Once upon a time, I was on the look out for....

Hurrul

Hurrul

Gold Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Messages
1,352
...that mythical knife steel that I would read about others experiencing...that super something that is portrayed as being as sharp after "hard use" as it was when the "hard use" started....

These days, after jumping onto various particle metal steal band wagons, or drinking one kool - aid after another, I have determined that some knives get dull after a day in the field, but, not all knives loose their edge after a day in the field, or a session of cardboard box breakdown.

To me, the greatest learning is that all edge holding longevity is determined by many reasons, no matter the notable maker/manufacturer working with the current notable steel.

Perhaps the terminology "dull" vs. "losing the edge" are used interchangeably with in the knife community/world? but, they don't mean exactly the same thing?

Thoughts?
 
Hurrul said:
I have determined that some knives get dull after a day in the field, but, not all knives loose their edge after a day in the field, or a session of cardboard box breakdown.
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Blade geometry has a lot to do with the performance.

And one of the nice things about those blades that may not hold an edge for days on end in the field...is that they can often be brought back to sharpness with relative ease. There's a lot to be said for that.

Everything is a trade-off. There is no free lunch.

Personally, I enjoy both, (actually many), types of steel. I love the edge that 52100 takes...and I enjoy the performance that today's "super" steels bring to the equation.

What's not to like?
 
Wowbagger said:
What ? Who me ?
. . . errrrr
What I'm sayin' is M4 !
. . . no . . . more like M4 ! ! !
I'm just saying.
(everything else sucks) ;) :cool:
View attachment 935878
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Not certain about my arithmetic, but my formula so far:
440c+aus-8+1080+5160+aogami super+cpm3v+1095+52100+infi+o1+80crv2+s35vn+vg10+15n20+
aeb-l+a2+sr101+L6+w2+8670+cpm154+aogami blue#2+ct-189+bdn-1+zdp-189+hap40+14c27+s7+
the heart of a dying star= M4

Hopefully forged by elves, or dwarfs, or both.
 
Blues said:
Blade geometry has a lot to do with the performance.

And one of the nice things about those blades that may not hold an edge for days on end in the field...is that they can often be brought back to sharpness with relative ease. There's a lot to be said for that.

Everything is a trade-off. There is no free lunch.

Personally, I enjoy both, (actually many), types of steel. I love the edge that 52100 takes...and I enjoy the performance that today's "super" steels bring to the equation.

What's not to like?
Click to expand...

Agreed - much more to the picture than the steel only.

I have been beguiled by the hype in my past, but over time, the pursuit of understanding the edge through use and maintenance has turned out to be far more gratifying and educational than the name of the blade steel alone. It's easy enough to get caught up in the next shiny something, but in time, learning each knifes personality is it's own kind of reward. A longer lasting appreciation, too.
 
Blues said:
Blade geometry has a lot to do with the performance.

And one of the nice things about those blades that may not hold an edge for days on end in the field...is that they can often be brought back to sharpness with relative ease. There's a lot to be said for that.

Everything is a trade-off. There is no free lunch.

Personally, I enjoy both, (actually many), types of steel. I love the edge that 52100 takes...and I enjoy the performance that today's "super" steels bring to the equation.

What's not to like?
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:
"Blade geometry has a lot to do with the performance."

^ That's becoming my mantra, with the knives I really LIKE using.

I don't worry about whether they're super steels or not, anymore. I've found that most any knife can be vastly improved in cutting ability, just by getting the grind & edge geometry thinned out. And thinning will also make subsequent resharpening much, much simpler and faster, and more so with simpler steels. They become nearly worry-free when they're EASY to resharpen, regardless of the steel type.

A knife in the best supersteel ever produced is nearly worthless to me, if I don't like the blade or edge geometry. Thick blades with thick, obtuse edges don't even go in my pocket anymore, regardless of what steel they're made from.
 
Hurrul said:
Hopefully forged by elves, or dwarfs, or both.
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good luck gettting those guys to work together.

there are so many variables, it seems to me almost impossible. I'm new to "higher end" steels.
having used basic carbon steels, bucks 420, and kershaw 8cr for so long and they did fine for my uses. I'd touch them up when they needed it, but it was quick and painless - and I'd give them a good resharpening once or twice a year.
in the last year, I've added a Kizer VG10 in the mix and Spyder CTS-XHP. both have been impressive thus far - but I havent run them through the paces, yet.

the "paces" include daily tasks like packages and eating lunch, but then cover everything from dressing game and fish, to cutting straps, rope, netting, shingles, trimming PVC, etc and so on
I almost never breakdown cardboard, and when I do, its only a box or two at the most and cant really speak to that.
 
If you put the average pairing knife in a sheath and never read the internet you'd likely be fully satisfied. ;)

I like all manner of steels but I guess I lean toward softer ones and I place far more value in edge geometry than blade composition.
 
