Which steel are you able to get the sharpest?

Obsessed with Edges said:
I have one of those; bought it because I really liked the rifle inlay in the handle scale. Never carried it or attempted re-sharpening of it; maybe I'll have work that one into the pocket rotation. I'm pretty sure most of Schrade's (USA) older stainless blades were 440A, which is an easy steel to live with, and very easy to sharpen up. As with 1095 and many other steels, a good heat treat can do wonders for it. I also have an older Camillus-made Buck 307 stockman in 440A, and I've been impressed with it. Having seen how well Schrade did with 1095, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they tweaked the best out their stainless as well.
David
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The skill you sharpen with, you should have no problem with the Kentucky Rifleman, If yours is in pretty good shape, I am more than willing to give it a home here in Bat Country. If you ever decide to get rid of yours I would like to see if we couldn't work something out.
 
I like s30v because I can get a really mean and toothy working edge at fairly low grit. I find it a pretty good balance between edge retention and ease of sharpening. Ive been able to get finer edges on bd1 and carbon steels, but I can still get s30v tree topping sharp. I really like my s30v blades for everyday users, but I don't think it's the best steel for playing around trying to get those "novelty edges". I'm thinking about picking up one of spydercos superblue offerings for that. Or I might give m4 another shot.
 
Strigamort said:
I'm dying to try AEB L. It's one of the few SS's that I'm really excited about. Especially after reading what Devin Thomas has to say about it.

I'm not getting the s30v thing either. I've gotten it sharp at an acute angle but it just chipped and wasn't as sharp as others. I know a lot of people love it dearly, but it's not my favorite, or even close.
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I like S30V a lot for its ability to hold a toothy working edge for a very long time its just not a steel that comes to mind when talking about ultimate sharpness. 13C26 is Sandviks copy of AEB-L so if you want to try it out on the cheap look for an older Kershaw.
 
fsatsil said:
I like S30V a lot for its ability to hold a toothy working edge for a very long time its just not a steel that comes to mind when talking about ultimate sharpness. 13C26 is Sandviks copy of AEB-L so if you want to try it out on the cheap look for an older Kershaw.
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Thanks brother, I'll do just that.
 
It seems to me we are confusing edge retention or toughness with edge geometry. Sharp relates to geometry; obsidian is an excellent scalpel material because of the potential "micro" geometry of the material. Most accomplished makers can put a scary sharp edge on a RxR spike. It may only make one cut at this geometry, but it will be sharp.
Steels that are tough at higher Rockwell ratings, containing the carbides produced by using either carbon, chromium, carborundum, vanadium or tungsten, supported by alloying agents, will result in a longer lasting edge but it will not be sharper than a blade made using
a piece of rock. Consider the lowly razor blade.
 
Fred.Rowe said:
It seems to me we are confusing edge retention or toughness with edge geometry. Sharp relates to geometry; obsidian is an excellent scalpel material because of the potential "micro" geometry of the material. Most accomplished makers can put a scary sharp edge on a RxR spike. It may only make one cut at this geometry, but it will be sharp.
Steels that are tough at higher Rockwell ratings, containing the carbides produced by using either carbon, chromium, carborundum, vanadium or tungsten, supported by alloying agents, will result in a longer lasting edge but it will not be sharper than a blade made using
a piece of rock. Consider the lowly razor blade.
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Most of us are not accomplished makers. Most people can not get their blades sharp enough for the carbide size to make a difference. The sharpest steel for many of us is just the steel we have the most experience with. If you look at the responses in this thread, many of the "sharpest" steels are more the "easiest to sharpen".

If you gave me the exact same knife in White steel and D2, you can bet money I will get the White blade sharper than the D2 blade. The question is "Which steel are YOU able to get the sharpest", not "Which steel has the material properties that will allow it to take the finest possible edge".
 
the 1075 i use with my heat treat. i showed my buddy paul (mr. coffee) how sharp i can get the 1075 on a knife i made for him. i was able to hold a hair by the end and cut across it to cut it off. you could watch the edge cut into the hair if you did it slow. i put what i call a "novelty edge" on it but i put on my normal edge once i showed him how sharp i could get a knife i made. i showed protourist the same thing when he came by to get his knife.

i ground a neck knife from a piece of solid m 4 last friday and it took a good edge but i think my 1075 takes a better edge.
 
bpeezer said:
The question is "Which steel are YOU able to get the sharpest", not "Which steel has the material properties that will allow it to take the finest possible edge".
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from what you have seen me do when you and pmc were up, would you say that i can get any steel as sharp as it possibly can get without being so sharp the edge will roll (like a novelty edge)?
 
richard j said:
from what you have seen me do when you and pmc were up, would you say that i can get any steel as sharp as it possibly can get without being so sharp the edge will roll (like a novelty edge)?
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You definitely get consistently impressive results, regardless of steel :thumbup: you are also what I would consider an "accomplished maker" :D
 
bpeezer said:
You definitely get consistently impressive results, regardless of steel :thumbup: you are also what I would consider an "accomplished maker" :D
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Hey bpeezer, I tend to agree with your earlier post. Unless I'm mistaken I think Richards point is that he has the ability to get most any steel as sharp as it will get yet he still finds that some steels will simply take a better edge than others. Anyway, that's what I got from it. Apologies to Richard if I got that wrong.
 
