

I've got some awesome K390 knives I rarely carry because day to day S30V works better for my needs.

Now if they run the Manix XL in this steel I'll definitely give it a shot, but there's room for both in the line-up.

[vandelay]

S30V should have an advantage in toughness, and definitely corrosion resistance and ease of sharpening. 15V has god like edge holding and edge stability but doesn't offer the balance of traits S30V does.

I've got some awesome K390 knives I rarely carry because day to day S30V works better for my needs.

Oh right I always forget about ease of sharpening because I use DMT plates. That is actually a major disadvantage.
I suppose patina is probably viewed as a negative for most people too. I view it as a positive since I'm inevitably going to scratch the finish. I'm not a big fan of the pocket washed stainless finish. The 5% chromium steels are the sweet spot where they'll patina but they won't rust too easily.

Now if they run the Manix XL in this steel I'll definitely give it a shot, but there's room for both in the line-up.

I'd be interested in a lil' native or a chaparral. I poke things with the knife tip a lot and it's easier to do that with a small knife.

[Manifestgtr]

Just got mine in…fit and finish are really spot on. Drops and opens as nicely as my REC and crucarta Manixes.

The factory edge is precisely “working”…nothing more, nothing less. It will cut printer paper with some tooth. I don’t consider that “bad” by any means…15v has gotta be a bear to work with on a larger, manufacturing level.

I’m gonna put my own edge on it later tonight or tomorrow…see how it compares to k390 and s110v on the stones. At the moment I’m expecting it to fall somewhere in between…k390 is really nice to sharpen…s110v isn’t bad, just a bit stubborn. I’ve always found s30v and zdp to be tougher to work with for whatever reason.

[vandelay]

I’m gonna put my own edge on it later tonight or tomorrow…see how it compares to k390 and s110v on the stones. At the moment I’m expecting it to fall somewhere in between…k390 is really nice to sharpen…s110v isn’t bad, just a bit stubborn. I’ve always found s30v and zdp to be tougher to work with for whatever reason.

What stones do you sharpen with?

[vivi]

patinas are cool, but for me they work a lot better on fixed blades.

folders have spots I can't scrub free of rust without taking them apart. which becomes a pain real fast when I have to do it every other month.



My satin M4 chief has a few gobs of rust in the pivot area.



K390 Police 4 liners rusted more easily than the blade.

I like the patinas I get on my bushcrafters and carbon gyutos but I find trying to keep up with rusted internals on a folder more trouble than it's worth.

That's why I mostly buy DLC knives these days. Don't have these problems with my DLC 4V & M4 Manix, DLC M4 Chief etc.

So one of the things I'm watching for is seeing how susceptible this steel is to rust. K390 was surprisingly good to me, maybe 15V will be pretty good too.

[Manifestgtr]

What stones do you sharpen with?

Cheap, cheap, cheap…I use a $50 diamond sharpal combination stone, 300/1200. I’ll probably just hit it with that then strop at 2 microns.

It’s not luxury by any means but it treats all my high vanadium steels right.

[vandelay]

patinas are cool, but for me they work a lot better on fixed blades.

folders have spots I can't scrub free of rust without taking them apart. which becomes a pain real fast when I have to do it every other month.

Yeah that's fair. I've been a bit concerned about that with my maxamet and k390 knives. I haven't seen any problems so far thankfully. The k390 dragonfly is thankfully very easy to take apart if I need to. Trying to take apart a knife with a peened lanyard tube is probably not going to be a good time though.

K390 Police 4 liners rusted more easily than the blade.

That's bizarre. I would have thought they'd use a relatively cheap stainless steel for the liners.

[Guts]

patinas are cool, but for me they work a lot better on fixed blades.

folders have spots I can't scrub free of rust without taking them apart. which becomes a pain real fast when I have to do it every other month.


I like the patinas I get on my bushcrafters and carbon gyutos but I find trying to keep up with rusted internals on a folder more trouble than it's worth.

That's why I mostly buy DLC knives these days. Don't have these problems with my DLC 4V & M4 Manix, DLC M4 Chief etc.

So one of the things I'm watching for is seeing how susceptible this steel is to rust. K390 was surprisingly good to me, maybe 15V will be pretty good too.

