Spyderco Forums

I care a certain amount. I don't like AUS-4 (CRKT) compared to VG-10. I also like D2, H1, and CTS-XHP. Like Evil D said, knives have to be "above" a certain point, steel-wise.

It comes down to real use and what the knives are going to be used for in the end, and that will vary depending on the user and their specific needs and budgets.

Going from the simple carbon steels like 1095, the mystery stainless and 440C we all used back in the 70's and 80's to what is available today it's like a breath of fresh air....

It also depends who makes the steel and grinds it. Comparing Product A in Brand A to Product A in Brand B is rarely accurate.

That's like saying you love V8 American engines because of the great sounds and screaming performance they provide. Then you go out and buy a late 70's emission strangled V8 station wagon that weighs 4000 pounds.

As long as it does not get unusably dull in a couple day's work I am OK with it. 30 seconds on the paper wheel and most of my spydies are back to shaving sharp!

nozh2002 wrote:Can you tell how are you re-sharpening? I never really experience any difference in sharpness and in time of sharpening with quite a variety of steels I have in my collection.
On my experience cheap steel sometimes take much more time to get rid of ugly burr, then premium steels. But in general it take same time to sharpen CTS204P and AUS6
to be able to whittle hair.

I use the Sharpmaker. Best not to let CTS-20CP get too dull as it can take a bit more time to restore the edge. I try not to let any of my blades get too dull anyway, and the Sharpmaker is great for quick and easy touchups.

I don't have the ambition at present to get my knives to a razor's edge. I go for a good working edge and that's getting it done for me. As compulsive as I tend to be about my hobbies, I can see getting more into sharpening at some point. I like the look of a nicely polished edge.

Wasn't until the central heating broke and -1 was the house temp and found rust spots now spyderco 8crmov IMO is good s30v better.
Elmax is great not a mark on it the best of all my steels that is related to this problem is RWL-34 .
That's the only issue that's been a point for me recently as you're going to have to do serious testing to find advantages between higher end steels before they become apparent excluding sharpening IMO .

mikerestivo wrote:I use the Sharpmaker. Best not to let CTS-20CP get too dull as it can take a bit more time to restore the edge. I try not to let any of my blades get too dull anyway, and the Sharpmaker is great for quick and easy touchups.

I don't have the ambition at present to get my knives to a razor's edge. I go for a good working edge and that's getting it done for me. As compulsive as I tend to be about my hobbies, I can see getting more into sharpening at some point. I like the look of a nicely polished edge.

OK. I use DMT + Chromiun Oxide (Green polish) and for 5-10 minutes able to make blade whittle hair no matter what steel it is:

[video=youtube;aQPwHu4lxsQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQPwHu4l ... &index=127[/video]

Quality of premium steel is better exposed when it sharp as that.

nozh2002 wrote:OK. I use DMT + Chromiun Oxide (Green polish) and for 5-10 minutes able to make blade whittle hair no matter what steel it is:

Not trying to troll, but you might be oversimplifying it.

What if I were to give you a dull serrated edge and/or something with serious chips in it?

I am concerned with blade steel. If I can get double (or 50% more) edge retention for 20% more cost, I will take it.

The steel is the heart if the knife. If I see a knife that catches my eye and feels good in the hand, the next check will be the steel. Generally most steels will satisfy my needs but if a premium steel is used at a good price point that would be a positive factor. If the steel were to be Super Blue for example and I preferred a stainless steel, that would be a negative. Sometimes the steel is the deciding factor such as H1 if using around saltwater. I might never use a premium steel to its full benefit but there a personal gratification that I could use it harder if I needed to.

Although I have certain steel favorites, I generally look at the type of blade grind first and the type of steel second. True, certain grinds lend themselves better to certain steels. However, I'd take a FFG in about any steel any day of the week.

I don't consider myself a Steel snob in the least but I do have an affinity for VG10, M4 and Super Blue.

Though I do appreciate edge retention and agree with Donut's comment above, I would like to try BD-1 and did enjoy sharpening 8Cr13Mov while I had my Persistence.

