Realistic expectations for edge retention

Buy or make your own leather strop. Give the strop a light coating of diamond spray ( 1 mic or thereabouts, I use product called Gunny Juice ), or the green Chromium oxide paste and give your knife a light strop at the end of the day. Its a 1 minute job that will bring your edge back to the level of sharpness you are after. A stropping will also remove any undetected burr that might also be causing the blade to lose sharpness quickly. I was a bit hit and miss on the sharpmaker until I bought a cheap handheld microscope and viewed the edges I was creating. Was making the no. 1 mistake, leaving bits of burr on the apex.
By doing this, regardless of the steel, VG10, 440C, S30V, D2 or any of the growing list of new you beaut latest and greatest, the knife will perform the following day to your expectations.
This however, does require a quality edge on the knife in the first place and not all factory edges are on the money.
Obviously if you are cutting through concrete bricks, or slicing steel cables or perhaps prying open tank doors, you might need a little more work done to the edge at the end of the day.
If you lightly strop your edge daily, it will remove any tarnish, patina, dirt rust etc and the edge will only require the odd touch up on a finishing stone when the strop is no longer doing the job.
 
I no longer test the sharpness of the blades with paper or shaving... I touch the edge with my fingertips and if it feels enough... it is enough. I don't use my knives hard (usually) so they stay sharp for a long time. Once in a while they are stropped and if I feel like sharpening, a few swipes on a DMT fine suffices.

For reprofiling or really damaged edges I use a guided system.

I realised that once you start cutting stuff, they blades no longer shave. And trying to keep them shaving sharp the whole time is an exercise in frustration, Shaving with a mirror edge is nice for showing off but in real life does not perform much better than a coarser edge (correctly apex-ed). IMHO

Mikel
 
Stockman said:
Buy or make your own leather strop.
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I second this. I had made it a personal hobby to see how sharp I could get my knives, and I could get them incredibly sharp enough to slice thin paper with no resistance, but like you said it would lose the edge quickly after cutting something. After reading up on it found out I was creating a super sharp burr on the edge that would fold over easily then not feel sharp any more. Removing the burr with a strop will remedy this. Also, I like to use a tungsten welding electrode as a sharpening steel as it also will help deburr and leave a really fine toothy edge that I like. Honestly though, I have everything from 3cr13 to S30V and M390 and all of them will eventually dull from use, especially if you like to keep them hair popping sharp, and I tend to like something that I can return to sharpness easily as opposed to extreme edge retention, because I enjoy sharpening anyway 😄
 
I think that next year Carothers Performance Knives-CPK will be making a folder in D3V steel. Try to get one of them. D3V steel laughs at staples and lemon seeds. I've cut hardwood and polymer with my D3V fixed blades with no problems. I accidently slammed the edge of one of my CPK fixed blades on the steel handle of my sons welding machine and couldn't see anything wrong with the edge, even under magnification I could not even see a scratch.
 
I agree with 000Robert 000Robert
get some 3V.

I haven't tried Nathan's Delta yet..... each year that gets harder and harder.
But Mine, I have.... Heat treated by Bos.

Just last night I almost cut the tip of my finger off with 3V. Of all things, trying to put an edge on it....... Seeking perfection definitely has its Cost.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
I agree with 000Robert 000Robert
get some 3V.

I haven't tried Nathan's Delta yet..... each year that gets harder and harder.
But Mine, I have.... Heat treated by Bos.

Just last night I almost cut the tip of my finger off with 3V. Of all things, trying to put an edge on it....... Seeking perfection definitely has its Cost.
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I'm hooked on CPK D3V steel. I even love the sound and feel of my diamond stones gliding across D3V steel.
I would recommend you try the DEK1 first. There's a couple sold here every week or so. Or you can wait until the Friday sales from the most recent preorder start dropping and pick up a DEK2, which is a thicker and beefier DEK1. They are a good size for EDC with a 4.5" blade. Or you can snag a DEK3. And if you don't like it, you won't have any problems selling it.
 
000Robert said:
I'm hooked on CPK D3V steel. I even love the sound and feel of my diamond stones gliding across D3V steel.
I would recommend you try the DEK1 first. There's a couple sold here every week or so. Or you can wait until the Friday sales from the most recent preorder start dropping and pick up a DEK2, which is a thicker and beefier DEK1. They are a good size for EDC with a 4.5" blade. Or you can snag a DEK3. And if you don't like it, you won't have any problems selling it.
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I almost preordered a 3... idk if I am going ot regret not doing so?

Honestly, I think his Kephart is calling me.
Or a future Chopper, or something in D2. But most likely the Kephart. (I'm not a choil & thumb ramp guy) I know they are prob very comfortable, but the looks of the thumb ramps weird me out for some reason??? I don't like harpoon's either.
I hope Nathan doesn't ever make one. ;P
 
Crag the Brewer said:
I almost preordered a 3... idk if I am going ot regret not doing so?

Honestly, I think his Kephart is calling me.
Or a future Chopper, or something in D2. But most likely the Kephart. (I'm not a choil & thumb ramp guy) I know they are prob very comfortable, but the looks of the thumb ramps weird me out for some reason??? I don't like harpoon's either.
I hope Nathan doesn't ever make one. ;P
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I don't mind a small sharpening choil but I don't like large choils. The CPK thumb ramp is very nice. I don't usually like them much either, but I love the CPK thumb ramps.
If I were still hunting and camping, I would have a Kephart also. But I might get it in AEB-L.
 
