Easiest Sharpening Spyderco Steel

[Bill1170]

Sharpening softer steels which form a pernicious burr is harder for me to do than sharpening harder steels that apex cleanly.

[M_J87]

If you're looking for a para 3 I'd stick with BD1N or SPY27. I'm a VG-10 guy, my personal favorite steel. In most of my daily use I've never not been around my sharp maker long enough to need a steel with higher edge retention, but everyone's mileage varies in that regard. I think you'll really enjoy a "softer" steel in combination with the SM, I know I do.

[vivi]

Sharpening softer steels which form a pernicious burr is harder for me to do than sharpening harder steels that apex cleanly.

soft steels that burr easily are great for teaching one to use a light touch.

[Catchadroppimgknife]

I find that with my skills - S30V and VG10 sharpen up pretty easily. Now as noted this is a keep it sharp sharpening - not a dull knife to sharp activity. I just hit the sharp maker (medium) every couple of days/uses

Cruwear and PD#1 stay nicely sharp too - but again I’m not letting them get dull

[Spicy Suplex]

52100, BD1N, M4

Glad someone said M4. I feel like I have such good luck with M4, and I really hope there aren't still people out there who perceive it as hard to sharpen just because it's a big bad tool steel.

There are just some steels that make me feel like I'm sharpening above my station, like there's little steel gnomes helping me as I go:



M4, SPY27, LC200N, BD1N, S45VN, Cru-Wear and its analogs, and even MagnaCut (at least Spyderco's) is very un-fussy. Would love to try some 121 or 15V but I haven't bitten yet.

[Chieftjs]

So I ended up on two ends of the spectrum. Deadbox Hero made me feel challenged so I ordered a Maxamet and one steel that kept popping up was BD1n so I ordered that too. Both in Para3 so now I’ll have 5 ( I think I have a problem) the BD1n will be the first black blade though so that’s kinda different. Pretty excited!

[James Y]

Of the Spyderco steels I have and have experience resharpening, I would say:

VG-10
H1
LC200N
S30V

Jim

[Snacktime]

I really miss my vToKu stretch I lost years ago, was super easy to keep razor sharp. Lately I have been playing with Aus8, RPM9 and 9CR13 steels which are fun to sharpen and need it often. I have gravitated to some classic must haves like the RAT 1 to add some variety to my mostly spyderco collection. Something like the Gooney Bryd would be an excellent learning tool, you will wear the tip out and have to learn to sharpen a recurve.

I would go SPY27, Magnacut or M4 in the para 3. I would pick the one that looks the most appealing and less at the steel.

[Evil D]

There are so many variables.

Do you have diamond/CBN/silicon carbide stones? Then nothing is hard, some are just a bit more time consuming.

Do you only have an Arkansas stone? Then most will suck.

Then there's how easily some deburr than others. Some of the lower-mid tier steels will burr like crazy if you use too much pressure. Then other higher hardness and higher carbide steels will deburr very cleanly.

I think when most people ask this question, what they're really asking is what's the easiest steel to grind, in terms of how easy is it to reprofile and put a new edge on, like comparing VG10 to ceramic.

When I was much less experienced, I had a lot of problems with 154CM because it burred so badly. I also had issues with using too much pressure on ZDP and the apex fracturing out as I sharpened so it seemed like it never reached an apex. Once I figured out little nuances like these and got better stones, all the steels started to look more like they were all easy but just varied in how much time they take to cut due to hardness and wear resistance.

[Chieftjs]

I bought a Sharpmaker with the two standard sets of rods. For now that’s what I’m staying with I have access to the full diamond Wicked Edge system but not planning to make use of that unless I really need a lot of work. Would like some stones in the future.

[Brock O Lee]

Diamond/CBN abrasives have levelled the playing field so much that most knife steels are now easy to cut in my opinion.

I remember how reprofiling S90V was a major headache when I first used SiC and Alu oxide waterstones. With diamonds, it is almost as quick and painless to grind highly wear resistant steels like S90V as low wear resistant steels like LC200N.

I agree that burr removal is sometimes the trickier part, especially with the softer steels. These days I often spend more time to refine the edge and remove the burr than to grind the initial low bevel. Before diamond abrasives it was the other way around.

That said, I still find the Sharpmaker diamond and CBN stones slow to use, and prefer other methods to remove steel fast when I reprofile.

[Fireman]

Part of the equation should be how many times you can strop the knife to a good edge before needing to sharpen again. Also the edge angel plays a big part.

The edge is a ghost, not an angel!

Are you not familiar with Edge Angels? They protect the edge from corrosive influences 🪽

[Fireman]

Diamond/CBN abrasives have levelled the playing field so much that most knife steels are now easy to cut in my opinion.

I remember how reprofiling S90V was a major headache when I first used SiC and Alu oxide waterstones. With diamonds, it is almost as quick and painless to grind highly wear resistant steels like S90V as low wear resistant steels like LC200N.

I agree that burr removal is sometimes the trickier part, especially with the softer steels. These days I often spend more time to refine the edge and remove the burr than to grind the initial low bevel. Before diamond abrasives it was the other way around.

That said, I still find the Sharpmaker diamond and CBN stones slow to use, and prefer other methods to remove steel fast when I reprofile.

Edge retention of LC200N is not “Low”, just average. Don’t call a 5’-10” man short

[Brock O Lee]

Edge retention of LC200N is not “Low”, just average. Don’t call a 5’-10” man short

Calling a spade a spade, since the 1970's...

Source: https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/10/19/ ... esistance/

[TCW]

The Shapemaker makes quick work of CPM-S30V, great steel.

[vivi]

Edge retention of LC200N is not “Low”, just average. Don’t call a 5’-10” man short

Calling a spade a spade, since the 1970's...


IMG_0948.jpeg

Source: https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/10/19/ ... esistance/

Larrin ain't gospel. I've definitely gotten better edge retention out of LC200N than AUS8, 8Cr and BD1N. It has at least twice the edge retention of the 1.4116 knives I've used too.

I think there is value in using steels yourself rather than trusting what are often just theoretical projections.

[Chieftjs]

Well I got my two new Para3's today so now I have 5 todays haul is the Maxamet an BD1N for a difficult and an easy steel, I also have the Magnacut, S110V & S45VN In Para3's. VG10 in my Endlelas and Delica. I'm gonna rest for a bit before adding anything.

[Blerv]

Unless severely blunted h1/h2 is very easy. I like serrations as they tend to spruce up quicker to a functional level. It would probably by my steel and edge pick for a beater tool.

VG10 isn’t bad nor is m4. Superblue is very easy. I expect Cruwear is a dream to sharpen but only have a serrated Massad Ayoob and I doubt I’ll need to touch it up anytime soon.

[Brock O Lee]

Larrin ain't gospel. I've definitely gotten better edge retention out of LC200N than AUS8, 8Cr and BD1N. It has at least twice the edge retention of the 1.4116 knives I've used too.

I think there is value in using steels yourself rather than trusting what are often just theoretical projections.

Lol. If you say so it must be so.

I've used LC200N plenty over the years.

[xceptnl]

Unless severely blunted h1/h2 is very easy. I like serrations as they tend to spruce up quicker to a functional level. It would probably by my steel and edge pick for a beater tool.

VG10 isn’t bad nor is m4. Superblue is very easy. I expect Cruwear is a dream to sharpen but only have a serrated Massad Ayoob and I doubt I’ll need to touch it up anytime soon.

Hello old friend