Spyderco H1 Edge Retention?

verisharp

verisharp

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Jan 15, 2011
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I have heard that spyderco H1 steel has absolutely NO edge retention, and will loose its edge with just minor use... Is this true?
 
h1 is ok but i found out that it does best with a coarse edge. i put an 80 grit edge on an h1 salt for a member and it would shave hair and will probably hold the edge a lot better than a finer edge.
 
ive heard its great at holding an edge in serrated blades. It seems like it would make a great choice for a full se knife add that to its corrosion resistance.
 
It does seem to perform optimally in SE format. Sal said that, in serrated form, H1 had the best edge retention of ANY steel they tested.
 
The best thing you can do is get a knife and try it for your intended usage.

That said, I have a couple of Aqua Salts, and the edge retention is okay for my usage. I use them for things like yard work or kitchen use, where the edge sees dirt or cutting boards, which affects any knife.

Also, the Aqua Salt sheath has a design flaw that causes it to dull the edge. The sheath is FRN, and the edge makes contact when inserting/removing the knife, so you're basically constantly scraping fiberglas with it. This makes it hard to judge edge retention for normal usage.

H1 is super easy to sharpen, so if you can carry a small stone with you for extended use (like camping, fishing, etc.), you'll be okay. If you want an EDC knife that you only need to sharpen once a year, it's probably not for you.
 
richard j said:
h1 is ok but i found out that it does best with a coarse edge. i put an 80 grit edge on an h1 salt for a member and it would shave hair and will probably hold the edge a lot better than a finer edge.
Click to expand...

Good to know. I have an aqua salt coming this week, I'll try the edge at 250 grit, 800 grit and 4000 grit to see if I also notice the difference.
 
richard j said:
h1 is ok but i found out that it does best with a coarse edge. i put an 80 grit edge on an h1 salt for a member and it would shave hair and will probably hold the edge a lot better than a finer edge.
Click to expand...

Oddly enough, I'm fairly certain spyderco uses a little bit more than an 80 grit belt... but hey, what do they know anyway?
 
jimnolimit, i would start out coarser than 250 but first i would give the factory edge a try first and see how it holds up. the one i was sent was in need of sharpening and had a somewhat fine edge so i went coarser and then finished the edge off with the slotted paper wheel.
 
H1 is work hardened. So while the spine is malleable, and the blade can be bent 90 degrees, the edge has a hardness of 62 IIRC. It does lag behind VG-10 on plain edge versions, but for serrated edges the edge retention is about the same between the two steels.
 
jimnolimit said:
Good to know. I have an aqua salt coming this week, I'll try the edge at 250 grit, 800 grit and 4000 grit to see if I also notice the difference.
Click to expand...

Unless you buy a custom sheath that doesn't have the issue I mention above, don't bother. Seriously, you can see the edge damage after removing/inserting the knife into the sheath 2-3 times.
 
Hombre Secreto said:
Unless you buy a custom sheath that doesn't have the issue I mention above, don't bother. Seriously, you can see the edge damage after removing/inserting the knife into the sheath 2-3 times.
Click to expand...

That's also good to know. If I have any clearance issues I'll try to sort it out. I wish they used kydex, then I could just heat it up and re-shape it a little. I'll see how everything fits when I get it.
 
I think PE H1 holds an edge just fine. I sharpened my Salt 1 on the Sharpmaker's medium, fine and ultra fine rods at 30 degrees and it was able to cut up an entire roomful of carpet just fine. It seems to keep a good working edge for some time. And, the softness of H1 provided no chips in the blade and made re-sharpening pretty easy.
 
In my experience this is not true. H1 has better edge retention than a typical SAK, again, in my experience. I don't hear many complaints about saks. H1 is a breeze to sharpen. A few swipes on the stone (fill in your favorite sharpenning system here) and you're back to razor sharp. Talk about a maintenance free, rust proof steel:D
 
Somewhere on the testing forum there a member did a cardboard test with an h1 salt vs a vg-10 delica both serrated and plain edge, in the plain edge test h1 lagged behind with around aus-8 edge retention, but in the serrated comparison they were equal. This is due to H1's work hardening, the more it is sharpened (on a belt grinder) or used (hard enough to produce enough friction to heat up the blade) the harder it will get and start climbing in HRC's I want to say the plain edge salt is around 57-58, and the serrated edge due to the extra grinding of the serration is 60-62, thats why spyderco can't do FFG h1, it gets too hard and wears out belts.
 
michaelm466 said:
thats why spyderco can't do FFG h1, it gets too hard and wears out belts.
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I had read that it's because the high heat causes the blade to warp, which is why they can only hollow-grind them, since this is done on both sides of the blade, simultaneously and symmetrically.
 
richard j said:
jimnolimit, i would start out coarser than 250 but first i would give the factory edge a try first and see how it holds up. the one i was sent was in need of sharpening and had a somewhat fine edge so i went coarser and then finished the edge off with the slotted paper wheel.
Click to expand...

the lowest grit i have is 200 diamond or 250 stone, but i should have some 120 grit sanding belt in my locker at work. i'll try the factory edge but i usually wipe the edges on most of my knives right after getting them (i have a good amount of equipment and a bit of experience sharpening). i keep 250 and 1200 grit water stones at work plus i have literally tons of cardboard to cut if i want. i'll try to do some testing on one of my lunch breaks next week.
 
I find that it loses the shaving sharp edge faster than some other premium steels, but keeps a working edge quite well.
 
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