000Robert said:
I think that next year Carothers Performance Knives-CPK will be making a folder in D3V steel. Try to get one of them. D3V steel laughs at staples and lemon seeds. I've cut hardwood and polymer with my D3V fixed blades with no problems. I accidently slammed the edge of one of my CPK fixed blades on the steel handle of my sons welding machine and couldn't see anything wrong with the edge, even under magnification I could not even see a scratch.
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Ive been wishing Spyderco would make a 3V folder with this heat treat protocol. Not a CPK, but I have a Survive! Knives 4.5 bushcraft with it and its amazing.

For me, toughness is more important than wear resistance. I dont do anything crazy with my stuff but I have found that ide rather have a little deformation than micro chipping. I find it easier to remove fine deformations compared to micro chips.

Shaving sharp is my test to see if I have effectively sharpened and edge. When it can do that on both sides, I am done. Clean slicing of paper is my working edge test. I dont ever let anything get to the point where it wont do that. When my stuff hits that point, I touch up. I run a small convexed micro bevel on my knives and that also seems to have drastically increased my edge retention.

I have noticed that because of the way I sharpen and when, I almost never have to re-profile an edge. I have carried the same Military almost every day for 5 years and due to my system, the shoulder of the edge is still factory. To see where I have actually sharpened, you have to turn the blade just right in the light.

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Riz! said:
Ive been wishing Spyderco would make a 3V folder with this heat treat protocol. Not a CPK, but I have a Survive! Knives 4.5 bushcraft with it and its amazing.

For me, toughness is more important than wear resistance. I dont do anything crazy with my stuff but I have found that ide rather have a little deformation than micro chipping. I find it easier to remove fine deformations compared to micro chips.
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Toughness is what matters most to me as well. That's why I love D3V steel with the Delta protocol heat treat.

Riz! said:
Shaving sharp is my test to see if I have effectively sharpened and edge. When it can do that on both sides, I am done. Clean slicing of paper is my working edge test. I dont ever let anything get to the point where it wont do that. When my stuff hits that point, I touch up. I run a small convexed micro bevel on my knives and that also seems to have drastically increased my edge retention.
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I'm not ODC about shaving sharp. I normally just strop until I start losing a good working edge, then I'll resharpen the blade. I am OCD about removing steel if it ain't necessary.

Riz! said:
I have noticed that because of the way I sharpen and when, I almost never have to re-profile an edge. I have carried the same Military almost every day for 5 years and due to my system, the shoulder of the edge is still factory. To see where I have actually sharpened, you have to turn the blade just right in the light.
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I use one of my Wicked Edge sharpeners and get perfect edge bevels.
 
Paper slicing is ok if that is all you want to do but not all that much of a test. Go for a good working edge. Slice up a 2x4 and see how that works for a test. Sharpening ability counts more that super duper steel.. . Blade thickness etc. Thiner blades cut better than thick blades. Do not believe everything you see on Utube. Just my ideas.
 
I'm of firm belief that unless you are someone who uses their pocket knife as a tool for your everyday job, you will not be able to tell the difference between steels outside of corrosion. Of course, anyone would notice the difference between "Surgical Stainless" and Magnacut. But for the most part, most modern steels will do the job you need to do. In fact, I feel like a lot of people would prefer VG-10 or "yesteryear's super steels" to the modern steels if they actually use them decent amounts. Simply because the sharpening process is usually a lot easier. Example: compare Maxamet to VG-10 for sharpening. Of course, extreme example but you get the point.

VG-10 is usually even overkill for most people's EDC needs. You may dull it if you cut harder or more abrasive materials, but box tape and cardboard should still leave VG-10 with a working edge for a long time.
 
Slice O Life said:
I'm of firm belief that unless you are someone who uses their pocket knife as a tool for your everyday job, you will not be able to tell the difference between steels outside of corrosion. Of course, anyone would notice the difference between "Surgical Stainless" and Magnacut. But for the most part, most modern steels will do the job you need to do. In fact, I feel like a lot of people would prefer VG-10 or "yesteryear's super steels" to the modern steels if they actually use them decent amounts. Simply because the sharpening process is usually a lot easier. Example: compare Maxamet to VG-10 for sharpening. Of course, extreme example but you get the point.

VG-10 is usually even overkill for most people's EDC needs. You may dull it if you cut harder or more abrasive materials, but box tape and cardboard should still leave VG-10 with a working edge for a long time.
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My diamond stones fear no steel.
 
VG10 is fine for most purposes and is easily resharpened.

The edge on harder steels lasts much longer but is much harder to resharpen when needed and, even w/diamond rods/stones it still takes longer to resharpen harder steels than it does VG10.

Just depends what is more important to you.
 
Many high end Japanese kitchen knives use VG10, so I would assume that it should be fine for food prep. My guess is that the edge is burned, or perhaps it has burr that's folded over. Sharpen it a couple times and see how it does.
 
I asked my brother, who's a mechanical engineer, what occurs when a knife cuts?
When you cut something. The cut material doesn't fall down or scatter it disappears, best way to watch this in action is to cut a piece of cardboard all the way through, where does the piece go. He told me what's happening is the knife is cutting through millions upon millions of molecular levels that disintegrate as the knife works its way though. That's why the cut piece is not there. Why the story? --- as long as your edge still does this, then you're A-ok
 
I'm not sure if I agree to the latest discussion in this thread, in that

1. The difference in terms of the amount of time needed with free hand sharpening M390 and VG-10 to the sharpness of slicing phonebook paper, with diamond stones and diamond paste strops, is actually very small.

2. Cardboard will dull a VG-10 blade noticeably faster than say K390. I don't think a working edge of VG-10 can last long if cutting cardboard.

3. To me wear resistance is still more important than toughness for folding knives. Larger fixed blades would be the opposite.
 
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