Best Knife steel

[me2]

O1 or San Mai. When it comes time to sharpen and plane down that big wide Scandi bevel, it's going to take some time. I wouldn't pick a high wear steel like D2 or Elmax knowing that chore was headed my way. I also wouldn't pick those for a typical 10 to 12 degree per side Scandi edges bevel angle. This all assumes you will maintain the full bevel and not be adding a secondary or microbevel.

 

[shqxk]

For scandi type of knife you better go with fine grain steel with high toughness to withstand the acute edge angle.

Which in this case high wear steel like D2 or Elmax wouldn't be a very great choice. I have seen S30V suffer micro chipping issue with scandi zero edge before while steel like 52100 or W2 has zero problem... No doubt Elmax or D2 will suffer the same trouble.

I would go with O1 or San-mai steel with carbon core.

 

[WiredDutchman]

I am buying a scandi buschraft knife. What steel will be the best for sharpness and edge retention but also not impossible to sharpen. The steels are Elmax, O1, D2, N690 and San Mai. I am leaning towards o1 or Elmax.

Elmax would serve you well. I am also a fan of A2, but it depends on how good the heat treat is. If you want something easy to sharpen VG10 is a nice option that takes a very good edge. You just have to be prepared to sharpen it often.

 

[GREENJACKET]

While you are deciding on what fantastical steel why not just get a Terava 110 or 140 in 80CrV2. Highly practical for bushcraft, and not much to say bad about them. Buy a DMT Diafold to sharpen when required, which isn't often.

Its a skandi, its a bushcraft style, its a great European steel, and its not expensive. The grip is great. Then buy a very expensive folder with some go faster steel as a good folder gets a lot more use.

 

[strategy9]

I'd go with ELMAX myself; plenty tough enough for a stainless, solid edge holding, and maintenance is relatively easy compared to other high end stainlesses.

For those recommending vg10, keep in mind that n690 is almost identical in composition, save for higher chromium content. Another good option.

O1 isn't a bad choice either though, probably a bit tougher then ELMAX, and holds a really good edge for a nonstainless.
Touchups would be a bit easier also. Keep it clean and keep it dry,.

Others have pointed out, and I'll reiterate, heat treat is most important in steels though. All the best ingredients in the world and an awesome recipe won't mean a thing if you burn the cake.
That being said, ENZO being from Finland, I would imagine has solid connections with bohler-uddelhom in sweden, and o1 is an old school "simple" steel, with a more forgiving HT then high end stainless alloys, so elmax, o1, (or n690) from them are probably all safe bets.

 

[chumaman]

I
This video for example is of a guy testing 14C28N against VG-10 with interesting results.You'll see just how much hype is destroyed as VG-10 being a 'premium steel'.

Actual premium steels like ATS-34/154CM,BG-42, and S30V do have their place to heavy use on coarse materials.But if the knife companies tossed out traditional steels and went premium completely?I'd start hunting down models I liked in the 'outdated' steel.

You mix definitions...premium steels...PM- powder steels...VG10 Is not one of them,just S30V ....and of course the most important quality HT

 

[ATJ999]

Is that the only options? 13C26 is a great steel. A good tough stainless