Favorite Steel

AlexT808 said:
Why do you prefer Carbon Steel? Is it ease of sharpening?
Click to expand...
patina is why I prefer carbon steel.
Many stainless and carbon steels are very comparable in the performance department when it comes to small fixed blades and folders, but stainless Steel just gets all scratched up and ugly looking while carbon steel develops a nice patina which hides wear and just plain looks beautiful.
 
Lapedog said:
Isn't rostfei the #1 as determined in an earlier thread?
Click to expand...
No, that is the Best.
Not everyone can have such refined tastes, to only enjoy nothing but the best...
 
Rostfrei is something you have to be a true connoisseur to understand what an outstanding steel it is. It is only appropriate for the absolute pinnacle of knives and the truly master collectors. it's so great it is mined on mars only and in order to smelt it you have to break space-time;
 
Last edited:
Most of my knives are fixed blades, all but one are carbon steel. My favorite is A2, followed closely by O1. It takes a ridiculously sharp edge, holds it well, and can easily be maintained under field conditions.

If I wasn't already the odd man out, I'll get a little odder - my favorite stainless is 154CM, for the same reasons I like A2.
 
For me personally M4 no question, followed VERY closely by M390 then 3V.
I food prep but do not get in situations where high stain resistance or rust become a problem.
Why do I like specifically M4 :
Is very wear resistant and hard and sharpens well without having to resort to diamonds (i hate diamonds though I have baskets full of them).
I like that the very minimal bur just disapears without thinking about it.
I like the way the edge feels while cutting and how well it lasts for my tasks.

It may sound irrational but I trust and like and enjoy and feel best about an edge steel that will stain and or rust such as M4.
 
I am constantly changing my opinion on this subject , for stainless elmax is the winner with m 390 a close 2nd. For carbon ,no close 2nd to 3v
 
This thread can go on forever because everybody has a different reason for a particular steel.

My favs are:

BG42
CTS-204P
H1

Yes I like H1 because I can leave lime juice, PB and jelly and don't have to clean it for days. Completely worry free steel that can stay dirty and when traveling abroad that suits me better than any fine super steel.
 
I will always love 1095. GEC has made me a believer again. S30V is great when you have the right HT... which TBH is true of all steels. VG-10 is great too!
 
For most uses my favorite is CPM-M4. Holds a good edge, easy to sharpen, tough enough for what I need. I live in a dry climate so corrosion resistance is not a big issue.
 
"Yes I like H1 because I can leave lime juice, PB and jelly and don't have to clean it for days"

Nah . . . just lick the blade clean . . . some say this is the ULTIMATE strop. AnyHoo H1 is so soft it maybe be the ONLY strop needed.
 
My favorite to work with is A2. I buy 4 bars of it to every 1 bar I buy of D2/154CM.

For fixed blades I personally carry, 5160, Carbon V, and Phillip Pattons O1/L6 damascus is pretty amazing too.
 
If heat treated correctly, all of them.

I like Nitrobe 77, RWL34, CTSXHP, M390, N690, 14C28N, M4 for pocket knives.
 
M4 is my favorite steel as I said earlier.
So what bit of wonderfulness did I order next ? ? ?

A knife with CPM S110V steel of course. Obvious right !?
I have a Spyderco UK PK on order.
I can’t wait ! ! !

I think I am going to LIKE this knife. Usually I can’t really tell until I get it but with some, such as the Cold Steel Hold Out 1 I just knew right away . . . I mean I could already feel it in my hand before I got it and I had never even touched a mid size Hold Out let alone the big one. And I was right; when I opened it and held it for the first time It was just exactly as I imagined. Very weird. (that experience not the knife. I love the knife(CTS-XHP by the way)).

aaaaanyway

I can’t wait for it to get here !
 
Last edited:
Oh look what’s this ?





Fast shipping huh ?

Not the fastest I ever had but you have to admit that was pretty quick.
WOW it is a whole bunch sharper than the first S110V blade I ever got; that one was literally like you might imagine a toy knife out of one of those put in a quarter and turn the crank gum ball dispenser things would be. Kind of rough when pulled across my finger nail and would skate across and not bite.

This one easily bites my thumb nail (tilted both ways), sort of shaves a little on parts of the edge tilted one way but not the other . . . fear not . . . no hair was whittled in this scientific experiment.

Why in blazes did you get another one some of you die hards are saying . . .

well I’ll tell ya’ S110V totally kicked my butt the first time. I could get it hair whittling no problem, couldn’t keep it even usably sharp for a day at work.

I developed a theory : Not the steel’s fault, not a lack of initial sharpness . . . I’m thinking the 30 thou behind the edge on that last one was what was raining on my parade. This one's thinner behind the edge and I am going to grind this sucker until . . . until . . . until . . .
I can cut stuff just like the big guys do with their S110V knives.

. . . so . . . encore . . .

and I say that with great stage fright.

I have never had a problem speaking in front of audiences because . . . I have always spoke about things that I know inside and out and had no intention of trying to BS or just say stuff I had memorized and that has made ALL THE DIFFERENCE.

S110V . . . ? . . . I’m scared
 
I absolutely hate working with CPMS110V. Even annealed, my bandsaw won't do more than scratch it. I have to cut the profile with a cutoff wheel on an angle grinder.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top