Taking a break from "super steels"... and I'm really enjoying it so far

I have also forgone super steels. I can get 440 varieties of steel much sharper and i can much more easily maintain that level of sharpness. Anything harder to sharpen than s30v and i have lost interest. Sure is it nice to only have to sharpen once a month instead of once a week? Sure. But that all goes to hell when it takes me five times as long to bring that edge back and still not be as sharp as my cheaper knives.
 
What steels are taking you 5 times longer? All of my wear resistant steels sharpen up much faster than my 440 or 420HC varieties.
 
I think ultimately it depends on the equipment you have available and the skill.

Personally I have one unidentifiable oil stone so my carbon steels and softer stainless sharpen up much more readily than much harder tool steels and super stainless.
It also depends on how much you wear down an edge before resharpening.

Some people keep all of their knives stropped and only have to swipe it a few times on each side to maintain their edge, I'm not that guy.. (yet!)
 
i suppose i am too. :D thing is a slip joint with a thin 1095 blade can take a lot of abuse, and can whittle hardwood better than a sup made to split hair four times. my 1095 GEC can go through bamboo with no rolls or chips whereas a super with too fine an edge will surely get damaged.
 
sodak said:
What steels are taking you 5 times longer? All of my wear resistant steels sharpen up much faster than my 440 or 420HC varieties.
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ELMAX doesn't take much longer to sharpen on a 600 grit DMT hone than say, 1095. However S30V takes noticeably longer. *shrugs*

I don't think it usually makes a big difference in time spent sharpening, like to say they take a long time or something... I'd say that some steels just sharpen up faster because they're very fine-grained and take that razor refinement sooner in the process. But they don't even have to be super steels to take longer. My 1095 Izula gets a super refined edge much more readily than the 440C one does. I think that has more to do with hardness levels personally.
 
KennyB said:
ELMAX doesn't take much longer to sharpen on a 600 grit DMT hone than say, 1095. However S30V takes noticeably longer. *shrugs*

I don't think it usually makes a big difference in time spent sharpening, like to say they take a long time or something... I'd say that some steels just sharpen up faster because they're very fine-grained and take that razor refinement sooner in the process. But they don't even have to be super steels to take longer. My 1095 Izula gets a super refined edge much more readily than the 440C one does. I think that has more to do with hardness levels personally.
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You should look into getting a strop. Makes the job easy.
 
Screwdriver said:
Now this is just my opinion, but I feel that 98% of the people on BF's do not need a super steel, it is more of a want thing. I mean the majority of the knives I see posted here with super steels have probably cut nothing more then a piece of paper. But super steels sell knives.
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Of course. Just like no one "needs" a Ferrari or a Mercedes (or a pick-up truck for that matter). It is nice to have them. And they do have their advantages.
 
KennyB said:
ELMAX doesn't take much longer to sharpen on a 600 grit DMT hone than say, 1095. However S30V takes noticeably longer. *shrugs*

I don't think it usually makes a big difference in time spent sharpening, like to say they take a long time or something... I'd say that some steels just sharpen up faster because they're very fine-grained and take that razor refinement sooner in the process. But they don't even have to be super steels to take longer. My 1095 Izula gets a super refined edge much more readily than the 440C one does. I think that has more to do with hardness levels personally.
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I agree with you, but also have found that the edge thickness plays a large part in sharpening time for me.
 
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