H1 Super Sharp

[cgmblade]

I recently got a Aqua Salt. It wasn't quite as sharp out of the box as I've come to expect from Spyderco so tonight I got out the Sharpmaker and went to work. I know that H1 is work hardened steel so the more I use and sharpen it the harder the edge will become, but because it is a new knife and the steel is relatively soft compared to s30v or D2 I guess it sharpened up very quickly.

I started with the diamond rods at 20* per side. That pretty much matched the factory edge. As I recall I did about 60 light strokes per side then moved to the brown rods. After about the same number of strokes on the brown rods it was easily shaving arm hair. Then I finished up on the white rods. Twenty strokes on the corners and 40 on the flats.

When I had finished I tested the edge and discovered that I had produced an edge that was as sharp or sharper than any knife I had ever sharpened.

I know that the true test will be in how long it holds an edge, but I'm very impressed with H1. This is my third Salt series knife. I also have the Salt 1 and Pacific Salt, and these knives have continually impressed me with their ability to take abuse and hold a good edge.

There have been a lot of positive reviews of H1 and the Salt series on this forum. I wonder if anyone who has used one of these knives has anything negative to say.

As much as I like my other knives the Salt knives are turning out to be my go to knives for hard, dirty jobs.

What are your experiences?

 

[marthinus]

There is one negative regarding H-1.....there are not enough knives with it!!! I love everything of H-1 and the Salt Series. No screws and just great working knife. Mine was in my board shorts this past December and 2weeks of swimming etc and no maintenance. Nothing wrong with it!

 

[forcedestrike]

H1 is a fantastic "steel" and I love the salt line, what we need though is an H1 swick!

 

[hunterfisher808]

Once the edge has been work hardened it will hold an edge very satisfactorily. It does scratch up more easily than temper hardened blades, but that's only cosmetics. I guess if one is anal about how a knife looks than that would be the only draw back I can think of. I got this knife for fishing and use the "shirt" out of her! I love this steel and full-heartedly endorse it:thumbup:

 

[zyhano]

I guess if one is anal about how a knife looks than that would be the only draw back I can think of.

ThaT's a reason for me. But I agree, there's so much good to hear about H1 that I might just check it out.

 

[Razorsharp1986]

I honestly think that H-1 steel is way to underrated and underused.
When I first heard about the H-1 line by Spyderco, I immediately felt skeptical regarding the 100% rust proof claim. But after buying my first H-1 Spydie, I quickly realized that H-1 is not only 100% rust proof, but has many other advantages like ease of sharpening, very noticeable work-hardening qualities and such.
Now, I'd buy almost ANY Spyderco model if it came H-1. I'd Especially love to have a pocket/ EDC sized fixed blade. it's a very heavy duty steel, that I'd also love to see in 4mm stock (On their fixed blades).

The only real downside, for me, is the absence of the full flat grind which i came to love so much.

Spyderco, please keep up the H-1 knives!!

 

[guyfalks]

In addition to all the good things said about H1 steel, I would like to point out that the titanium clips on the Salt series folders makes the Salt I a really nice money clip.

 

[BlueDevil45]

I've got the Tasman Salt in H1. Easy to get really sharp. Only had it a couple of weeks but has held an edge pretty well so far. I would definitely buy another blade in H1.

 

[tradja]

cgmblade, thanks very much for the observations. My favorite retailer is having a sale on Spydercos this month so I have been on the fence about a Ladybug Salt and a Pacific Salt (PE and/or SE). I was slightly worried about the ability of H1 to take a really keen edge, but your post has addressed those concerns.

Thanks!

 

[JD Spydo]

The one consideration people need to realize about any of Spyderco's H-1 Salt knives is that they are not the ones that will become collector's gems for the most part. I'm not saying that none of them at all won't eventually be a collector's piece but what I am saying is that the Salt Series are truly a sector of Spyderco's "HARD Use KNIVES".

I equate them to Spyderco's kitchen knives for instance. They are indeed high quality, well made, super reliable cutting tools but are designed with Hard Use Focus. And I'm not saying that Spyderco's most ultra fancy, super steel, Micarta or Titanium handled knives are not also users. But every model from the H-1 SAlt Series has an intended purpose and they perform better than most company's super models.

Spyderco is really one of the very few companies that could have successfully launched an H-1 Salt Series. I see the line expanding into newer areas as well.. I just got an H-1 Spyderhawk and it is even much better than I thought it would be. I've certainly been impressed with all the H-1 blades of Spyderco's.

