i'm fed up with sharpening, what steel holds an edge forever?

Joined
Jan 2, 2003
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hi there

i'm looking for the ultimate steel in terms of toughness, sharpness, stainlessness and foremost, EDGE RETENTION. i want my knives to stay sharp almost indefinitely because if there's one thing i hate then it's sharpening (not only do i hate it, i'm not very good at it either...;-))and damaged or chipped blades. for example, i have knives with various kinds of steel, like 420HC (buck), 440C, AUS-6 and i find them all to be too weak to keep an edge for a long time. i mostly use my knives for serious wood- and cardboard-cutting and -slashing. any suggestions? (ATS34? BG42? D2?, please tell me what you think is the best 'edge retentive' steel). by the way, i'm usually quite hard on my knives, although i won't let em rust in the rain or anything.....but i'd like knives that can take a beating on the blade and stay sharp forever without sharpening....

greetings
d75;)
 
Ah... The steel you're talking about...

It's forged in the fires of the heavens and quenched in the waters of the Fountain of Youth. The ore was retrieved from the bottom of the Loch Ness lake and hammered into shape by Bigfoot and the sheath was made by the abominable snowman from leather of Unicorns. The knife can be purchased retail in a shop run by asian girls with large breasts...

But seriously, You're asking for way too much... drop your standards a bit and perhaps we can help.
 
The knife you seek is made by an old Japanese Blade Master, I believe his name was Ginsu, and his knives retail for $19.99.

Seriously, learn to sharpen, all it takes is patience, and knowledge, you'll be happy ya did.
 
what the heck is this you crazy bast**ds?!! come on help me out here:cool: !!!!!

the steels i'm currently using are quite fast-dulling aren't they? i mean, i neither have the patience or the skills for proper sharpening. when i sharpen a knife, it takes a really long time and i end up with a knife that looks like a freakin' 100 years old because of all the numerous scratches, not even to mention that then the knife is still not sharp......

i'm just no good at it and i don't want to be. come on, please name me some better steels than 440, aus and 420hc that will hold an edge considerably longer, although not forever (ok, i know, i was asking a little too much......;-)). i'm sure that the edge on a bg42-knife will last longer than one of a 420-knife, right??

d75
 
Joe Talmadge's Sharpening FAQ will help you with your sharpening skills.

BG42 will probably give you better edge retention than the steels you've been using. The champ in that area is CPM's S90V, but it's not a tough steel and if you think you have trouble sharpening a blade now . . . Plus, I don't believe there are any production knives being made with this steel.

Probably your best bet would be one of the Spyderco models (or, for a few;) more $$, something from Chris Reeve Knives) in S30V. That, and a Spyderco Sharpmaker.
 
Originally posted by MelancholyMutt
Ah... The steel you're talking about...

It's forged in the fires of the heavens and quenched in the waters of the Fountain of Youth. The ore was retrieved from the bottom of the Loch Ness lake and hammered into shape by Bigfoot and the sheath was made by the abominable snowman from leather of Unicorns. The knife can be purchased retail in a shop run by asian girls with large breasts...


ROFL :)

I'll take two :D
 
If you would quit using the damn things they would stay sharp.:D

All jokes aside, look at the Spyderco Sharpmaker or some of the jig type sharpening systems, there are several that take the human error element out of play if set up right. Once you are able to put on a good edge, the frustration level will not stop you from sharpening. It is just a skill to be learned, and once learned you will be happy with sharp knives.

One point, if you are damaging the finish of the blade, you are holding too shallow of an angle. Raise it up to 15 to 20 degrees. Different blade designs sharpen at different angles and some here reprofile to suit individual needs or tasks.

Hang in there;)
 
The toughest cutters I have are; Stellite, Talonite and 52100 (not stainless of course). But, everyone that suggested you learn to sharpen your knives is right. Once you learn it's a joy, it's relaxing and fun to put life back in the edge of your knife. You say you're rough on your knives, so you need to build that edge up. My suggestion is get yourself a Norton Fine India Stone, some light oil and a bunch of cheap knives and practice, practice, practice. It's all in the wrist and maintaining a consistant angle. Once you get it down you'll never forget.

