Native 5 help EDC

J

Jejerusik

Joined
Apr 7, 2022
Messages
148
So m after many knives have come and gone, I have gotten a native 5, with smooth G10 handles in a M4 blade, and I am 95% in love with it! The other 5% is a little in the non-stainless, which I live near a lake in Massachusetts, and the edge retention. I feel like I can get through a whole day of work but by the end of the work day I'm having a hard time with the edge staying sharp enough. The stainless isn't as big of a concern, but the edge retention is.

I was thinking that because this knife I own has already been modified, I'd get a LW native 5 and just swap out the blades. I'm looking at the s110v or maxament. Honestly, the native 5 in s90v would be perfect! Kinda in-between the 2 steels. But they LW versions are harder to come by, and the CF version is out of my budget.

So would you, get the s110v? Maxament? Or see if the s90v LW comes up somewhere, but might not. Or do you have another suggestion? Maybe the s30v is better than the m4 version?

Thanks for the help!
 
What kind of work are you doing that is dulling out M4 after a day, and how are you sharpening it? I'd get something in magnacut. It would help if we knew what you were cutting or processing. Also I recommend grabbing some KPL knife shield for the stainless issue. It works well, and is food safe.
 
anthonycastorena2014 said:
What kind of work are you doing that is dulling out M4 after a day, and how are you sharpening it? I'd get something in magnacut. It would help if we knew what you were cutting or processing. Also I recommend grabbing some KPL knife shield for the stainless issue. It works well, and is food safe.
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I work in the aerospace industry. And some days I'm cutting open tape, boxes, and plastic bands. Some days aren't as bad. But some days I'm even up against wood pallets. I also didn't have great luck with magnacut. The knife was a very low HRC that they magnacut had.
 
Jejerusik said:
I work in the aerospace industry. And some days I'm cutting open tape, boxes, and plastic bands. Some days aren't as bad. But some days I'm even up against wood pallets. I also didn't have great luck with magnacut. The knife was a very low HRC that they magnacut had.
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Spyderco of all companies will never give you an improperly hardened blade.
 
If M4 is working ok in your environment try Maxamet. The blade has a stonewashed finish that helps keep corrosion to a minimum. We are lucky to get this steel. Sounds like it’s exactly what you need for work. It just keeps cutting. If Maxamet won’t keep a working edge consider a serrated blade.
 
dan35 said:
If M4 is working ok in your environment try Maxamet. The blade has a stonewashed finish that helps keep corrosion to a minimum. We are lucky to get this steel. Sounds like it’s exactly what you need for work. It just keeps cutting. If Maxamet won’t keep a working edge consider a serrated blade.
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So the 2nd part is, if I get the maxament it comes with the FRN. I have a g10 handle that I love. Would it be a big issue to just swap the handles?
 
Jejerusik said:
I work in the aerospace industry. And some days I'm cutting open tape, boxes, and plastic bands. Some days aren't as bad. But some days I'm even up against wood pallets. I also didn't have great luck with magnacut. The knife was a very low HRC that they magnacut had.
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To be honest man it sounds like you're leaving tape residue on your blades.... then sharpening the tape onto your stones. That KPL shield I was telling you about will take off residue quickly, so will isopropyl alcohol. I could be wrong but tape and plastic bands aren't dulling out vg10, much less a high wear resistant steel. Again I could be wrong but that is the fastest way to think your knife is dull.
 
anthonycastorena2014 said:
To be honest man it sounds like you're leaving tape residue on your blades.... then sharpening the tape onto your stones. That KPL shield I was telling you about will take off residue quickly, so will isopropyl alcohol. I could be wrong but tape and plastic bands aren't dulling out vg10, much less a high wear resistant steel. Again I could be wrong but that is the fastest way to think your knife is dull.
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I agree, and I actually keep isopropyl next to me at work with a rag. I make sure I keep it clean. Some plastic straps are really thin, almost feel like the are perferatted, and it's no issue. Some are extremely thick and require a lot of force. Those are the straps that kill the knife, plus all the dirt, and metal shavings from the boxes as I have to break them down. It could be my sharpening, I could be going to find of an edge. I have a KME and I go through the diamond stones up to 1500 grit. Then 9 micro diamond tape, 6 micron diamond tape. The 4 micron diamond compound leather strop, 1.5 diamond compound leather strop. Then free hand 1 micron and .5 micron diamond compound leather strop. I may just stop at 1500 and just use the 1 micron and see it maybe not as fine of an edge holds up better.
 
