Best steel for edge retention

[jill jackson]

A Spyderco South Fork in S90V sharpens up easy on just ceramic rods. Like any other good steel just don't wait until it's really dull and you won't have a problem. I was very surprised at just how quickly it returns to very sharp, after hearing so much about how hard it should/could be to sharpen.

 

[Agurami]

Bodog, thanks a lot for that steel-by-type-of-use breakdown.

 

[sawgrass]

I like my William Henry knives with DLC coated ZDP 189 HR rated at 67.

 

[Cursum Perficio]

I am right now working on a batch of 4" and 3" version of the K2, release date will be later this year.
F

That is very welcome news, thank you for confirming that for us.

 

[yepimonfire]

What kind of sharpness? Like a razor sharpness or a low quality saw tooth type sharpness? A sharpness that tackles wood and plastic or a sharpness that handles rope and cardboard? Different steels work differently in different environments and with different cutting mediums and with different sharpening grits and even sharpening stones.

I'll stick with what's generally available and often talked about so you can find reviews on your own.

Soft but highly abrasive materials like carpet, rope, and cardboard?
S110V, K390, 10V, K294, Vanadis 4E, 4V, ZDP189 S90V, M390, 20CV, 204P, etc.

Hard but not super abrasive materials like wood, rubber, plastic, etc.
M4, 4V, PD1, Cruwear, 3V, etc

Chopping type duties
3V and a host of carbon steels, etc.

Razor edge on soft materials
AEB-L, 13C27, Hitachi white and blue steels, 52100, etc.

Obviously it's not all inclusive but you can look at the different classes and decide what you want and then choose which class of steel you want and then decide from there. Many quality steels out there for a variety of uses.

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

 

[ToxicBot11]

Maxamet?

 

[d00mtr33]

Bodog above has a very good list. Couldn't have said it better myself really. If you want pure wear resistance its steels like 15v, 10v, vanadis 10, maxamet, vancron 40 (very interesting steel imo), rex 121, s125v, s110v and to a lil lesser extent vanax 75, s90v, m390, 204p 20cv.
Another steel that is very lil know is mpl 1. If I remember it has 3.75%C, around 20%Cr and almost 15% V plus tungsten and other additives. Its almost 50% carbide so in theory should have very good wear resistance but its rare, expensive and only comes in round stock so it needs milling to be made into knife stock.
Personally im a fan of s110v and m390 for the high wear resistance steels (I do live my vanax 75 tilt too, takes an extremely keen edge and im getting a custom in 10v soon and it looks very interesting), s110v because it stays sharp forever (direware did it right and ground nice and thin) and m390 is my favorite edc steel. It takes a very keen edge, keeps it well and its relatively easy to touch up compared to s90v, s110v and s125v from my experience. Plus its becoming readily available and you can get a great knive for under $200 that will do you right. The s110v manix is a steal at its price too.