Ya wanna be a Knifenut? Learn to sharpen.
 
So far, you've been listing stainless steels. If you don't let your knives rust, how about a good high carbon steel? They tend to have the qualities that you're looking for. Try 52100 (Swamp Rat knives), INFI (Busse), Carbon V (Cold Steel), Becker Knife and Tool (similar to Cold Steel, or vice versa ;) ), or anything in 1095. All of these take and keep a great edge, and are easy to re-sharpen.

Also, consider getting a knife with a full convex edge. It will greatly simplify sharpening and reduce your frustration!
 
If possible rust is not a concern for you, try to find a blade made from Vasco Wear. Make sure it is very thinnly ground, because when it does need sharpening, you won't have fun removing much metal. But, the stuff stays sharp almost forever! Knifemakers don't like to use this stuff, because most of the work has to be done before hardening. The finish work after hardening is more work than most knifemakers want to do. But, Vasco Wear makes an excellent blade.
 
Actually, there IS one production company that has used S90V, and it is.......... Microtech! In some of their LCC's and their new Ltd. Ed. manual SOCOM, a knife i would very much like to own. I do have the S90V LCC, but it is as yet, unused.

If you want edge retention, heck, just eat a lot of salt....Oh, wait, sorry, thats water retention... My bad... :)
 
Originally posted by dennis75


i'm just no good at it and i don't want to be. come on, please name me some better steels than 440, aus and 420hc that will hold an edge considerably longer, although not forever (ok, i know, i was asking a little too much......;-)). i'm sure that the edge on a bg42-knife will last longer than one of a 420-knife, right??

d75

The 420 is usually to soft for a good utility knife, common in diving knives because it´s rust resistance.
The cpm-10v, bg-42 and vg-10 (in that order) are all very good steels with very good edge characteristics and should serve you well.
The 440c and it´s japanese equivalence aus-10 are also very good, the aus-10 steel is probaply a little better when it comes to wear resistance.
 
I found that D2 and properly heat treated 52100 and 1084 hold an edge longer than any knife I own (including BG42).

I don't have many experience with S30V, so I can't say anything about it. Yes, those steels you mentioned dull easily.

Try carbon steel blade knives, they hold the edge better.

The secret is to buy more knives and rotate them. :D
 
Talonite or Stellite, a custom, with an agreement that you can send it back to the maker once a year for sharpening.

Second choice, a Benchmade in D2 with there re-sharpening service.

One of each wouldn't be bad!!!
 
Hehehehe….. This thread is too funny!!! Assuming that you can’t find any bigfoot hammered steel, you’re pretty much SOL. If there’s a knife that holds it’s edge forever, and is tough enough to take some serious abuse, and is ground thin enough to cut well, we haven’t found it yet.

You better pick up a SharpMakere 204 (the best and easiest sharpener I’ve tried), and practice, practice, practice on your AUS-6 knives until you’ve got it down. Then get yourself something with a better steel. No steel is impervious to abuse, but steels like D2, M2, and VG-10 will hold an edge much longer than AUS-6.
 
I believe Dsvirsky is in the right race, but he picked the wrong horse.

CPM-S90V solved a lot of the problems with their line of super steels. But that is not your question.

For the ultimate edge retension, try S60V, once called CPM-440V.

It has it's problems. It was usually hardened beyond reasonable use, like at +61 Rc. It could chip easily, in fact, my wife's knife came with concoidal fracture right out of the box.

It's almost impossible to sharpen. It took me hours on an Edge Pro to get the edge razor sharp with a bright, shiny finish.

Having said that, my wife cannot dull it, even with her 'slash and pry' method of cutting. Sometimes you need a hammer, sometimes you need a bigger hammer.
 
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