Vanax Disappointing?

I wanted to revisit this thread a month later to share an update, with credit to Quiet Carry -

I just couldn’t bare to give up on what is supposed to be an awesome knife + great blade steel, so I bought a new sharpening system that’s a little more robust, and completely removed any existing bevel on the edge. Sharpened to 1200 grit and the edge has stayed dead sharp and undamaged for a good while. No signs up chipping up like before.

Sounds like there is good truth to belt sanders cooking the edge from the factory on Vanax. Maybe the first few hand sharpenings can’t get past that burn, but eventually you get down to undamaged steel and end up with a pretty great little knife.

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DeadboxHero said:
Vanax is more prone to making a stubborn burr and I can imagine a production heat treatment with overseas standards can only exacerbate that.

What may be chipping may be a straightened out burr edge that deforms in use which will look like a chowdered up edge.

Stropping with diamond/cBN compound on leather will help mitigate this.
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I recently bought some compound in 1 micron and it seems to work well but I only guessed on which one to buy. What micron compound do you recommend for stropping between sharpenings?
 
Been carrying my Waypoint L for maybe 2 weeks straight (maybe more) as my primary carry, and only just now is the blade getting a little dull in the curve or belly where it transitions from flat to tip. It seems, with the stock edge, to last about how my Benchmade in 154CM would last; so maybe this weekend I might put my first edge on it and see if removing the original edge will make it last longer. I don't see any edge rolling or chips, but I might just strop it first with some diamond compound, or put it to a ceramic rod first.
 
According to Larrin's data, Vanax at 61 Rc would give you about 10 percent more wear resistance than 154cm at 61 Rc, all other things being equal (edge angle, type of use, etc.), which they never are. That advantage would be like getting an extra day out of two weeks' use. Maybe a bit more if your use tests the toughness of your edge.

I think what you might like most is how much easier Vanax is to get a really sharp edge.
 
Larrin said:
Sometimes these issues arise from grinding and/or sharpening by the manufacturer rather than the heat treatment. Some knives show improved performance after several sharpenings.
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Does Vanax SuperClean offer a significant difference compared to the standard Vanax? Is one harder to work with, heat treat, or sharpen than the other?
 
Twindog said:
According to Larrin's data, Vanax at 61 Rc would give you about 10 percent more wear resistance than 154cm at 61 Rc, all other things being equal (edge angle, type of use, etc.), which they never are. That advantage would be like getting an extra day out of two weeks' use. Maybe a bit more if your use tests the toughness of your edge.

I think what you might like most is how much easier Vanax is to get a really sharp edge.
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That's probably about what I'm seeing. I looked at my previous posts and I started carrying the Waypoint L on April 24th, so it has actually been 3 weeks, or starting on 22 days now. My son used to ask me to sharpen his Mini Griptilian in 154CM about once or twice a month, same as with me when I carried a Griptilian or Mini Grip every day with something else as backup.

BUT since I gave him the S90V Bugout for his birthday in January, I have NOT had to sharpen his Bugout even ONCE! Compared to my son's Bugout in S90V, this Vanax edge retention is closer to 154CM as I said before. BTW, when I carried the KA Inkosi in S35VN for 8 weeks straight, I would strop it once every 2-3 weeks, while I'm only just now getting to stropping at 3 weeks with Quietcarry Vanax.
 
Thanks, the Waypoint is a great looking knife - good to know that 154CM is close to the Vanax SuperClean regarding edge retention. 3 weeks is a decent amount of time, assuming you're using it most days.
 
ChicagoCertified said:
Thanks, the Waypoint is a great looking knife - good to know that 154CM is close to the Vanax SuperClean regarding edge retention. 3 weeks is a decent amount of time, assuming you're using it most days.
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Every day. I keep another knife in my front pocket in case I need to cut something that will go in my mouth, but the back pocket carried knife (Waypoint L) is the one I go for anytime I need to cut something or open a box.
 
ChicagoCertified said:
Does Vanax SuperClean offer a significant difference compared to the standard Vanax? Is one harder to work with, heat treat, or sharpen than the other?
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There is one Vanax, “Superclean” is the branding at the end of all of their PM steels. Elmax Superclean, Vanadis 4 Extra Superclean, etc.
 
