Steels that your opinions changed on?

Earl1 said:
For me it is 8cr13mov. I had never used before but with the all the negative about it i simply avoided it.
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Same. Until a bought a Kershaw Skyline from Walmart when I was vacationing out of state years ago. I was very surprised with it’s performance and it has now become one of my favorite budget steels:thumbsup:
 
Haa...coming into this thread I was curious if my thoughts would be a lone voice. Chuckling seeing a number of similar sentiments. Used to be snobby to the "lesser" steels, but now for everyday use gravitate towards them. As has been said...quicker/easier to touch up to great shape.
 
dkb45 said:
Most of us have tried out a lot of steels. It takes a minute, but once you get a good feel for a steel, you know if you like it or not. Sometimes, though, your opinions change wildly. I'm curious if anybody else has had this happen.

I used to almost detest S30V. Wouldn't hold a keen edge for more than a sneeze worth of cutting, not even the hair popping 600 grit edge would stay. Found out diamond stones and strops were the solution. Since I've started using those, S30V went from one of my least favorite steels to something I respect the hell out of, I can see why it's the go to starter super steel.

I've also had an opinion go the other way. M390 and kin, started out with it being described as Elmax but higher edge retention, and I already loved Elmax. With light use, it seemed great, and performed a lot like S30V but was easier to sharpen, and still held an edge longer with heavy use. Then I started using all diamonds, and S30V started to shine, but M390 stayed exactly the same. Keen edge lost almost immediately, working edge held for a good while, but there's an immediate loss of ease of cutting. I don't hate the steel now, but I don't hold it in the same regard as all the other super steels, I really just prefer less tendency to working edges and a linear dulling scale.
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Not familiar with some steels like Elmax, 154 cm, and S30V among others. But from what I can tell in my experiences I hate Aus 8 as I have had chipping issues with it just whittling soft pine branches a qtr inch thick. I really became fond of VG10 after finding the ease of sharpening and good edge retention for a non super steel.
 
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Always heard that the 3G/SG-2/R-2 steels are brittle and chip out easily. Mostly from Fällknivens 3G (mis)users I guess..

Got a super thin chef's knife from Takamura 6 months ago in R-2 steel. 63-64 HRC. I'm using this knife everyday in the kitchen and I've not needed to sharpen it once, still going strong! Very easy maintenance, just wash it in hot water with a brush and soap, rinse of the soap and give it a couple of shakes to get most of the water of. And then back on the knife rack, never seen a spec of rust.

Can't believe I've used mediocre steels in the knife I definitely use the most all these years! It blows my old Victorinox chef's knife out of the water..
 
AlphaDog86 said:
Same. Until a bought a Kershaw Skyline from Walmart when I was vacationing out of state years ago. I was very surprised with it’s performance and it has now become one of my favorite budget steels:thumbsup:
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The Skyline is in 14C28N the Skyline XL is in 8Cr13MoV and while I will admit that 8Cr13MoV can be an adequate steel I typically find it not done well so I tend to avoid it.
 
Joshua1973 said:
I hate Aus 8 as I have had chipping issues with it just whittling soft pine branches a qtr inch thick.
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What knife(s) or brand(s) did you have bad AUS-8 experiences with? I’m curious because I’ve beat the living crap out of mine (SOG) without chipping. Sure they’ll visit the Sharpmaker more frequently than some of my other blades, but mever for chipping.
 
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