Which steel?

N

nc527

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Mar 22, 2009
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Currently looking at 2 knives in a possible trade, and was wondering which one (steel wise) would be easier to sharpen on a sharpmaker (the scandi) or on strops(brkt)

Also, if you wanted a woods knife, which would you choose?

The two knives are a Gen 1 bushcrafter by Dan Koster, 3v steel, natural micarta, and secondly, a BRKT Aurora in A2.

Also, I am kinda looking at this knife made by Mark Wholwend, but am unsure of any details of it. Any info is appreciated.

All knives are used Btw.

Here are a couple Pics.


 
Dan Kosters scandi grind is close to perfect but I have no experience with 3V.

Mark Wohlwend's work is top notch, his knives keep a great edge yet sharpen up quite easy !


Tough call !
 
using a sharpmaker on a scandi is a great way to make it not a scandi....Kosters are really nice.
 
RescueRiley said:
using a sharpmaker on a scandi is a great way to make it not a scandi....Kosters are really nice.
Click to expand...

Not talking about using it with the pre set angles, was gonna set the stones in the bottem, that makes it a flat stone.
 
I have the Aurora in A2 and it's dead simple to keep sharp using a strop. Very comfortable to hold and use for extended periods of time. I love it so much I'm considering getting another in 3V.

3V will however be much harder to sharpen I hear.
 
3V is not that bad to sharpen. Especially if you have a machine. I would recommend you go with the Koster. The aurora is a very nice knife, but not nearly as unique as the Koster. The 3V will outperform the A-2, and if price is close, it's any easy decision for me.. The aurora is Too pointy for my taste, and there are a million of them out there. You can always find one on sale if you like.
 
The Sharpmaker will work on both, and strops work on any edge, not just convex.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not uncommon for scandi ground blades to have small secondary bevels. If the knife is used for only woodworking, then a zero bevel edge should hold up, but if it's intended for general use, then a small secondary bevel is recommended. The secondary bevel should be less than 1/64" wide. These recommendations come from Bo Bergman's book on knife making in the Swedish/Scandinavian style.

My shop knife has a 12 degree scandivex bevel, and is often sharpened on the Sharpmaker. If you intend to keep the zero bevel, then you may want something coarser than the Sharpmaker. I'd hate to know every time my knife got dull I had only the stock SM rods to polish that wide bevel in 3V steel.
 
CPM-3V is harder to sharpen for sure, but if you use your knives regularly, sooner or later you'll need to do some serious sharpening(which the sharpmaker is not suited for). Of course you could use the sandpaper trick to sharpen your knives on a sharpmaker, but the device itself is really meant to maintain an edge.
 
I have a 3v koster bush craft knife and i believe after extensive hard use that Bark river a2 outperforms it and is easy to touch up on a dmt in the feild and outcuts koster 3v when both knives are little dull .
 
The best sharpener for scandi ground knives (IMHO) is a DMT bench stone with medium on one side and extra fine on the other. They're the one with the yellow plastic under a perforated diamond hone.

They stay flatter longer - very important with a scandi grind. A regular stone will "dish" or "round" with use. The DMT stays flat for a very, very long time.

My bushcraft knives do not have a secondary micro-bevel. I take great pains to make sure of it. Since I do strop the edge when sharpening, I'm sure it's possible that at a microscopic level there is a slight convexing. However, I use a wheel to strop (not a belt) and the likelihood is much less.


Here is a chart comparing 3V steel to other tool steels:

cpm3vcompgraph.gif

(from the manufacturer's website: http://www.crucibleservice.com/eselector/prodbyapp/tooldie/cpm3vt.html)

Great question & discussion.

:thumbup:

Dan
 
my nod goes to 3v. my ferhman final judgment & bark river lil canadian both in 3v & the edge holds up great.3v has about 3 times the charpy index on side load pressure over a2.the recent catra tests in endland gave abrasion resistance of 3v 25% over s30.
dennis
 
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