That's the issue I had with the Maxamet models. Own a few of them and in particular, my Native 5 LW Maxamet for whatever reason rusts if I look at it funny. Granted, I live near the coast so probably more salt in the air, but still. I don't really carry any of my Maxamet stuff in my pocket since they just rust and I can't be bothered to wipe them down every time. Nice that I can at least take apart the Native 5 though, unlike the Manix Maxamet LW riveted construction. I plan on converting that to screw construction in the coming week or so. K390 on the other hand has been pretty good to me and no rust issues.

Been carrying my 15V Manix exclusively since I got it and no rust issues yet either so it seems more like K390 for me in that regard thankfully.

[vivi]

good to hear. I've been following shawn's posts and that's what I expected. He specifically said it was closer to steels like K390 than say, O1. Maybe not quite as resistant as cruwear, but another class compared to 1095.

[TkoK83Spy]

The bevels are pretty even on mine. Set it up out of curiosity on the PA, and it's about 16-16.5 per side. When it's ready to get reprofiled, 15dps on some diamond stones shouldn't be a problem!

[Bolster]

Do you folks who are measuring factory angles have goniometers? Or using a different method to measure angles?

[Guts]

Do you folks who are measuring factory angles have goniometers? Or using a different method to measure angles?

I just use the old sharpie trick and see where it starts hitting the edge in my fixed angle system.

[Sharp24/7]

patinas are cool, but for me they work a lot better on fixed blades.

folders have spots I can't scrub free of rust without taking them apart. which becomes a pain real fast when I have to do it every other month.





My satin M4 chief has a few gobs of rust in the pivot area.



K390 Police 4 liners rusted more easily than the blade.

I like the patinas I get on my bushcrafters and carbon gyutos but I find trying to keep up with rusted internals on a folder more trouble than it's worth.

That's why I mostly buy DLC knives these days. Don't have these problems with my DLC 4V & M4 Manix, DLC M4 Chief etc.

So one of the things I'm watching for is seeing how susceptible this steel is to rust. K390 was surprisingly good to me, maybe 15V will be pretty good too.

This is what I’m afraid of. Got a feeling the M2 is a gonna be a PITA to take apart.

[Manifestgtr]

Wow, what a steel…

Spent some time getting the edge sorted out tonight. 300 to put “my edge” on it and 1200 as a finishing stone.

Started stropping at 2000 grit and it immediately exhibited extreme aggression. Under normal circumstances, I might’ve stopped there but hey, it’s a new steel…might as well have some fun.

Continued down and by 2 microns, it was reliably whittling hair. 15v definitely has that tool steel character of predictably following as you go along. You say “let’s go a little further” and it says “ok!” K390 and Cruwear also have this characteristic.

By 1 micron, it was doing this:

…and really, where do you go from there? What’s the point in refining beyond “blasts a free hanging hair on contact”? So, I’ll live with this edge for a bit and see how it goes. Next edge will probably be coarser. At the end of the day, hair obliteration is fun but it’s less than practical.

[TkoK83Spy]

patinas are cool, but for me they work a lot better on fixed blades.

folders have spots I can't scrub free of rust without taking them apart. which becomes a pain real fast when I have to do it every other month.





My satin M4 chief has a few gobs of rust in the pivot area.



K390 Police 4 liners rusted more easily than the blade.

I like the patinas I get on my bushcrafters and carbon gyutos but I find trying to keep up with rusted internals on a folder more trouble than it's worth.

That's why I mostly buy DLC knives these days. Don't have these problems with my DLC 4V & M4 Manix, DLC M4 Chief etc.

So one of the things I'm watching for is seeing how susceptible this steel is to rust. K390 was surprisingly good to me, maybe 15V will be pretty good too.

This is what I’m afraid of. Got a feeling the M2 is a gonna be a PITA to take apart.

Manix is actually very easy to take apart. Easier than something with nested liners. Lanyard tube is fairly easy as well.

[Wandering_About]

Been using my 15V Manix for a little kitchen utility work. So far no patina, but I do clean it up when I'm done cutting. K390 seems to patina more easily so far, but we'll see if this continues to be the case. Both K390 and 15V seem to resist patina more than, say, M4.