Maintaining S90V

[Mandzukic]

Hi, i picked up my first S90V blade and was wondering the best way to maintain it. I currently use a Spyderco Sharpmaker to sharpen my EDC knives. Would stroping everytime i use the knife be enough to maintain a sharp edge?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

S90V is very, very simple to maintain with a diamond hone. Lots of vanadium carbides in this steel - those carbides are much harder than the ceramic of the standard Sharpmaker rods. But with something like a 600 - 1200 grit diamond hone, it's a breeze. I use a DMT Fine (600) to maintain the one S90V blade I have, a Spyderco Manix 2. That's all I've ever needed for that knife - no stropping necessary.

As with honing, diamond or cbn compound would be the best for stropping S90V, for the same reason as mentioned above. Aside from polishing the edge on S90V with diamond or cbn compounds, other stropping with bare leather or something similar won't likely have much effect, save for just removing loosely-attached burr fragments after sharpening. If you want any more refinement or polish via stropping, some diamond or cbn compound will be best for that.

 

[Ben Dover]

I usually use a 1200 grit EEF diamond hone and then strop with CBN on leather.

 

[David Martin]

I have a Buck 110 with s90v steel and I maintain mine similar to Obsessed. I touch it up on a fine diamond stone and don't strop. Just remove the burr on that stone. It takes a good edge at that grit level. DM