When I worked in 1095, I tempered at 450°, and still had a few complaints on them being a bit hard to sharpen. I have found that quite a few customers want a blade they can re-sharpen in a few minutes, rather than have to make a project of the task. Hard is not always the best, and edge holding is not always dependant on it, in my experience. This is an area where opinions vary greatly among makers, and customers.
You know what, my response here has actually nothing to do with the thread topic. But I had to say this in response to your comment. I think it's funny how customers, and even a great number of makers, want a knife that cuts all day, and then when it goes DULL, they want to sharpen it in 11 strokes! And then go back and cut all day the next day.
Ain't gonna happen.
Rockwell testing and "hardness" is only one aspect of knife making. And I'll leave that for another war.
But, when I have a customer that I see is an actual user of knives and has some sense, I train them to only use the knife until the point that they no longer FEAR it! Then, don't go any farther. Just make a couple of controlled strokes across a fine stone, whatever their choice may be, and go back to work. But once you get that knife dull, no matter if it's hard or poorly done, you now hvae a great task of re-shaping the cutting edge.
What I tell all of my customers, and some don't like to hear it is this:
"Want to know how do you keep a knife sharp?
Don't let it get dull."
At that point which you are no longer afraid of your knife, it's dull. Re-sharpen it.
