Differences in VG-10?

[sqoon]

Don't get me wrong. I have been LOVING my Delica 4 these past few months. It has become my favorite EDC. I bought both a Skyline and Mini Grip to see if I can bump it out, but neither come even close. However, one thing that I can't help but notice is that the edge retention in it is not nearly as good as that on my Al Mar SERE 2000 which also uses VG-10. Any ideas why this might be? I would say that I need to touch up my Delica once, if not twice a week on my Sharpmaker, while my Al Mar was last put to my Lansky about five months and while still pop hairs. Is it the steel itself, or should I think about re profiling the Delica completely and see if I can't match the Al Mar more exactly?

 

[bh49]

Do both knives see the same use? VG10 is a good steel. I can see touching -up the blade once or twice a week, if you are cutting plenty of cardboard or something, which can really wear the edge. But the steel on Al Mar SERE looks really up to M390 level or better, if after five month of use it still capable of pop hair.
It can be some difference in chemical composition (high limit, low limit and everything in between) as well as in heat treatment of two batches of the same steel. Even more significant difference in performance due to difference the blade geometry like 10 degrees vs. 50 degrees. Most likely SERE has a thicker edge, but still I cannot imagine such difference.

 

[sqoon]

The Delica has been seeing more pocket time lately, but even when I carry the SERE for a week or two at a time, it's workload does not differ. I would even argue that my Al Mar gets more use when it is on duty than the Delica because of my confidence in its edge.

This may be a stupid question, but does all VG-10 come from the same foundry in Japan? I don't know if it is a proprietary steel to one particular foundry or not. Would the fact that my SERE is about ten years old now make a difference? That is, has VG-10 changed in anyway over the years in the way it is made?

 

[goodeyesniper]

The Delica has been seeing more pocket time lately, but even when I carry the SERE for a week or two at a time, it's workload does not differ. I would even argue that my Al Mar gets more use when it is on duty than the Delica because of my confidence in its edge.

This may be a stupid question, but does all VG-10 come from the same foundry in Japan? I don't know if it is a proprietary steel to one particular foundry or not. Would the fact that my SERE is about ten years old now make a difference? That is, has VG-10 changed in anyway over the years in the way it is made?

If this was the case, the most likely culprit would be the heat treat being inferior, not the actual manufacturing of the steel being different. However, blade grind and edge geometry has a huge effect on cutting performance and edge holding, and I'd wager that's a big difference, too. I don't buy VG10 staying "hair popping" for that long, though. No matter who makes/heat treats it. Unless it is seriously seeing no work. You'd be hard pressed to find any of the new super steels to stay that sharp for that long....

 

[marthinus]

Heat treat, batch difference, yes different batches of the same steel can have differences.

Al Mar can opt to have a higher rockwell hardness compared to Spyderco. None is wrong, it just brings out different aspects of the steel.

 

[benny90]

I bought a Mini-Grip as well to try out to see if I would possibly use it as my EDC instead of my Delica. It was the 555 with the Spyderhole even. There was nothing necessarily wrong with the mini grip, but my Delica just feels so right that it didn't really have much of a chance. Don't get me wrong, nice knife and all, but I just didn't love it like I do my Delica. Ended up returning it and ordering the PM2, can't wait. Interesting, mine actually hold an edge very well, I obviously didn't have the chance to test it against the 154CM but it has done better than the other knives in my collection.

There are some minute differences between my Ladybug 3 and Delica 4's VG10, seems that the Ladybug want's to chip a bit more than the Delica. Even the same batches can have slight differences.