VG10 has always been just fine for most of my needs. Never really been a fan of S30V. The newer super steels coming out are neat, but I'd hate to have to sharpen them if they got really dull. I like steels I can sharpen on either my Norton or Spyderco medium grit stone. The one time I got a knife in ZDP-189 dull it was a bear to get a good edge back.

That said, I am looking forward to the new knives coming out in Super Blue.

Donut wrote:Not trying to troll, but you might be oversimplifying it.

What if I were to give you a dull serrated edge and/or something with serious chips in it?

Then it will be called - serration and/or serious chips removal not resharpening
(I am not oversimplifying anything - just use right terms).

Serration removal may take over hour, chips usually less then hour - DMT XXC quite adecvate solution
for those cases.

And this can not be done on Sharpmaker even with diamond rods - removing chips toke me few days, which
is simply indicate that this is not right tool for this job.

Again - there is no easy or hard to sharpen steels, there is only right or wrong sharpening tool for the job.

Halfneck wrote: That said, I am looking forward to the new knives coming out in Super Blue.

Which is super easy to get a really fine edge on. One of my favorite steels right now.

Ken

Evil D wrote:You are correct...brain fart. It is 420HC.

As for opinions, I don't really have one except that it's definitely a tough steel that seems to take abuse quite well (at least when ground the way this blade is ground). It sharpens up quite easily and takes a very keen edge, but of course doesn't hold it very long as compared to some of the Spydie steels we've been spoiled with.

You had me curious about this new 440HC, David 420HC, yeah, about what I'd expect

Ken

nozh2002 wrote:Then it will be called - serration and/or serious chips removal not resharpening
(I am not oversimplifying anything - just use right terms).

Serration removal may take over hour, chips usually less then hour - DMT XXC quite adecvate solution
for those cases.

And this can not be done on Sharpmaker even with diamond rods - removing chips toke me few days, which
is simply indicate that this is not right tool for this job.

Again - there is no easy or hard to sharpen steels, there is only right or wrong sharpening tool for the job.

Maybe you're right.

I have almost every grit of DMT stone, but I'm not completely convinced it is the right tool. You remember those threads on "have you ever used up a knife?" where people will show a S90V blade worn down an entire quarter of an inch? Those are the people using DMT as their main sharpening tool. I don't have much information to back it up, but it seems like the people who use DMT are shortening the life of their knives. In my opinion, that would make it the wrong tool for the job.

1623 wrote:I don't consider myself a Steel snob in the least but I do have an affinity for VG10, M4 and Super Blue.

Though I do appreciate edge retention and agree with Donut's comment above, I would like to try BD-1 and did enjoy sharpening 8Cr13Mov while I had my Persistence.

The funny thing about that is, I was thinking this morning how much I love H1 and BD-1. My new UKPK is probably going to get a LOT of use. It's like a bargain Caly 3.

Donut wrote:Maybe you're right.

I have almost every grit of DMT stone, but I'm not completely convinced it is the right tool. You remember those threads on "have you ever used up a knife?" where people will show a S90V blade worn down an entire quarter of an inch? Those are the people using DMT as their main sharpening tool. I don't have much information to back it up, but it seems like the people who use DMT are shortening the life of their knives. In my opinion, that would make it the wrong tool for the job.

I only use the diamond triangles if I'm trying to correct the angle of the bevel, like on a knife that came from the factory with a poor edge.

Donut wrote:Maybe you're right.

I have almost every grit of DMT stone, but I'm not completely convinced it is the right tool. You remember those threads on "have you ever used up a knife?" where people will show a S90V blade worn down an entire quarter of an inch? Those are the people using DMT as their main sharpening tool. I don't have much information to back it up, but it seems like the people who use DMT are shortening the life of their knives. In my opinion, that would make it the wrong tool for the job.

I too have every grit of DMT and agree that in the wrong hands, these stones can eat away at the steel faster than most people realize. I have a thread I am preparing about reprofiling my ZDP knives. The short story is that I reprofiled ZDP from 19 dps to 15dps in 10 minutes (with light pressure) using the silver stone (120 mesh).