I have been thoroughly unimpressed with my QC drift. Similar issues to op. My QC nine hasn't had issues. I have some other knives in vanax that don't have the issues my drift has. All anecdotal but maybe this isn't a general vanax issue and more a QC issue with their vanax ht, it is VERY easy to sharpen. 🤷‍♂️
 
Twindog said:
According to Larrin's data, Vanax at 61 Rc would give you about 10 percent more wear resistance than 154cm at 61 Rc, all other things being equal (edge angle, type of use, etc.), which they never are. That advantage would be like getting an extra day out of two weeks' use. Maybe a bit more if your use tests the toughness of your edge.

I think what you might like most is how much easier Vanax is to get a really sharp edge.
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DocJekl said:
That's probably about what I'm seeing. I looked at my previous posts and I started carrying the Waypoint L on April 24th, so it has actually been 3 weeks, or starting on 22 days now. My son used to ask me to sharpen his Mini Griptilian in 154CM about once or twice a month, same as with me when I carried a Griptilian or Mini Grip every day with something else as backup.

BUT since I gave him the S90V Bugout for his birthday in January, I have NOT had to sharpen his Bugout even ONCE! Compared to my son's Bugout in S90V, this Vanax edge retention is closer to 154CM as I said before. BTW, when I carried the KA Inkosi in S35VN for 8 weeks straight, I would strop it once every 2-3 weeks, while I'm only just now getting to stropping at 3 weeks with Quietcarry Vanax.
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On Day #26

So, I did strop the Waypoint L Vanax with green compound after several weeks of use, with little effect. It's still very sharp over 80% of the blade; and just needs that 1/2" area of the belly near the tip to be sharpened after 4 weeks of use.

But rather than go to diamond strop spray, I touched it up for less than 5 minutes on a Spyderco Sharpmaker, and it's back to razor sharp again. Didn't need to breakout the Worksharp and get all crazy with different grits or anything as I ddn't didn't need to reprofile. I just set the rods at 20 degrees per side, and used the stock brown rod and then ceramic rod for a few strokes per side with each. Then stropped for a minute with green compound.

It was easy enough that maybe my DBK diamond spray on my new strop would have been just fine after all.
 
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DocJekl said:
On Day #26

So, I did strop the Waypoint L Vanax with green compound after several weeks of use, with little effect. It's still very sharp over 80% of the blade; and just needs that 1/2" area of the belly near the tip to be sharpened after 4 weeks of use.

But rather than go to diamond strop spray, I touched it up for less than 5 minutes on a Spyderco Sharpmaker, and it's back to razor sharp again. Didn't need to breakout the Worksharp and get all crazy with different grits or anything as I ddn't didn't need to reprofile. I just set the rods at 20 degrees per side, and used the stock brown rod and then ceramic rod for a few strokes per side with each. Then stropped for a minute with green compound.

It was easy enough that maybe my DBK diamond spray on my new strop would have been just fine after all.
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This Vanax blade was harder to strop with green crayon compound applied to the strop than my 154CM Kizer-made oKnife Rubato 2 or my S35VN Inkosi was today when I had to get them back up to snuff. I didn't see any rolls on the QC Vanax before I touched it up on the Sharpmaker for a few minutes, and it also didn't take forever to sharpen like my old Mini Griptilians in 154CM did when those got dull.
 
I also just went through and sharpened my S35VN inkosi + QC Drift this weekend, also with the green crayon compound on a strop. Both at 18 DPS, I can get a burr to form on the Vanax a bit before I can get one on the S35VN. I didn’t need to sharpen either knife really, but they seem just a hair better after the touch up. They both sharpen up great of course, but that Vanax gets sharper than anything I’ve had before, it’s a paper towel shredder now. Really loving the knife now that I’ve gotten rid of the burnt edge.
 
scoobtay said:
I also just went through and sharpened my S35VN inkosi + QC Drift this weekend, also with the green crayon compound on a strop. Both at 18 DPS, I can get a burr to form on the Vanax a bit before I can get one on the S35VN. I didn’t need to sharpen either knife really, but they seem just a hair better after the touch up. They both sharpen up great of course, but that Vanax gets sharper than anything I’ve had before, it’s a paper towel shredder now. Really loving the knife now that I’ve gotten rid of the burnt edge.
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Mine got extremely razor sharp with the Sharpmaker with just a few strokes. I just wasn't getting the desired results with my green compound on the strop like I did with the Inkosi and Kizer. Weird.
 
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