Jejerusik said:
I agree, and I actually keep isopropyl next to me at work with a rag. I make sure I keep it clean. Some plastic straps are really thin, almost feel like the are perferatted, and it's no issue. Some are extremely thick and require a lot of force. Those are the straps that kill the knife, plus all the dirt, and metal shavings from the boxes as I have to break them down. It could be my sharpening, I could be going to find of an edge. I have a KME and I go through the diamond stones up to 1500 grit. Then 9 micro diamond tape, 6 micron diamond tape. The 4 micron diamond compound leather strop, 1.5 diamond compound leather strop. Then free hand 1 micron and .5 micron diamond compound leather strop. I may just stop at 1500 and just use the 1 micron and see it maybe not as fine of an edge holds up better.
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Based on that, I would be avoiding Maxamet/S110V/S90V just because the heavy duty polyester strapping requires a bit of force to cut through. Maxamet/S110V/S90V are a bit prone to chipping and breaking if you are not careful, although S90V is a bit better in that regard. M4 has the edge strength to cope with some torsional force.

You could try K390; it has pretty good edge strength and should hold an edge a little longer than M4. I don't think there are any Natives in that steel though. I might be wrong.

The other steel that comes to mind is Magnacut, but I'm not sure you will get much of an improvement in edge retention for what you are doing. It is plenty tough and you will get very good stainlessness though.

I think M4 is a pretty good choice for what you are doing. As for sharpening, I would maybe try a more toothy edge. Maybe stop at something like 600 grit (or even coarser) and minimal time on a strop with 1 micron compound to deburr. The more toothy edge will go through strapping a bit easier IME. You could even get something like a DMT Diafold to touch up your edge on your lunch break if you felt it needed it.
 
I also suggest trying your current M4 blade with a more coarse, aggressive edge. I'd try stopping at 400 or 600 grit diamond, with a very light strop on 1 micron to clean up any remaining burr. The toothy edge might out perform your current edge, both in ease of cutting and longevity.

M4 is a great steel choice for what you are cutting. The real wildcard is the thick plastic straps, which like others mentioned could cause chipping issues on Maxamet and or S90V. The only steel that jumps to mind that would be an overall improvement over the M4 would be K390, but it's not an option on the Native and of course it's also not stainless.
 
Strauss95 said:
I also suggest trying your current M4 blade with a more coarse, aggressive edge. I'd try stopping at 400 or 600 grit diamond, with a very light strop on 1 micron to clean up any remaining burr. The toothy edge might out perform your current edge, both in ease of cutting and longevity.

M4 is a great steel choice for what you are cutting. The real wildcard is the thick plastic straps, which like others mentioned could cause chipping issues on Maxamet and or S90V. The only steel that jumps to mind that would be an overall improvement over the M4 would be K390, but it's not an option on the Native and of course it's also not stainless.
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The stainless inst a huge issue. It's just one less thing to think about. The k390 in a native would be amazing! I was thinking of trying the delica in k390.
 
The K390 Delica is a fantastic little knife. I don't have a Delica myself, but a good friend of mine got the K390 version for Xmas and he had me sharpen it for him so I got to spend some time with it. I was able to compare it to my smooth G10 Native 5 in Cruwear. The Native has a more hand filling handle, thus being a bit more comfy in hand, but I preferred the thinner blade stock on the Delica. I was very impressed with how smooth the action was right out of the box, and liked the color of the FRN scales.

Picking between the two of them, I'd take his Delica without question. It helps that I'm a huge K390 fan as it's my favorite steel, but M4 is in my top 5 for sure.
 
I'm with Strauss95.. I work in construction and cut a lot of the same banding, cardboard, and geo.
Geo is a felt like fabric that like a towel thickness. It's Hard on edges. 20' wide and new razor blades will barely cut a full piece, cleanly.

I put a toothy edge on my blades, of all Spyderco steels, and can zip through clean, all day long.

I use the Sharpmaker diamond/CBN rods and strop.. Shaving sharp, yet when working it's like having micro serrations.
 
Jejerusik said:
Some plastic straps are really thin, almost feel like the are perferatted, and it's no issue. Some are extremely thick and require a lot of force. Those are the straps that kill the knife
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I'd seriously consider carrying small side cutters with you for those thick straps. Many places call them "diagonal cutting pliers". The 4 inch cutting pliers don't weigh much.
 
Synov said:
Maxamet is not stainless either, so S110V is clearly what you want. S30V will have the same edge retention as M4.
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True, but S110V is super chippy. Magnacut might be what you want, if you don’t like chippy steel. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think magnacut is chippy.
 
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