Cts-xhp

knarfeng said:
Ummm... no. That is not speculation from folks unfamiliar with the performance. That is from Carpenter Steel's tech data sheet for that alloy.



https://cartech.ides.com/datasheet.aspx?I=101&E=343

It is a PM alloy with a nice shot of Chromium Carbide, Molybdenum Carbide, and Vandium Carbide, . Natural stones won't do it for sharpening. Silicon carbide, Aluminum Carbide, or Diamond are what you need.
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If a stone can scratch a knife, it can sharpen it. But I agree, in your suggestion, which is why I prefer synthetic Japanese Water stones. But, I've no doubt that if it were all I had, I could sharpen XHP on an Arkansas Stone.


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ursamajor said:
If a stone can scratch a knife, it can sharpen it. But I agree, in your suggestion, which is why I prefer synthetic Japanese Water stones. But, I've no doubt that if it were all I had, I could sharpen XHP on an Arkansas Stone.


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Back in the 60s, when Buck started using 440C as their standard blade steel and Arkansas stones were the standard sharpening equipment, I knew several fellas who gave up on their 440C Buck knives because it was such a pain in the tail to get them sharp on those stones. They much preferred the 440A that Schrade was using, because they could sharpen it on an Arkansas stone.

Can it be done? It can.
Takes a walloping long time. Not my idea of fun.

Edited to add:
The problem is the carbides. The stone is harder than the steel matrix itself, but that matrix contains carbides which are harder than both the steel and the stone.
 
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It grinds, polishes, heat treats and sharpens more like RWL-34/CPM-154 for me than D2 or 440C.
 
Blues Bender said:
SiC is much harder than any steel. I suspect your geometry is wrong.
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I respect your knife knowledge but silicon carbide is not as hard as the vanadium carbides that are formed in cts-xhp.
A SiC stone can "overpower"or (plow) the vanadium at low grit but you will not get good results above around 400 grit.

If you want to take advantage of a fine finish on cts-xhp you need to use diamonds or cbn based abrasives.
As a famous sharpener often quotes on here "life is too short to use crappy sharpening equipment".
I can sharpen factory xhp ok through conventional means, but I finish on cbn balsa strop.
When I sharpen custom xhp at 64hrc I am grateful for my dmt plates.
It is not my favorite steel but I do like it, and use it in edc carry periodically.



Russ
 
Judge by yourself....
4375636a05dfaab72ae6ba62432dc577.jpg


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I have a kitchen knife in XHP that gets used a lot, just about daily. It takes a fine edge and holds it, and doesn't chip against bone. I have had no problems sharpening it, or my kitchen knives in S35V, with Spyderco ceramic stones. While I have diamond stones, I prefer the edge that I get from ceramics on this blade.
I have lots of sharpening stones, including Japanese water stones, India stones, Silicon Carbide Nortons, and the list goes on. I reserve the traditional stones for woodworking tools with low chromium, high carbon steels. I find it nearly impossible to get a good edge on a high carbon, high vanadium, high chromium steel with India and Arkansas stones. They work great for 1095 or 01, but I would rather use harder stones for modern stainless steels.
 
Don't forget that the condition you maintain your edge and how you a use or choose not to abuse matters too.

I like to keep my knives well stropped vs having to do a crazy sharpening job all the time.

This way I put off any crazy sharpening session for as long as possible.

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I like the way it sharpens and the edge it takes. But I haven't used it enough to decide how I like it's edge holding ability yet.

By the way it sharpens I'm surprised it doesn't have more vanadium/carbides in it. Also surprised it will get up to (a useable) 64 HRC compared to other steels that won't but have more carbon and vanadium. But I'm not a naturist and it's been a while since I've studied up on knife steels.
 
ursamajor said:
If a stone can scratch a knife, it can sharpen it. But I agree, in your suggestion, which is why I prefer synthetic Japanese Water stones. But, I've no doubt that if it were all I had, I could sharpen XHP on an Arkansas Stone.


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Click to expand...

OK, I'm no sharpening master. I'm no steel snob or stone expert, but the only thing I can say for sure is that I've sharpened my CTS-XHP AK47 and Hold Out II in my white Smiths Arkansas Stone a couple times each, at least, and I've gotten a hair popping edge on both every time. I've used it in my AUS8, CTS-BD1 and 440A/420HC in the past, for years.

CAM02001_zpsojn4rjom.jpg


Just my two cents, nothing more I can say or claim...

CAM02606_zpsrydwgllm.jpg
 
it's a great all around stainless. comparisons would be to cpm-154 and s30v in characteristics.
 
I have two knives in it, an Cold Steel AK and a Spyderco Manix 2 LW...very pleased with the performance. It holds an edge very well, has pretty good corrosion resistance, sharpens pretty easily on the proper abrasives and has good toughness. I once dropped my AK onto flag stones from waist height and it landed edge down and only minimally chipped near the tip.
 
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