Blade steel, easily sharpened

Great thread gentlemen, this is good info for new members and could prevent a lot of frustration.
I like my high alloy steels, but in the kitchen and even for edc use i am leaning towards simpler steels that quickly take a keen edge.
I think for folders a good eimax or m390 are my fave, but the kershaw 13c28 will take a zippy edge and get me through the day on a beater knife. A lot of good steels mentioned here already, I love a productive thread!

Russ
 
I like M390/20CV as it takes an aggressive edge but is relatively easy to sharpen. I see nothing wrong with VG-10, AEB-L or CPM154 either.
 
Hello. New to the site... interesting place. I'm not super experienced but find VG10 an 154CM easy to work with.
 
Steels that fall into that category for me include:
VG-10
H1
154CM
420HC
440C (Benchmade)
S35VN
X 50 (Victorinox blade steel)
AUS-8
AUS-6

I also haven't had much difficulty with S30V, either.

The kitchen knives I use are all Victorinox, and they serve my purposes perfectly fine. When they start to need a touch up, it usually takes only a few seconds on my Sharpmaker.

Jim
 
trevitrace said:
5160 sharpens 10% more nicely but performs ±18% less poorly on pulp wood, generally speaking?

Eta: Unless brown rot is factored in.
Click to expand...

You forgot to account for the transverse grain alignment issue, which as you know depends on which hemisphere you're performing the 100-200 cuts in (that alone could add or subtract 6% performance) though maple does strongly imply the northern, the maple's distribution does include Indonesia, extending into the southern hemisphere.
 
Thank you all for the input.
M4 - Sort of forgot about it. I had a Gayle Bradley 1, it got screaming sharp:) and I loved that, but the knife was just too big for a small skinny me to handle. I will definitely look for more of the M4.
M390, XHP could be a winner.
I find S30V, S35VN, S110V, ZDP, to be a little too complicated(for me).

I will also look into some of the other suggestions, thank you.
 
i'll chime in with 154cm, and 20cv but 154cm is way up at the top for me, especially benchmades version.
spydercos s30v i find to be pretty good also.
 
Knives that I've owned in VG-10 and most recently LC200N have been the sharpest knives I've been able to get on a Lansky Sharpening system and/or a Spyderco Sharpmaker.
 
Like others have said, M4 & 154CM. FWIW, I also like the CTS-XHP on the Chaparral a whole lot.
 
154CM, 8cr13mov, S30V, 420hc, H1, VG10, etc. These are just a few steels I have personally sharpened with my Sharpmaker and ended up with a nice edge. With the right sharpening equipment and skill, any quality steel can be sharpened with great results.
 
I just put a 17 degree edge on SGPS with very little trouble. The diamond stones were what made it so easily manageable. It really is a matter of the right tools for the job. Without a sufficiently coarse, hard abrasive, modern ‘super steels’ are of course an absolute POA, for which read ‘literally impossible to sharpen’.

But with the right abrasive, any steel can be dealt with in the usual way. It’s always a pleasure to feel a burr on the edge of the über steel zeitgeist. :cool:

I have painful memories of hours spent on my first D2 knife, years ago, using inadequate stones. Just wore away the stone. :oops:
 
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