Shirogorov and their Elmax steel, any experiences?

[Veen89q]

Hello Everyone, i am planning to buy a new shirogorov 95T-Pattern with Elmax steel blade, now i just got told that Elmax steel from shirogorov is a real drama. gets blunt very quick. he said it had something to do with their hardening proces. does someone here has experiences with Elmax steel on a shirogorov knife?

thanks in advance!

Best regards,


Michael

 

[Jason B.]

I have sharpened one in S30V some time ago, I remember it being some of the hardest and well heat treated S30V blades I've had the pleasure of sharpening. With that type of first experience I would say they put more effort into heat treatment than most any other maker I have experienced.

That said, if you polish the edge of an elmax blade too much it's edge retention is rather poor. In my few years of using and sharpening Elmax steel I have found and 800-1000 grit waterstone tends to produce the best edge.

I strongly suspect a sharpening issue from whoever told you that information.

 

[SVTFreak]

Not my experience. I have a hati and a nudist f95 in elmax and both get light saber sharp and maintain that edge very well. The hati, especially, but that could be because I re profiled it fully on the sharp maker. Maybe that angle suits it better?

My experience is their elmax is incredible. I use my hati. It is one of the, if not the best performing steel for my needs that I've found yet. Get very sharp, stays very sharp, hasn't chipped on me. It did roll pretty good one time when I was cutting on a glass surface (yeah yeah, I know) but about 5 swipes on the white stone and it was perfect again. I was so happy with it that I actively looked for my f95 in elmax passing up better deals on other steels.

 

[SVTFreak]

That said, if you polish the edge of an elmax blade too much it's edge retention is rather poor. In my few years of using and sharpening Elmax steel I have found and 800-1000 grit waterstone tends to produce the best edge.

I strongly suspect a sharpening issue from whoever told you that information.

Makes sense. I don't polish my edges. Sharp maker white stone on flat side until slices copy paper with a little dust from a slightly toothy edge and I'm done.

Sorry, don't know the technical terms for all that or what grit or anything. It's just the edge I've found that works for me on what I do lol

 

[shady A.M.]

I've got three Shiros, all with different steels: Elmax, Vanax35 and S90V. Vanax35 and Elmax have considerable corrosion resistance, especially with the finish that Shirogorov puts on their blades. My blades constantly get carried IWB so they get a lot of exposure to sweat and they never seem to rust.

Edge retention on the Elmax has been pretty good. I've cut quite a bit of cardboard and done some sharpness tests on paper and some other items. I usually just touch the edge up on a DMT green (1200) bench stone. If it's really bad I'll start with a DMT 600. I attempted to polish the edges on the Elmax and S90V with a Norton 4000/8000 waterstone that I use for my straights but I didn't have much luck at getting it "shaving" sharp. Both the Elmax and S90V seem to take a quick, sharp, toothy edge with anything between the Medium-Fine range. I can get Elmax to pop hairs off my arm with a few passes on a Medium or Fine stone.