Eli Chaps said:
If you put the average pairing knife in a sheath and never read the internet you'd likely be fully satisfied. ;)

I like all manner of steels but I guess I lean toward softer ones and I place far more value in edge geometry than blade composition.
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I keep a (carbon steel) Opinel paring knife alongside a (carbon steel) Mora on a wall mounted magnetic strip in my workshop.

Totally agree that a well honed paring knife would serve well in virtually any capacity, including a very useful belt or neck knife.
 
Blues said:
I keep a (carbon steel) Opinel paring knife alongside a (carbon steel) Mora on a wall mounted magnetic strip in my workshop.

Totally agree that a well honed paring knife would serve well in virtually any capacity, including a very useful belt or neck knife.
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I keep pondering the simple elegant beauty of a folding version of the Victorinox paring knife I've loved using. A single blade of the same length and equally as thin (even thinner than their SAK blades, and with a pointier tip), in their same great steel, and which folds neatly into a slim & light handle. Might be my favorite knife of all, if I ever find one. Some others come pretty close in slicing ability, like a Case Sod Buster Jr. (not quite as thin, and a shorter blade), or an Opinel (again, not as thin). But I've started to view that Vic parer as a 'grail knife', if I could get exactly the same blade in a folder.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
I keep pondering the simple elegant beauty of a folding version of the Victorinox paring knife I've loved using. A single blade of the same length and equally as thin (even thinner than their SAK blades, and with a pointier tip), in their same great steel, and which folds neatly into a slim & light handle. Might be my favorite knife of all, if I ever find one. Some others come pretty close in slicing ability, like a Case Sod Buster Jr. (not quite as thin, and a shorter blade), or an Opinel (again, not as thin). But I've started to view that Vic parer as a 'grail knife', if I could get exactly the same blade in a folder.
Click to expand...

If they're the same as the ones that we have, my wife uses the black plastic handled (non-serrated) and red plastic handled (serrated) Victorinox parers as her EDC go-to knives in the kitchen for any task not requiring something in the 5" range or longer.

For a while I was a bit put off by the flexible blade and that I didn't think the steel took or held a particularly good edge. (I think ours may have been seconds from SMKW many years ago.) But recently I gave them each a good sharpening and the non-serrated version has impressed. I have to touch it up fairly regularly but it's a quick job. (Mostly because, dare I admit it?, I actually enjoy the sharpening. LOL!)

I really like the little paring knives. We have a small Tramontina which we picked up for a dollar at the local old-time, wood floor hardware store in town. It takes and holds a pretty decent edge.

Also have a really nice custom parer that my friend, knife maker Jerry Halfrich, made for us as a gift and sent one day out of the blue. Anything from Jerry is a joy.

Oh, and David, it sounds like you might enjoy a "muskrat" pattern. Long thin blades perfect for "bird and trout" duty...so you know they'll take a fine edge.

Just a thought.
 
I love these insane super steels, not just because they can hold an edge for a life time, but because it's a new experience. I get a lot of satisfaction out of using a new blade steel on a day to day basis. I really think that's what hooked me along the way.

I'm obviously no metallurgist, and maybe I don't understand completely what .2% of niobium does for the steel, but I can compare the blade steels I've used and competently appreciate the differences between them. If you ask me to sharpen 2 unknown blade steels side by side and I was lucky enough to try either out, I bet I could name them just by the way they sharpen up. Or give me a new steel to beat around and I could compare it to what I've had prior experience with.

That's part of the adventure for me. Trying out not only the new designs, but the new materials used as well. We truly live in a new age when it comes to knife steels.
 
Blues said:
If they're the same as the ones that we have, my wife uses the black plastic handled (non-serrated) and red plastic handled (serrated) Victorinox parers as her EDC go-to knives in the kitchen for any task not requiring something in the 5" range or longer.

For a while I was a bit put off by the flexible blade and that I didn't think the steel took or held a particularly good edge. (I think ours may have been seconds from SMKW many years ago.) But recently I gave them each a good sharpening and the non-serrated version has impressed. I have to touch it up fairly regularly but it's a quick job. (Mostly because, dare I admit it?, I actually enjoy the sharpening. LOL!)
Click to expand...

I went through a similar 'initiation' with my Vic parers. I'd bought the red-handled versions in a 3-knife set at a sporting goods retailer for something like $22 for the set. Two plain-edge blades, one a little longer than the other, and a serrated one, which I haven't used much. The two plain-edged knives have been repeatedly sharpened & thinned (even more!) over time, using anything from diamond hones to Arkansas stones. The great thing is, they've responded beautifully to every sharpening media I've put to them (this is really what makes a particular steel wonderful, to me). My favorite, right now, is the longer of the two plain-edged blades; I'm in a very comfortable & happy place with that one, now. Touching it up with a brown/grey ceramic lately, with any other edge resetting work being done on a Fine India. Edge angle is going gradually south of ~ 25° inclusive, and it's getting pretty amazing in it's slicing prowess, like that.

Since I have the other two Vics from the same set, I've also pondered 'sacrificing' one of them to an experiment in a folder conversion. Been thinking of it for a long time, about separating a blade from the handle and seeing what it'd take to make it a folder. One day...
 
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