I guess the first question one should ask is what are you using now to sharpen your knife?
Higher wear resistant steels (usually those with more vanadium) are more popular these days for their "edge retention" they generally require:
- Either more time in sharpening on conventional stones (this is sometimes seen as harder to sharpen)
- Better quality sharpening media.
Edge retention is misused IMO on the forums a lot in stead of wear resistance. More can be read here
Sandvik knife steel knowledge
There are a few things one can do:
- Buy a better quality sharpening media such as diamond stones (diamond stones can sharpen most of everything from conventional steels to the high wear resistant steels such as K390 or S110V),
- Sharpen to lower angles and apply microbevels.
- Do both
Bohler actually this issue in their online FAQ:
KNIFEFREQUENTLY_ASKED_QUESTIONS1.pdf
"What stainless can I easily sharpen in the field?
Of course that depends on your experience, but N690 and N680 are both conventional steels that respond to traditional sharpening techniques. M390 and ELMAX as high carbon and vanadium steels require more advanced sharpening tools and skills."
The above is something I am experiencing more and more with people that are not knife snobs. They love S30V when it is sharp, but cant get it sharp on the old $2 stone. You can get it sharp, but it requires much more skill and understanding of angles.
This is a good article to read IMO that covers a few aspects.
Sharpening How To.
