Which steel can get the sharpest?

Hashishiin said:
Really? How is it compared to Terravantium, do you (or anyone) know? I was looking at an Otter knife in Terravantium, seems like their answer to H-1.
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I've never used Terravantium so I can't give you an informed response about it. But a quick search shows that it's a super hard "cobalt" based material that's not steel at all. A huge part of "sharpenability" in a steel has to do with the heat treat of the material itself. Knives that have been heat treated to reduce the amount of retained austenite feel way better to sharpen because the deburring process is completely painless.
Nitrobe 77 is just my favourite sharpening steel because you can get it so insanely sharp with a simple hardware store whetstone or even on a rock you find lying around, while these other more complex steels will take some form of specialized whetstone to get to that level of sharpness. You could probably sharpen a handful of carbon steel knives with similar ease, but the stainlessness for me is an extremely attractive attribute.
 
Over a decade prior to this Necro'd-Circa2016-Thread I found VG-10 comes to hair whittling surprisingly easily. Since that time have found most decent steels will also whittle hair post bur removal. Since that time high carbide steels increased the difficulty, but extended the longevity. CPM steels helped (S30V examples below), but took a bit of effort to get to hair popping & whittlin'.

Military poppin hairs circa 2014
Volume up to hear the poppin'

Military Whittlin' circa 2014
 
MAD777 said:
Which blade steel will yield the sharpest knife? Not necessarily the best edge retention to keep it sharp (although that would be a tie-breaker). I'm simply looking for scarry sharp, razor sharp, etc. that the average user can get sharp.

It seems to me that many generally excellent steels, exhibit a different level of sharp.

I understand that cutting ability is a product of many factors. But for this exercise, assume two identical knives with quality heat treats. Only the type of steel is different.

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High hardness and fine grain structure, generally low alloy but just enough carbon to harden above 60RC.
12C27 being a prime example, it was designed for razor blades.
 
12c27, Aeb-L, White and blue (Hitachi) steels ime. The latter respond wonderfully to a good natural stone too.
 
Sharpest knife I've witnessed was a Tai Goo blade in A2. He pulled a hair out and sliced down 4 strands.
 
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