 

[cgmblade]

cgmblade, thanks very much for the observations. My favorite retailer is having a sale on Spydercos this month so I have been on the fence about a Ladybug Salt and a Pacific Salt (PE and/or SE). I was slightly worried about the ability of H1 to take a really keen edge, but your post has addressed those concerns.

Thanks!

I'm glad this thread has helped to address your concerns w/ H1. The Aqua Salt is new so I don't have a lot of time w/ it to judge edge retention, but I see no reason it should be any different than other H1 knives.

I've had my Salt 1 and Pacific Salt longer and both of those knives have seen some decent use. They sharpen up pretty easily and you can get a fine edge on them. More importantly,imo, is the fact that they seem to hold an edge pretty well also. I guess I'd say H1 was basically comparable to AUS 8 in terms of edge holding. I seem to remember other posts where it was compared to AUS 6. In either case it should improve with use and work hardening.

I've never had any trouble w/ chipping and wouldn't expect any, and the only rolling I've seen has been very minor. Even after carving/whittling wood just a few swipes on the Sharpmaker and the edge is restored.

I'd be surprised if you don't like H1, like JD Spydo said, they're made for hard use.

I will give one word of warning to those who have the Aqua Salt. After getting that great edge I wrote about above I dulled it somewhat by improperly putting it into and taking it out of the hard sheath. I'd caution others to be mindful of this risk w/ their own knives.

 

[MORIMOTOM]

i thought i had read that "work hardening" meant the metal was hardened during the grinding process, not through conventional heat treatment.

also that h1 is quite a bit harder on the rc scale than most steels, somewhere in the mid 60's, from the factory.


i may be way off, in any event, i think h1 is pretty great.

 

[cgmblade]

i thought i had read that "work hardening" meant the metal was hardened during the grinding process, not through conventional heat treatment.

also that h1 is quite a bit harder on the rc scale than most steels, somewhere in the mid 60's, from the factory.


i may be way off, in any event, i think h1 is pretty great.

Yes, 'work hardening' refers to the grinding/sharpening process.

There was another thread that addressed the RC of H1. What I remember is that the edge is harder than the spine due to work hardening and that serrated edges are much harder than the PE models for the same reason.

 

[THG]

i thought i had read that "work hardening" meant the metal was hardened during the grinding process, not through conventional heat treatment.

also that h1 is quite a bit harder on the rc scale than most steels, somewhere in the mid 60's, from the factory.


i may be way off, in any event, i think h1 is pretty great.

I've been reading a materials engineering book, and I read that low-carbon steels are generally not heat treated. Is H1 even heat treated, and if so, is it heat treated in the conventional way?

For that reason, it also said that these low-carbon steels are usually work hardened (aka strain hardened and aka cold worked.) When the steel experiences plastic deformation (permanent damage/deformation), which is caused by sharpening in our case, sometimes the "holes" are filled (with what? I'm not sure; maybe the steel's own molecules?) causing increased hardness.

And I would think that H1 is soft, seeing how easily it scratches and considering the almost-complete-lack of carbon.

Did I get any of that right?

 

[JD Spydo]

i thought i had read that "work hardening" meant the metal was hardened during the grinding process, not through conventional heat treatment.

also that h1 is quite a bit harder on the rc scale than most steels, somewhere in the mid 60's, from the factory.


i may be way off, in any event, i think h1 is pretty great.

The term "work hardening" does indicate that it's not heat treated like most of your conventional cutlery steels are. In my experience with H-1 blades is that the more I sharpen them the edge does seem to hold up better. I believe that if you give the edges a burnishing effect like you get when you use a smooth butcher's steel on the blade often that it gives a really superb work hardening effect. It sure has worked wonders on my H-1 blades. Now the sharpening process itself with constant abrading will have a similar effect no doubt. But do always use smooth butcher's steels if you do indeed steel your blade edges. And I highly recommend steeling blade edges after using sharpening stones.

The very best butcher's steel I've found up till now are the German made F. Dick models. Now they have many models that are not smooth surfaced so you want to make sure you get a smooth one like the smooth Dickoron model.

I've also found that the burnishing effect from a smooth butcher's steel also is good for many other cutlery steels as well. That effect also works particularly good on VG-10 steel as well.

