Forgiving Steels

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Eric J

Joined
Oct 29, 2005
Messages
392
Hello all! I find that SAKs and GECs have such forgiving steels. I have used my SAK Super Tinker daily. Every rough job that comes along seems to be done with it. I have found that no matter how much I use it, I can get it sharp with a minimum of fuss. The same goes for my GEC Electrician. Does anyone else share this experience? Thanks, I'm off to read Jackknife's Tales.
 
Yea man!! I use my gec's for an edc all the time and no matter what i cut, i can always take it back to razor sharp with a 2000 grit stone and a strop!
 
Yep, that's why I like them. Of course if you want to get ticked off, you can find something in CrMo or some of that CPM stuff.
 
I find GEC's Farm and Field O-1 tool steel to be really easy to sharpen and takes an absolutely scary wicked edge. I use it all day and put a few swipes on a ceramic crock stick and its right back to the level of sharpness I want on it.
 
I find fine grain steels to be relatively easy to sharpen and steels with large carbides to be harder. Fine grain steels include carbon, 420HC, 12C27, Aus8. Large carbide steels include 440C and D2.

Some caveats...

When 1095 is pushed to high Rc levels like old USA Schrade, it takes a bit longer to form a burr.

Some stainless at lower Rc (56 or lower) feels gummy to me on a stone with a tendency to form a harder to remove wire edge compared to stainless at higher Rc (around 58). Case TruSharp and Victorinox Inox are steels I find too soft for my liking while USA Schrade + (440A), Buck 420HC and Opinel 12C27 are harder and sharpen up more cleanly for me.
 
Totally agree about gummy on a stone, but I almost never seem to have wire edge problems on SAKs, much moreso with TruSharp.
 
Eric J said:
Hello all! I find that SAKs and GECs have such forgiving steels. I have used my SAK Super Tinker daily. Every rough job that comes along seems to be done with it. I have found that no matter how much I use it, I can get it sharp with a minimum of fuss. The same goes for my GEC Electrician. Does anyone else share this experience? Thanks, I'm off to read Jackknife's Tales.
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I can't agree more with ya!:thumb up:

I've had the "better" grade steels, and for a little while there I was a knife snob. After I got over myself, I found that for 99% of what people use a pocket knife for, the more forgiving steels worked out better for me. If I had to misuse a knife for lack of a so called better tool when I was out someplace, I'd rather a steel that would roll a bit, than chip or even break. Especially at low temperatures. A rolled edge can be fixed on the shank of a screw driver or large nail or top of a car window if need be. In a pinch, tyne top edge of a steel step bumper on the back of a pickup will do. But a chip out of a blade calls for much more work. I love the SAK steel for a "hard use" knife, as i know it will just dull rather than break. Dull is easy to fix, anywhere. When I fly off someplace on vacation, I mail a SAK to myself where I am staying, and I love having a knife I can abuse a bit. I found out a Vic recruit will cut through fish spines and other bones with no damage to the edge, and still cut slippery squid.

As for carbon steel, Both the GEC number 15 and the of late the Northwoods stockman gifted to me by Dan, has seen a lot of use. The bottom of a coffee mug works soooo well on the 1095, giving it a nice toothy edge with lots of bite. A little stropping on the back of an old Dickies work belt brings it up to shaving sharp. Most people these days way under estimate the old carbon steel. Jeff Randall made the statement that 98% of the modern knife market is B.S. and I think he's right. The 'nut of a bobbie is always going to be looking for the latest and geatest, but he's often blinded by his obsession. JUst like the car guy who has to have the Porshe, vs the regular joe guy who wants a reliable car to go about his life, and drives a Toyota and is happy with it. Case CV and stainless, SAK's stainless, and the GEC 1095 are the Toyota and Honda's of the knife world. Good reliable stuff that gets the job done, and is easy to maintain. The nearest coffee mug will do.

I love forgiving steel. Life is too short to screw around sharpening a knife when there's fish to be caught, and trips to be taken.
 
jackknife said:
I love forgiving steel. Life is too short to screw around sharpening a knife when there's fish to be caught, and trips to be taken.
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I agree 100%. Personally I don't use my blades enough to worry about the steel. I buy knife because I like how it looks/feels. Same with my fishing rods -I don't bother about the graphite content but rather how it feels with a fish on :) And I'm 100x more picky about my fishing gear :)
 
yatsunil said:
I agree 100%. Personally I don't use my blades enough to worry about the steel. I buy knife because I like how it looks/feels. Same with my fishing rods -I don't bother about the graphite content but rather how it feels with a fish on :) And I'm 100x more picky about my fishing gear :)
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Then ya gotta go with a cane pole! Get one that's nice and thin near the tip, and carry a yella handle Case and you'll have a traditional fishin' trip to remember.:thumb up:

And cook up what you catch in a cast iron pan too!
 
jackknife said:
Then ya gotta go with a cane pole! Get one that's nice and thin near the tip, and carry a yella handle Case and you'll have a traditional fishin' trip to remember.:thumb up:
And cook up what you catch in a cast iron pan too!
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Bent pin on a string and all that Huckleberry Finn stuff :) I wonder what knife he carried? I bet he wasn't too concerned about the steel. Probably sharpened his knife on the smooth river rocks.

I gotta admit though, I don't know enough about sharpening knives so the forgiving steels are friendlier for me.
 
yatsunil said:
Bent pin on a string and all that Huckleberry Finn stuff :) I wonder what knife he carried? I bet he wasn't too concerned about the steel. Probably sharpened his knife on the smooth river rocks.
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Probably carried the same as his running buddy, Tom Sawyer:

"Mary gave him a bran-new "Barlow" knife worth twelve and a half cents; and the convulsion of delight that swept his system shook him to his foundations. True, the knife would not cut anything, but it was a "sure-enough" Barlow, and there was inconceivable grandeur in that - though where the Western boys ever got the idea that such a weapon could possibly be counterfeited to its injury, is an imposing mystery and will always remain so, perhaps."
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Robert
 
I have to agree with the OP about the forgiving steels that are used at GECs and Victorinox. As well as many of the other used steels like Schrade (wether carbon or SS) or CASE or BUCK or whatever ... It doesn´t even depend if it is a stainless or a carbon steel. These "cheapo" steels -as they are called by steel enthusiasts - are great in many ways. Often they are longtime proven and didn´t let the user down. The modern alloys like powdermetal are too hard for my liking and it´s sometines difficult to work w/o diamond stones.

I prefer the simple way of sharping like at an oil- or waterstone or even in case of an "emergency" at a coffeemug and a strop or a leather belt. I don´t want to make sharping an own science off or even a part of some kind of art or whatever you call it. It´s part of my own obsession on blades and edges in general. It´s a way for me to keep the knives maintained.

I had so many nice experiences with the lower level steel so I highly recommend them over the high-level steels. I have two knives in S30V and I had actually had some problems getting them razor sharp as I like it on my blades - took me some time. The lower level steels are just awesome to get 'em sharp. Some pulls over different grits of stone and some stroping - cutls like a razor within ten minutes the job is done.

When it comes to chipping I only had one problem on a Ka-Bar machete. On my traditionals and other knives - no problem at all (until now).
 
yatsunil said:
I gotta admit though, I don't know enough about sharpening knives so the forgiving steels are friendlier for me.
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Sharpening is way easier than they make it out to be. Just a good stone of some sort is all you need, and the back of a belt. Come on over to the sharpening forum, and theres a lot of good advice there. You can use the bottom of a coffee mug in a pinch.
 
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