What is the hardest steel to sharpen?

ZDP is pretty hard. So is D2. Depends on how bad the factory grind is I guess.
 
The knives that take me forever to sharpen even on my edge pro make me sad for those without one.
 
Roger999 said:
The most wear resistant/hardest steel I have is CPM-S30V :(.
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Oh S30V is not bad at all! Took about 30 minutes to reprofile my two S30V knives to 11° degrees per side from the factory edge and about 10 minutes to bring them to hair spliting sharp.

S90V and ZDP-189 were noticeably worse, but was still manageable in a reasonable amount of time.

I want to try S110V at 63rc. I heard that it is a bad steel.
 
Toughest I've come across is CPM-440V.....isnt that another name for S60V?
 
13C26 has been odd for me. I reprofiled it to 15 a side, 30 inclusive, just for kicks, and can fillet hairs all day, but can't cut paper, I wish I knew why.

CPM D2 was a pain because everything just seemed slow, it took three times as long to get a hair splitting edge on it than even my Sg2, but it holds it forever and a day.

I've heard that S125V is near impossible to sharpen, if anyone has a testimony I'd be curious to hear your experiences with it.
 
That I've ever had to sharpen? 1095 on a RAT RC-6. :D I wanted to lower the bevel and I had to chew through the coating and a good deal of shoulder to get that edge.

Hardest I've heard? S125V. Or 15V. People don't make knives out of that stuff for a reason.
 
First off I use a Sharpmaker.

I find S30V and D2 to be tough.

I absolutely love 154CM on my Benchmades. It takes an insane edge really quickly.
 
S110V had been relatively tough to sharpen. I haven't had a problem with anything else from 440C to ZDP-189.
 
Josh K said:
That I've ever had to sharpen? 1095 on a RAT RC-6. :D I wanted to lower the bevel and I had to chew through the coating and a good deal of shoulder to get that edge.

Hardest I've heard? S125V. Or 15V. People don't make knives out of that stuff for a reason.
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No one makes knives out of CPM S125V because CPM doesn't make it anymore, the hardest/most wear resistant I've heard of is CPM 15V aswell, it sounds like a PITA to grind.
 
cotdt said:
Oh S30V is not bad at all! Took about 30 minutes to reprofile my two S30V knives to 11° degrees per side from the factory edge and about 10 minutes to bring them to hair spliting sharp.

S90V and ZDP-189 were noticeably worse, but was still manageable in a reasonable amount of time.

I want to try S110V at 63rc. I heard that it is a bad steel.
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Most difficult for me was S30V.

I use a Sharpmaker- it took me days to reprofile a Leek (yes, a Leek!) from the factory 20deg to 15deg per side, using the medium rods. That Leek single-handedly convinced me to buy the diamond coated rods.
 
GregY said:
Most difficult for me was S30V.

I use a Sharpmaker- it took me days to reprofile a Leek (yes, a Leek!) from the factory 20deg to 15deg per side, using the medium rods. That Leek single-handedly convinced me to buy the diamond coated rods.
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It took me 5minutes to reprofile a CPM S30V native from 15degrees to 10degrees per side :p.

Power tools ftw!
 
I usually take the bevel all the way to a mirror polish, so sharpening any knife takes me some time. How long it takes, really depends on the grind, and on the temper, not just the type of steel.

For example, even though the alloys are nearly the same, ATS34 at RC 60-62 is much harder for me to sharpen than 154CM at RC 57-59.

And even though it has a lower carbide %, 154CM at RC 57-59 in chisel grind is harder for me to sharpen than S30V at RC 58-59 in standard double V. Consistent with that is AUS8 at RC 57-59 in double V, which sharpens up very fast for me.

If all the grinds were the same, I would say the blades that take me the longest to sharpen are those with both a hardness RC 60 or higher and a higher carbide %.

P.S. I use a Sharpmaker w/diamond, medium, fine, and extra fine stones as well as a leather strop for most of my sharpening.
 
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