Favorite steel to sharpen?

M

MacTech

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Jan 7, 2006
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Do you have a favorite steel to sharpen, and why do you like it?

for me, in order of preference from most to least favorite;

H-1 (Spyderco Pacific Salt); this is a great sharpening steel, takes a few quick swipes down the Sharpmaker to maintain that nice, toothy edge, no it doesn't have the edge retention of VG-10 or S30V, but it sharpens up a heck of a lot easier, and it *does* have pretty good edge retension in and of itself

plus, the total inability to rust is nice too

1095 Carbon (KA-BAR fighting knife); initially i disliked it, as it wasn't responding well to the Sharpmaker white rods, so on a whim, i reworked the edge with the browns, put a nice sharp utility edge on it, and then it responded great to the white rods, agressive, toothy edge

VG-10 (Spyderco Cricket and Harpy); great edge retention, and touch ups are quick and easy, a much smoother feeling edge than H-1, CPM-S30V and 1095

out of those three steels, my absolute favorites are H-1 and VG-10, both respond quickly to the Sharpmaker, respond very well to stropping, and get scary/shaving sharp quickly with very little effort, i haven't spent enough time with the KA-BAR yet to determine it's edge performance, i have no doubt it'll be good though

on the other side of the coin, my *least* favorite steels out of the knives i have would have to be the steel used on the Leatherman Blast, and the CPM-440V on my Chinook, the steel on the Chinook is great, don't get me wrong, but it takes the most effort out of all my blades to get to scary-sharp

overall, H-1 is my favorite steel to sharpen, followed closely by VG-10 and 1095

what's your favorite steel to sharpen?
 
Among production blades, I like Spyderco's VG-10. For a stainless that holds an edge so well, it's amazing how easy it is to sharpen. Little tendency to burr, reaches a very high level of sharpness very easily ..... I like it.

Fine grained tool steels, run fairly hard, I also like for similar reasons.
 
Whatever carbon steels they used in knives from the first half of the 20th century. Crucible cast steel? I think that it was forged.

It doesn't form much of a burr, it's very forgiving to sharpening technique, it sharpens quickly with just about anything, and it gets very sharp. I've taken knives from butterknife-dull to splitting hairs in a few minutes.
 
hmm...

I've got an old Camillus 67 stockman with carbon blades. That knife takes the sharpest edge I've ever seen with the least of effort. It's beyond scary... sometimes I am actually afraid to use that knife because it's so sharp and thin.

As far as stainless goes... I really like ATS-34/154cm. I sharpened my BM710 tonight and the edge is a mirror and insanely sharp.

VG-10 is a lot of fun to sharpen too and as much as I love 154cm, I like the edge characteristics of VG-10 better. I can't get as polished an edge with VG-10 as with 154cm, but VG-10 really doesn't need it.

For a nice sharpening challenge, I like old Buck 440C. I got a butter knife-like 503 a month or so ago and turned it into a razor.
 
M2 holds its edge longest for me

52100 gets sharpest for me

S30V makes me earn my keep

VG10 just feels right when all sharpiliscious

1095 gets all shiny for me when soft and will get demon-sharp when over RC62

AUS-6, AUS-8, Bohler N690Co, and 440C all let me strop them with low-priced jewelers rouge instead of 'needing' expensive stropping compounds

MBS-26 and H1 don't care what I do - they just get sharp
 
My favorite ones sofar:
A2
ZDP-189
They just want to be sharp.:thumbup:
 
H1-has to be the easiest steel to sharpen out there, almost effortless with razor sharp results. VG-10 is only a few strokes away from H1 on the Sharpmaker. My least favorite steel to sharpen-440A
 
Just to add.... every Camillus knife I've had, some older folders in 440C (I think) and Beckers, have been real nice to sharpen.
 
I like 1095 and A2 the best. Followed by 154CM/ATS34. Finishing with 440C.
 
David Boye Dendritic cobalt. Soft steel so it responds very quickly, love the bite it has when freshly sharpened. But really any well profiled blade that only takes a few licks is my favourite (Opinals, dozier ka bar ect). I have had the most troubles with 440 steels- some seem to be almost plastic so that you cannot get a nice bite into the stone- anybody else find that with 440 series steels?
 
H1 and 1095 seem to be the easiest to maintain the edge on to me. All the of the steels with vanadium in the mix can be a bit harder to sharpen but the edge retention makes it worthwhile.

STR
 
S30V..call me crazy, but it takes a fine polished edge like no other, no hard to remove soft burr
 
Well, I wont list them all in order, but I really like the way S30V sharpens quickly and holds a great edge. Other than that (to name a few) I prefer any carbon steel, and then 154 cm (ats-43, etc.).
 
Good old fashioned 1095, or CV. Sometimes progress (and new blade steels) isn't all it's cracked up to be.
 
I'm a M2 fan primarily due to its sharpening qualities.

My BMs (gotta try another maker) sharpen up easily to the type of edge I like with Spyderco's ceramics. No finesse, no super burr, just a few passes and viola, a good edge.
 
I've never had to sharpen an M2 knife so I wouldn't know! When my 910HS goes dull on me I'll have a chance.

Shao
 
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