20cv is a beast to sharpen!!

Ernie1980

Ernie1980

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I have a new benchmark steel for difficultly in sharpening, 20cv. I just got a new knife in this steel and tried to reprofile it to 18 degrees per side. 2 hours later, I finished!! Hands down the most difficult steel I have ever sharpened. Before this, I would have gone with D2 or zdp189 as the biggest pain. I just hope it holds an edge to match the difficultly!
 
Ernie1980 said:
I have a new benchmark steel for difficultly in sharpening, 20cv. I just got a new knife in this steel and tried to reprofile it to 18 degrees per side. 2 hours later, I finished!! Hands down the most difficult steel I have ever sharpened. Before this, I would have gone with D2 or zdp189 as the biggest pain. I just hope it holds an edge to match the difficultly!
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It will. BTW, abrasion resistant steels aren't hard to sharpen if you re-bevel and sharpen to 1200 grit with diamonds stones, then switch to water stones for final polish.

When I purchased my first S90V knife, I found it almost impossible to sharpen. Atoma Edge-Pro plates, 140. 600 and 1200 cured the problem quickly.

K390 is far more abrasion resistant than 20CV or S90V. Waterstones won't touch it. But once I got it sharpened as far as it could be with the 1200 Atoma, I used CBN and diamond spray on the water stones, using the stone as a stropping substrate, and my new Mule glows like a mirror at 1/2 micron polish and cuts like a light saber.

A new steel is like a new girlfriend! :p

You need to figure out what she likes. :D
 
Ben Dover said:
It will. BTW, abrasion resistant steels aren't hard to sharpen if you re-bevel and sharpen to 1200 grit with diamonds stones, then switch to water stones for final polish.

When I purchased my first S90V knife, I found it almost impossible to sharpen. Atoma Edge-Pro plates, 140. 600 and 1200 cured the problem quickly.

K390 is far more abrasion resistant than 20CV or S90V. Waterstones won't touch it. But once I got it sharpened as far as it could be with the 1200 Atoma, I used CBN and diamond spray on the water stones, using the stone as a stropping substrate, and my new Mule glows like a mirror at 1/2 micron polish and cuts like a light saber.

A new steel is like a new girlfriend! :p

You need to figure out what she likes. :D
Click to expand...
How hard would you say K390 is to sharpen compared to say...

This?:D:
 
Ernie1980 said:
I have a new benchmark steel for difficultly in sharpening, 20cv. I just got a new knife in this steel and tried to reprofile it to 18 degrees per side. 2 hours later, I finished!! Hands down the most difficult steel I have ever sharpened. Before this, I would have gone with D2 or zdp189 as the biggest pain. I just hope it holds an edge to match the difficultly!
Click to expand...

What knife? Out of curiostiy more than anything. I hope your work pays off in the form of a killer knife that cuts forever!
 
Noctis3880 said:
How hard would you say K390 is to sharpen compared to say...

This?:D:
Click to expand...

I've never tried S125V. But from the finish on your blade, it wouldn't seem to be any more difficult than CPM Rex 121. I have two of those (from Farid) and they are a diamond and CBN only steel.
 
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I am pretty new here, and am trying to learn. Can anybody please tell me a little more about 20CV? I'm just trying to learn. Thanks in advance, I appreciate it.
 
I have found no steel that is difficult to sharpen on the edge pro. D2 and ZDP-189 sharpen nearly as quickly as 154CM.
 
[/QUOTE=Skimo;12473235]I have found no steel that is difficult to sharpen on the edge pro. D2 and ZDP-189 sharpen nearly as quickly as 154CM.[/QUOTE]

I would have agreed with you 100 percent until I ran into CPM Rex 121!:eek::eek:
 
Ben Dover said:
I've never tried S125V. But from the finish on your blade, it wouldn't seem to be any more difficult than CPM Rex 121. I have two of those (from Farid) and they are a diamond and CBN only steel.
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I would get one, but Hawaii isn't the right climate for carbon steels. Plus I mostly cut fruit:D.
 
I agree concerning the carbon steel in your environment.

And in all honesty, I would not recommend Rex 121 for practical use to anyone other than a very advanced sharpener that has experience using diamond sharpeners.

I bought the knives more out od curiosity, and the challenge of learning to sharpen that particular steel than out of practical considerations.

The K-2 folder is an excellent camp knife, and I've used it some for that purpose, but it's far too large and heavy for an EDC, as well as being difficult to sharpen.

For the time being, at least, I will continue to use my two Spyderco Militaries of S90V and CPM M-4 for EDC.

Now, if Sal were to offer the Military in K390..............:D:thumbup::D
 
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