Over the weekend, I took it upon myself to do a little early Spring cleaning as I came across a bunch of large postal service boxes and other large cardboard boxes from the holidays. Lots of cardboard plus sharp Military in pocket equals lots of fun for a knife nut. I had previously sharpened this knife to a 1000 grit, 18 dps edge using the Wicked Edge (WEPS) which results in a laser edge that performs wave cuts in phone book paper effortlessly.
There were at least 4 or 5 large postal service boxes which has not the thickest cardboard but still heavy duty. And there were another 5 or so large boxes with much thicker and nastier cardboard that was much harder to get through. I broke each of these down into the smallest pieces possible to make disposal easier and for the hell of it. So there was a lot of cutting going on for a couple hours.
After I finished the first half of turning boxes into confetti, I got out some phone book paper and I was impressed that it was still slicing like before I started. After all the boxes were finished, I did some more phone book paper slicing and there were no snags or hitches. If you're used to really sharp edges, you know that "quietness" you get with a laser edge and phone book paper so in the end, it was maybe just a touch louder but you know what I mean. I have to say I was really impressed.
For the touch-up, I placed the knife back into my recorded settings for the WEPS and put on the 1000 grit stones. Now my stones have over 150 knives on them, and they are like glass, virtually no metal removal with these so I was skeptical. Well about 10 or so light passes on each side and I felt that beautiful, sticky sharpness on the edge. Now I was even more impressed. I think I ended up making 20 light passes per side, and now the blade is back to doing S-cuts with ease. (Swig of beer for the WEPS too)
In conclusion, with the many choices of steels on the market today, S30V is one that we've frankly gotten bored with. I'd have to say Spyderco has perfected this steel, and it may be the best bang for your buck steel out there. Great edge retention for all-purpose use with easy touch-up without breaking the bank. So swig of beer for Spyderco's S30V and to the Military, one of the finest cutting tools on the market.
There were at least 4 or 5 large postal service boxes which has not the thickest cardboard but still heavy duty. And there were another 5 or so large boxes with much thicker and nastier cardboard that was much harder to get through. I broke each of these down into the smallest pieces possible to make disposal easier and for the hell of it. So there was a lot of cutting going on for a couple hours.
After I finished the first half of turning boxes into confetti, I got out some phone book paper and I was impressed that it was still slicing like before I started. After all the boxes were finished, I did some more phone book paper slicing and there were no snags or hitches. If you're used to really sharp edges, you know that "quietness" you get with a laser edge and phone book paper so in the end, it was maybe just a touch louder but you know what I mean. I have to say I was really impressed.
For the touch-up, I placed the knife back into my recorded settings for the WEPS and put on the 1000 grit stones. Now my stones have over 150 knives on them, and they are like glass, virtually no metal removal with these so I was skeptical. Well about 10 or so light passes on each side and I felt that beautiful, sticky sharpness on the edge. Now I was even more impressed. I think I ended up making 20 light passes per side, and now the blade is back to doing S-cuts with ease. (Swig of beer for the WEPS too)
In conclusion, with the many choices of steels on the market today, S30V is one that we've frankly gotten bored with. I'd have to say Spyderco has perfected this steel, and it may be the best bang for your buck steel out there. Great edge retention for all-purpose use with easy touch-up without breaking the bank. So swig of beer for Spyderco's S30V and to the Military, one of the finest cutting tools on the market.
