Anyone ever 'regressed' where steels are concerned?

Regressing now.

In the past I wanted to try out the lastest steel just to see how it handles, sharpens, etc. Now I find myself wanting more 154CM and I've gradually gotten away from D2 (once a favorite).

AUS8 was something I once sniffed at; now, I actually like it on certain blades.

Even Buck's proprietary blade steel is something I look forward to using.

All of my 'regressions' are just tried and true steels.
 
Rprecision said:
Ok Really.............a knife journal ? I can hear those reviting entries, "Dear Diary, things didnt go well today, chipped another one..."
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Yup. It's a pink HELLO KITTY diary. You got a problem with that? :D

Actually, I know calling what I have a 'journal' does sound a little silly. The reality is it's all my notes & paperwork, from a spreadsheet on my computers to all the receipts & paperwork I have from each of the knives. I started because I had so many knives that were family heirlooms & gifts, and I'd save the emails & letters referencing them, so my son would have a bit of history on the 'special' ones one day. (ie: I have notes scribbled on a receipt about mt Camillus BK7, which I found out was Carbon V steel.)

Rprecision said:
Anyways, I find the diference between the steels at the top to be pretty minimal.

I tend to like O1 and A2 for work blades, edc with stainless.

Like has been mentioned I would bet grind (convex for me) and heat treat is overlooked more then the base steel
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That's part of my reason to start trading & selling off some of mine newer ones - the performance on some of the 'steels at the top' was similar enough that it didn't justify keeping all of them, when there were so many other knives I wanted to try.

~Chris
 
Use to be all about new steels. My most used knives lately are a Victorinox Compact or a fixed blade of some sort in 1095. Current EDC away from work is an Emerson Traveler in 154CM. I've also started to appreciate the Sandvik steels due in part to my Kershaw Skyline. I have 2 Spydercos in ZDP-189, but I'm just not too fond of it as a steel. Anything that is a royal pain to sharpen if dull does not interest me. I have a few in S30V, but if there had been other options for steel in them they'd most likely be something else. S35V sounds good, but I'm more interested in stuff like CPM154 or CPMD2.
 
I like S30V a lot, VG-10, and 154CM are also great, IMO. I recently bought a ZDP-189 Ladybug, and it holds an edge extremely well. That said, I honestly try not to get too caught up in chasing the latest blade steel. Like others have said, I have never worn out a knife from regular use, and good design often means more to me than blade steel.
 
The one conclusion I have come to after collecting / using a variety of different types of knives with different steels is that my average usage habits are not extreme enough to differentiate between most of the commonly used steels. Most of my collection is in S30V which seems to work just fine for me.

The only steel I stay away from is the mystery steel used in very inexpensive knives - it either won't take an edge, or if it does, it doesn't hold it long at all.

I kinda got some grail knives in a mix of steel - I have SmF in S110V, a Military in M4, A Strider DB-L in 3V, an Acies in ZDP189, and a custom slipjoint in CPM154 - this has quenched my thirst for chasing steels.
 
I've definitely "regressed" but I rather like to think of it as "developed my perspective." The best steels out there are really not that much better than the more basic ones, and a lot of the high-end steels these days seem focused on edge retention above all other factors. I've developed a fondness for simpler steels that have a reasonable amount of impact resistance and are easy to resharpen. If there's anything that I've learned about steel, it's that there certainly are different general classes of steels that are better for certain tasks versus others, but that each of those categories contain such a myriad of specific steels with similar performance characteristics that it doesn't matter tremendously WHICH one you pick so long as it's in the right ballpark. What DOES matter is heat treatment. For instance, I find that Benchmade's D2 is notoriously difficult to sharpen, whereas Ontario's is not. And why is this? Heat treatment. So just about any cutlery-grade steel is fine by me so long as the heat treatment is dialed in well. My favorites in include:

Stainless:
420HC
AUS8
440C
154CM
8Cr13MoV
Sandvik 12C27

Carbon:
1075/1080
5160
1095
1095CV

So as you can see, pretty basic stuff. These steels are great stuff, but tend not to get as much attention as others due to their simple nature. But they work, and work well.
 
orca8589 said:
... nothing really seems to interest me now as much as the carbon steel knives currently on the market.

... So, anyone else ever jumped back to an old favorite steel - as a user, not just for sentimental reasons?
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Agreed totally. Like a lot of the curmudgeons and reprobates who hang out in the folksy forum, these days all my knives are either carbon steel (Case, Opinel or U.S.-made Schrades) or "cheap" stainless from Buck or Victorinox. Some day I might splurge on GEC folder, but for now I couldn't be happier.
 
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