I get a kick out of blade guys discussing steels. " I've been using CPM-OLD, and it is OK, but how about XYZ?", ...."No, ABC is better, John D. Biguy uses it.",...."Naw, I heard UPYRS can slice up Woolly Bears better than both of those.",...." What if you make MNO sort of like XYZ, wouldn't that be cool!"
It is sometimes like the nerdy guys in the comic book shop arguing about supermodels and saying, " Gisele is sexier than Heidi.", and the next guy saying, "I'd throw them both out of bed for Kate.". Truth is these guys will most likely never get the chance to compare any of them, .......umm, the steel guys, I mean. The comic book shop guys got no chance with pretty much any gal.
Most modern knife steels will make a superb knife. Most modern knife steels are not "plug and play". You have to learn what makes them shine and how to feature that attribute. This takes practice, testing, and recordkeeping, as well as sticking to one steel for the most part.
The guy who spent 30 years married to his cute high school sweetheart and learned how to ring every chime on her is probably much happier than the guy who dated the entire cheerleader squad and now has three unhappy divorces, or the fellow who had one frustrating and expensive date with Heidi Klum.....metallurgically speaking, of course
I'm looking forward to when the NBBT in knifemaking ( next bigger and better thing) is how well you can work a chosen steel not what is the new hot steel of choice by Spyderco.
I still stand by my oft repeated recommendation - "For most knifemakers, three steels can make 99.9% of any knife you would ever want. IF you learn how to work them properly." Find the three that fit you and your equipment. Get them from a reliable source and in enough quantity to assure consistent results. Learn their every trait and secret in HT and edge ability.
One simple carbon type ( eg. 1084,5160/O-1)
One high carbon type ( eg. 1095/W2/Hitachi white/52100)
One high alloy stainless type ( eg. K390/CPM-S35VN/elmax/AEBL/etc.)
There is one knifemaking tool that hardly ever gets mention in these discussions, and that is a good 20X loupe. Looking at a magnified edge is very revealing. The difference between two good cutting edges can be huge under magnification. The difference in wear can also tell you a lot. A cheap used binocular microscope is great, too. They can be found surplus for very little. To phrase it in simple koan, "You can't observe what you can't see."
The good thing about these discussions is that we are talking metallurgy and testing.....based on actual user info about tweaking HT and sharpening techniques. Even if you never date your particular favorite supermodel, it is nice to learn what "bedroom secrets" the fellows who run in her circles find out about her, and try them out on your AEBL sweetheart .....metallurgically speaking, of course
Difficult to sharpen....I can sure see why! From what I have gathered from the "interweb", everyone said the same thing. I'm guessing it would be like sharpening a very hard stainless steel, which is a downer, because I like the relative ease of sharpening the more simple carbon steels. To be honest, the steel's ability is probably above MY ability to turn it into a nice knife! A case of the clay molding the potter, perhaps?
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