CPM 3V by LT Wright

S

SkinnyElectrician

Joined
Oct 29, 2023
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I sharpened the new LT Wright CPM 3V GNS today. The knife came with a convex bevel, and I use a KME system, so I knew I’d have to do some work to establish a flat bevel on the sharpener.

Let me tell you, the LT Wright 3V was surprisingly hard. Even with diamond stones. It is significantly harder than the 3V cold steel knife that I also own. It took almost 2 hours to get a nice, even and smooth 20 degree flat grind on each side.

I was surprised at how much harder the LT Wright 3V is compared to the cold steel 3V. Or maybe this is just the first time I’ve experienced a true 60 Rockwell hardness heat treat.

Anyway, my initial impressions of LT’s 3V steel are good. It’s certainly harder than their AEB-L steel (which is still on the harder side and I really like). Good potential for sharpening. I’ll refine it further tomorrow.
 
The difference may also depends on what you were doing to each knife. Some of my CS knives came with sub 15 DPS bevels. Didn't take much to adjust them to my standard 15 DPS. On the other hand when you need to remove enough steel to put put a pointed edge on a blade instead of a convex, that's it's going to require removing a lot more steel. Just sayin'.
 
Yup, you are absolutely correct, I knew I’d have to do some work to flatten the bevel.

I think one more session with the 300 and 600 grit stones will really get her sharp. I know that I’ve got a a good flat and even bevel now.

It’s a friggin’ nice knife. I like it. And the handle is really good!
 
I don't know about a couple points in hardness difference making a huge difference in sharpening ease. Maybe the cold steel just has an extra crappy heat treat.
 
Ok, I got her sharp and refined. It took 6 sharpening sessions to transform the convex bevel to a flat V bevel. It’s hard Steel, see above. It takes a very sharp edge.

It takes a lot of passes to form a burr, and the 3V doesn’t show much of a burr that’s been formed. It looks slightly shiny and blurred when it forms, and it’s thin. Use good light when you sharpen it.

It likes the 300 and 600 grit stones. I hit it with some light strokes of 1500 grit, but the steel is so hard that I’m not sure it’s doing much. Those of you who hand sharpen on stones will have the advantage with hard knife steel because you can apply a bit more pressure than those of us with clamping sharpeners. I just have to make a lot of passes with my system.

The 3V has formed a nice keen edge. It sure feels like a tough steel when you sharpen it. But I got it nice and sharp, and I’m impressed with the 3V and the quality of the knife in general. So those are my thoughts on LT Wright’s CPM 3V knife steel. I recommend it!
 
Further update: additional bevel refining has produced a very even and durable edge. The 3V gets very sharp. If you want a thin and even edge that’ll get very sharp when diamond stones are used, it’s a great steel. I’m glad I chose a 20 degree bevel, because a more acute angle would take even more work with this hard steel.

if you don’t have diamond stones and time to sharpen with them, or you’ll want to sharpen with less time and effort and/or in the field, I’d advise LT Wright’s AEB-L stainless steel instead.
 
I hope you enjoy your new edge. I do the opposite. I make all of my V edges convex. For me, convex is much easier to strop and maintain and I think it cuts better.
 
Update: there’s nothing wrong with LT Wright CPM 3V steel. Their metal isn’t too hard.

My diamond stones were completely clogged with metal and gunk. It took 2 cleaning sessions to hit them with an eraser and a toothbrush to finally get that stuff out of my stones. They now sharpen properly, including the CPM 3V. Sorry everyone. Hope you get a good laugh out of my admission.
 
SkinnyElectrician said:
Update: there’s nothing wrong with LT Wright CPM 3V steel. Their metal isn’t too hard.

My diamond stones were completely clogged with metal and gunk. It took 2 cleaning sessions to hit them with an eraser and a toothbrush to finally get that stuff out of my stones. They now sharpen properly, including the CPM 3V. Sorry everyone. Hope you get a good laugh out of my admission.
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Heh, thanks for the update. I just got a new toothbrush and your post has inspired me to use the old one to refresh my diamond stones. I'm glad to know that you still like LT Wright's 3V.
 
knarfeng said:
The difference may also depends on what you were doing to each knife. Some of my CS knives came with sub 15 DPS bevels. Didn't take much to adjust them to my standard 15 DPS. On the other hand when you need to remove enough steel to put put a pointed edge on a blade instead of a convex, that's it's going to require removing a lot more steel. Just sayin'.
Click to expand...

Came here to say just this. Not a knock on the maker or the quality of their work by any means. But the wider the bevel, the more surface area you're working on, the more material you have to remove, the "harder" a knife is to sharpen.

Magnacut on a Dulotech(Manly) Scalpel and on a Pro Tech Mordax were a completely different experience sharpening. Manly like their knife grinds paper thin, even on fixed blades. Whereas the Mordax was significantly thicker. As a result the Mordax took me like 3x longer to reprofile to the same angle per side.
 
Yup, I reduced the bevel angle to 17 degrees. It slices so much better. I don’t think I want to go any lower than that due to the reprofile work that I’ve already done, and having to learn the hard way during the process. To be honest, I’m irritated that I didn’t recognize the clogged stones for so long.

I really like the knife. LT Wright makes a nice knife.
 
And use a large pink eraser on those stones. It requires pressure on the eraser. That’s when the stones started getting clear. I followed with windex, and scrubbed with the toothbrush under running hot water.
 
I use a Wicked Edge and sharpening 3V didn't seem any different than any other steel.
 
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