I have found that constant abrading on my Spyderco PE Tasman Hawkbill model with H-1 has really paid off. Now I've used the Spyderco 701 Profiles on the PE Tasman quite a bit and the payoff has been great. As small as the grit are in Spyderco's sharpening stones I'm convinced that they also have a burnishing effect as well. Friction I believe is the bottom line. But you don't need to necessarily abrade something to create a friction.

 

[The Government]

I'll just throw this out there.

I would really like to see a fixed blade in H1 that has a full flat grind and 3-4 inch blade.

I have been liking my Salt 1 a lot. Its been with me in the water many times. I would like to see adjustable pivot screws though. That would make it a lot easier to clean the sand and grit out -it would also be nice since the blade is a little wiggly without steel liners. An adjustable pivot screw and the ability to take it apart would be ideal.

 

[THG]

I'll just throw this out there.

I would really like to see a fixed blade in H1 that has a full flat grind and 3-4 inch blade.

I have been liking my Salt 1 a lot. Its been with me in the water many times. I would like to see adjustable pivot screws though. That would make it a lot easier to clean the sand and grit out -it would also be nice since the blade is a little wiggly without steel liners. An adjustable pivot screw and the ability to take it apart would be ideal.

Get an Aqua Salt and have Tom Krein or someone flat grind it.

 

[FlaMtnBkr]

I have said it before and I will say it again here.

I find H1 to have terrible edge holding. It is great to be able to take a knife on the boat and swimming and not worrying about rust. But the length of time the knife stays sharp is very short for me. And it is not just me because I gave 2 as gifts to my dad and a friend and my friend gave his back because it losses it's edge so quick.

These were all purchased over 2 years ago and have been sharpened many times. I just don't understand why they are liked so much unless the average person is just use to a dull edge. I really don't get the hard use claim because the first couple times it is used it is dull?

And no I do not have a wire edge. I have used different ways to sharpen including paper wheels. The slotted polishing wheel has never left behind a wire edge for me on any steel.

I guess I'm just curious if everyone that loves this steel so much just don't care about edge retention?

 

[forcedestrike]

I have said it before and I will say it again here.

I find H1 to have terrible edge holding. It is great to be able to take a knife on the boat and swimming and not worrying about rust. But the length of time the knife stays sharp is very short for me. And it is not just me because I gave 2 as gifts to my dad and a friend and my friend gave his back because it losses it's edge so quick.

These were all purchased over 2 years ago and have been sharpened many times. I just don't understand why they are liked so much unless the average person is just use to a dull edge. I really don't get the hard use claim because the first couple times it is used it is dull?

And no I do not have a wire edge. I have used different ways to sharpen including paper wheels. The slotted polishing wheel has never left behind a wire edge for me on any steel.

I guess I'm just curious if everyone that loves this steel so much just don't care about edge retention?

Thread after thread of H1 love but everyone else is wrong and we just dont like edge retention?

lol.

H1 once broken in has similar edge retention to AUS-8 for me, which is plenty good enough.

Because of the steel characteristics all the blades are essentially the equivalent of a differential heat treat (54'ish on spine and 63 on edge if I remember correctly).

The blades bend instead of snapping.

They dont rust.

Easy mode maintenance design and materials.

and thus yes, they are hard use knives.

 

[FlaMtnBkr]

Thread after thread of H1 love but everyone else is wrong and we just dont like edge retention?

lol.

H1 once broken in has similar edge retention to AUS-8 for me, which is plenty good enough.

Because of the steel characteristics all the blades are essentially the equivalent of a differential heat treat (54'ish on spine and 63 on edge if I remember correctly).

The blades bend instead of snapping.

They dont rust.

Easy mode maintenance design and materials.

and thus yes, they are hard use knives.

I never said anyone was wrong. If you got that from my post then I guess I can assume you are saying I am lying in yours? I am trying to figure out what is going on. And it is not just me it is also 2 other people that I personally know who own the knives and have used and sharpened them and have the same experience. I also gave the time period of 2 years because they have been sharpened a lot and should be 'broken in' by now.

So they are hard use because you don't have to perform maintenance on them? I didn't think maintenance had anything to do with actually using the knife. And I would also think that most FRN knives would break at the pivot long before the blade would bend or snap. So again, unless the sharpness doesn't really matter I don't understand the hard use claim.

I'm not trolling as I love Spyderco knives and have lots of them and praise them for the most part. But I'm also not a fanboy who is not going to question something.