One steel will react to a cardboard wheel in a given way, a different steel, will react in it's own manner dependent on hardness, wear resistance, and toughness. With different abrasives, diamond, ceramic, carbide etc. Different steel properties will react differently to abrasion. One knife will sharpen better on a stone, while a different knife will sharpen better on another abrasive.

Selecting 10 different steels and applying the proper heat treatment to each, adding in a mild steel blade, all having the same geometry they can each be made as sharp as the other if you use an abrasive that matches the property of each, [how hard, how tough, how wear resistant] including the mild steel; they can all be made equally sharp. The sharpness of a blade is in it's geometry. How long the edge last is relative to its metallurgical make up and the resulting hardness, wear resistance, toughness, elasticity, how ductile and a few others.

Select the shape [geometry] for the work to be done, select the steel for its working properties and apply the heat treatment which results in the steel acting and reacting in the way you want it to during usage.

I know most people here are not knife makers, but knife users and knife sharpeners, many of you know well how its done. You don't have to run a knife shop to make a good choice in a knife, its about choosing the right blade shape for the job and the right steel for the work to be done.

Fred

Hi Richard! We've not spoken in a while, hope your doing well. :)

Good thread!
 
Surfingringo said:
Hey bpeezer, I tend to agree with your earlier post. Unless I'm mistaken I think Richards point is that he has the ability to get most any steel as sharp as it will get yet he still finds that some steels will simply take a better edge than others. Anyway, that's what I got from it. Apologies to Richard if I got that wrong.
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That makes sense, thanks for some additional clarification. Richard can really push steels to demonstrate their potential, in both edge taking and edge holding ability. As he mentioned, he gets pretty ridiculous performance out of his 1075.
 
Richard, I've heard you talk about 1075 with high regards in the past.

In your opinion, what is it that makes it so good? Is it your ht, the geometry of the blade, the situations where you use it, or something else altogether?

How do you feel it would work as a small (1-2") carving knife? I ask because I was planning on making some carvers with 1084, but it was suggested that I skip that steel and go straight to 1095.

As far as the actual level of sharpness that I can put on a blade... I tried for a while to get a HHT pass, but I believe my equipment prevented refinement necessary for such things.

The closest I got was a 14° (inclusive) profile on an Opinel XC90 which would break a hair when it was dragged (under its own weight) across the edge. Sharp, without question, but I'm still disappointed that I ran out of equipment to further my quest. :(
 
I don't have many knives. My wife actually just got me a Doug Ritter RSK MK1 for Christmas (which is my first knife with S30V.) My other knife steels are Buck's 420HC, Benchmade's N680, Kershaw's 14c28N, Spydero's H1, Old Gerber's 420HC, Kabar D2, and Victorinox & Wenger. I'm excited to sharpen my new Doug Ritter RSK MK1, but won't be able to until I get back home. So, of these steels, my sharpest edge is on my Kershaw R.A.M. with it's 14c28N, primary bevel 17, secondary bevel 20 using Lansky with my leather belt strop with green jewelers rouge.
 
Sharpening on the exact same system, same bevel angle I find that the sharpest edges come from, in this order:
Aogami Super Blue (Takeda)
O-1 (BHK, GEC)
1095 (GEC)
AEB-L (Richmond)
Devin Thomas SS Damascus [AEB-L & 304] (I like this even better than CRK's s30v, I don't think this steel gets enough recognition)
S30V (CRK)

Some steels that have been disappointing:
154CM (I've had mixed luck with this steel but my best experiences still haven't been that great)
420
440
sandvik 12c27
D2 (sue me)
A2

IMHO, FWIW and all that...
 
LawnDuckOB1 said:
I don't have many knives. My wife actually just got me a Doug Ritter RSK MK1 for Christmas (which is my first knife with S30V.) My other knife steels are Buck's 420HC, Benchmade's N680, Kershaw's 14c28N, Spydero's H1, Old Gerber's 420HC, Kabar D2, and Victorinox & Wenger. I'm excited to sharpen my new Doug Ritter RSK MK1, but won't be able to until I get back home. So, of these steels, my sharpest edge is on my Kershaw R.A.M. with it's 14c28N, primary bevel 17, secondary bevel 20 using Lansky with my leather belt strop with green jewelers rouge.
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You're going to love that Ritter, ergonomics and blade geometry/grind are superb and the steel sharpens easily to a fantastic edge! I got one for my brother-in-law last year and sharpened it for him this year. He uses it at work almost daily and it barely needed it!
 
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