steel quality

[gearedout]

I'm, sure opinions vary greatly. Is there a general consensus on which steel is best for keeping an edge on often used blades?

 

[1966c10]

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[1966c10]

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[HuntBomb]

^-Haha
Whatever knife I don't have to constantly sharpen. M390 being my new favorite.

 

[knarfeng]

steel quality

Wrong terminology.

You want to know about "Steel Performance" not "Steel Quality".

"Quality" is how well the alloy meets its specification, not how it performs. From your text, you are asking about "performance", a specific performance: edge retention.

I'm told that CPM S90V is extremely good.
I've tried M390 and that holds an edge extremely well.
CPM M4 also holds an edge extremely well.

 

[michaelm466]

It also depends on if you're talking custom knives for production, the super high end exotic steels such as K390, K294, S110V, 10V etc will be some of the top performers in edge holding, however you have to have a custom made knife to get these steels. In production knives, Knarfeng mentioned are the top performers, IME CPM-S90V and CTS-20CP are at the top followed by Bohler M390 and CPM-M4 are the top 4 performers in production knives, M390 and M4 being more common and attainable, the other two only found in Spyderco Sprints so far. Both M390 and CPM-M4 are great steels, M4 is tougher but more prone to corrosion (though I haven't had any problems with it on the 4 knives I have it in, only one is coated) and M390 while not as tough is very rust resistant. M390 can be found in the Benchmade 581 and 755, as well as in a yet to be released, Spyderco Military and Para-Military 2 sprint. CPM-M4 can be found the Excellent Spyderco Gayle Bradley, as well as a couple other sprints from both BM and Spyderco. There will also be a future sprint of CTS-204P in the Spyderco Para 2, which is carpenters equivalent to M390 which should be up there with M390 as well. For further reading check out Ankersons thread in the Review and testing section ranking/categorizing steel by its edge holding abilities.

 

[shunsui]

There are a few threads on that topic in another subforum. This one is probably the sort of thing you'd like.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...based-on-Edge-Retention-cutting-5-8-quot-rope

 

[jimmyd1982]

Just remember that these steels that excel in edge retention don't do as well in toughness. If your asking this question to help you decide what knife to buy consider what you might use it for. Every knife will eventually need to be sharpened so if you plan to use it for something other than cutting paper you might want to look at a steel that will roll instead of chip.