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jude_061

Joined
Jan 29, 2006
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let me preface this to say that i am no "steel snob." my favorite knives are bucks. i don't think, aside from my cqc 7, i own any of the higher end steels.

i have a few crkt m16s of various configurations, all zytel. most were bought in 03 or 04. i have a point guard too.

the thing is, i can't keep them sharp. one or two cuts and they're dull.

any suggestions on fixing it? is it a flaw, is it just poorly treated steel? has it improved with later models?

i hear a lot about people recommending them for situations where they'd be used frequently, often for life and limb type situations, i.e, rescue work, military, wilderness survival. based on the 8 or 10 ones i have, i can't see this.

thanks.
 
jude_061 said:
let me preface this to say that i am no "steel snob." my favorite knives are bucks. i don't think, aside from my cqc 7, i own any of the higher end steels.

the thing is, i can't keep them sharp. one or two cuts and they're dull.
Click to expand...

Time to become a steel snob, I think.
 
nah, i'm poor. haha. i'm a buck man. i just hate to not use them. i figure i might learn something by tinkering with them. its a disturbing habit i have. that and grinding my teeth. and packratting. and always getting a backup of things...
 
Maybe you're not getting 'em as sharp as you think you are? Maybe you're at too low an angle, resulting in a fragile edge? Maybe you're leaving a burr behind, which collapses when you use the edge and ruins it?

People are using knives with "lowly" 440A and experiencing suitable (for them) edge retention. Certainly edge retention outlasting "one or two cuts."

Then again: What're you cuttin' with your knives? ;)
 
CRKT has good knives but do tend to use not so good steel. If you want their knives get the AUS8 steel. Not the AUS4 or 6 that is used on the zytel models.
 
edceeker, i'm mostly cutting rope. synthetic. i sharpen them on a sharpmaker. wade, i like the knives, i think the steel might be the aus 6
 
Synthetic rope can be very hard on an edge. That's why serrations help, dealing with fibers.

I agree that you may have to check on your technique. You may be leaving a burr that collapses when you cut with it.
 
my brother, pete1977 is my sharpening expert. i'll have him give it a whack, and we'll see what happens.
 
I actually carried a large CRKT Point Guard, with AUS-6, for a while some years back. I used it throughout the day and generally only need to sharpen it once a week. It performed pretty good. Now, I'm not going to stand here and try and tell you it was anything like VG-10, but it was more than adequate. It's long gone ...part of some past trade deal.

Funny thing, I'm about to order a knife as a gift for a family member, and I happened to spy a CRKT Hammond Cruiser on sale for $20........and have been contemplating adding it onto the order. It's AUS-6....somebody stop me....PLEASE !

-Regards
 
Gramps said:
Funny thing, I'm about to order a knife as a gift for a family member, and I happened to spy a CRKT Hammond Cruiser on sale for $20........and have been contemplating adding it onto the order. It's AUS-6....somebody stop me....PLEASE !

-Regards
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Gramps, most likely the family member is not a knife aficionado like you and me, so go ahead and get the Hammond, it will be the best knife they ever had.
 
CRKT best knife is the large Apache with ATS-34.I have the PE model and it's hair popping sharp.
 
IUKE12 said:
Gramps, most likely the family member is not a knife aficionado like you and me, so go ahead and get the Hammond, it will be the best knife they ever had.
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Thanks IUKE12....actually I am going to get something NICE like a Spyderco for the gift...I thought I would add the CRKT Hammond on to the order for myself as a "steel fix"....what's wrong with me ???? :eek:

-regards
 
if i may, the edge that came on my $20 crkt m16-10kz was as dull as the spine. 'razor edge'....liars. still, because of the other virtues of the design i felt like it would have been the perfect urban knife for me if executed correctly so i invested some effort into it.

sharpening was pretty much useless. It needed a reprofiling so i dragged the grind way back. though ugly, it's sharp now & rarely needs a touch up. aus 4 and 6 are apparently better tough steels than sharp steels, so kick that knife's ass. It won't hold a shaving edge.

by the way, the hair popping thing is a form of snobbery in its own right.
 
Magnum22 said:
by the way, the hair popping thing is a form of snobbery in its own right.
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Really? Why is it "snobbery" to want your blades hair-popping sharp? Or "snobbery" to be proud of the fact you've been able to sharpen your blades hair-popping sharp?

When I was into wood-working, or trying to be, anyway, one of the first things I did was learn about edged tools--including learning how to sharpen them properly. I spent a lot of money and time on Japanese water stones (my chosen sharpening tools for that purpose). I got to the point where I could fairly quickly and reliably get my chisel and plane blades hair-popping sharp. I got my hand-planes so well-tuned, with blades so sharp, I could get long translucent shavings off a piece of wood. Now I'm nowhere near that with my knives. And, to be perfectly honest: I doubt I ever will be. For my purposes: I just don't feel the need to have my knives that sharp. But I'll certainly not begrudge anybody else going that far, for I quite understand the enjoyment and satisfaction of getting and having an edged tool that sharp.
 
forgive me, i didn't intend my comment to come off as abrasive as you took it. however you do acknowledge that it's about taking pride and satisfaction in the ownership of a tool so sharp. isn't it the same with top shelf steel? that's all i meant and i didn't want to imply that anything was wrong with it. I could have used the term "enthusiast" rather than "snob" but i just wanted to draw the parallel. I have my favorite steels and shavers too, but my m16 edc conforms with neither.
 
Gramps said:
Thanks IUKE12....actually I am going to get something NICE like a Spyderco for the gift...I thought I would add the CRKT Hammond on to the order for myself as a "steel fix"....what's wrong with me ???? :eek:

-regards
Click to expand...
Nothing abnormal there Gramps, we've all done it. That's how I ended up with my M16-13. It was a last minute add-on thing to justify shipping costs. Not a bad EDC I've come to discover.
 
i like my knives sharp. thats the point. no sense in using one that doesn't get or stay sharp. i don't need it hair shaving sharp, i actually need it a bit coarse. but if a knife is marketed to people like soldiers, law enforcement, or someone in my line of work, whose life might depend on cutting that piece of rope, it better do what was said. thats all i meant. i'm perfectly happy with my 20 dollar buck. its a shame the 40 dollar (what i paid back in 03) doesn't perform in a comensurate manner. i don't want to pay top dollar for a higher end steel with the risk of losing it in the ocean.

i put it on the sharpmaker, and then cut up some poly, with the same result.
 
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