Which Steels Take the Finest Edge?

AFAustin

AFAustin

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So, which steels can you take to the finest edge? I am partial to the softer steels, both because I tend to traditional folders which usually have them, and because they are kinder to my modest sharpening skills. My best luck has been with (GEC) 1095, (Case) 420HC, Case CV, AUS 8A, (Opinel) 12C27 mod, and the other Sandvik steels. (I know, I know....Case 420HC "Tru-Sharp" is widely dissed, but my experience with it has actually been very good.) I don't have much experience with Schrade carbon steel, but what little I have is consistent with OWE/David's high praise of it.

How about you?

Andrew
 
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I got a knife with Super Blue close to a sharpening stone once, and the proximity made the knife so sharp that my body became instantaneously bald. But seriously, Super Blue takes a stupid sharp edge very easily.

ETA: As far as stainless goes, I get the most sharpness out of VG10. 154CM is the easiest for me to get hair whittling, but it's also the steel I have spent the most time sharpening. Honorable mentions include Buck's 13C26 with Bos heat treat, Spyderco's CTS-XHP, and oddly enough Leatherman's S30V.
 
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Schrade's 1095 is still my favorite, and that's because it has responded favorably to most anything I've thrown at it (sharpening-wise), with a minimum of hassle or fuss. A wonderful combination of the finest edge, with the simplest of tools or methods, and holding it's edge impressively. I have to think it's all about how well the Schrade USA folks pampered it in heat treat (hardness, temper, grain size/uniformity), and perhaps from whom they sourced the raw steel in the first place (steel purity, in other words, with minimal contaminants that get in the way of everything else).

Case's CV has also impressed me in much the same way as Schrade's 1095, with the only exception being the lower hardness of it. Doesn't hold it's fine edge quite as long as the Schrade 1095, but is otherwise ridiculously easy to get along with. Touch-ups are dirt-simple, on strops; I don't mind if I have to do that slightly more often, because the edge always comes back easily. I've seen more variation in Case's Tru-Sharp, with some older versions seemingly more resistant to either taking a fine edge or holding onto it at all. I haven't had any issues with the vast majority of more recent (say, post-2000 vintage) blades in Tru-Sharp. Some of the best examples of it make it nearly indistinguishable as compared to CV, save for the tell-tale spotting or patinating of the CV, and the slightly more burr-prone nature of the Tru-Sharp stainless. They otherwise can sharpen up and be maintained by the same simple means.

I have to keep re-thinking my ideas of which steels actually do take the finest edge (in absolute, final terms), as opposed to which ones are just the simplest to get it there in the first place. This is mainly because, slowly and one-by-one, I've gradually stumbled into finding better or simpler ways to sharpen each given steel. So, the results keep getting better than what I was previously expecting or getting out of them, in many cases.


David
 
In my limited experience Opinel's carbon steel takes the lead along with the steel used in SAK's. Though I imagine it's due to have a lot more experience with using that stainless as I practice with a Victorinox paring knife.

Beyond that it's too much variation as my sharpening skills keep improving as I just hit a new level of sharpness a day ago and started being able to tree top some (small amount) arm hair so it's hard to judge.
 
If I understand the question correctly, my best luck has been with GE's 01 and with Schrade's 1095. Keep in mind, that is my personal best, and by no means indicates that one steel type is better than another, just that these two are the ones that I seem to be able to get sharpest with my particular sharpening techniques.
 
Thanks for the replies so far, gents. I guess I really posed two different questions: (1) Which steels are capable of the finest edges? (2) Which steels have you taken to the finest edges?

Happy to see any comments on both, although I am most interested in personal experience.

Andrew
 
The finest I've been able to get were on 12c27, an old Buck 425M, H1, M2, and Hitachi White #2. The White #2 was the highest I've measured, but it's also the only one out of that group that I've measured. Of steels I've heard about, O1 takes a very sharp edge almost by accident, as in some people get it hair whittling sharp without meaning to or taking extra steps to do it. 13c26/AEB-L are also in that category.
 
Every Sandvik blade I've encountered so far has been a pleasure to sharpen in that it takes a fine edge, and without much effort. I've had a few 12c27s, a 13c26, and recently a 14C28N, which was a real treat.

Andrew
 
To my knowledge all steels take the same edge, just with different levels of effort involved. That is assuming an angle the steel can take. I have read that high carbide steels cannot be taken to an extremely acute edge because the carbide can shear off without enough metal to support them. It could be chromium related, and why straight razors are almost never if ever made of stainless.

That said, the steels I have gotten the best edges with are Sandvik steels. They perform like they don't care that they aren't high end steels, and will be dawned if anybody tells them how to act. They take a razor edge really easily, hold it shockingly well, and are just all around awesome.
 
Everything I have ever sharpened has taken pretty much the same edge in the end; s110v, s90v, s30v, d2, cts-xhp, elmax, zdp-189, super blue, s35vn, vg10, 1095, cruwear, 5160, aus8, 8cr13mov, 14c28n, chrome vanadium, tru sharp, c75, 420hc, 440a, carbon v, 1055, 154cm, victorinox mystery stainless, opinel carbon steel (I forget what its called) and even nameless pos china steel. I would say though that sandvik takes the easiest fine edge, but they are made for razor blades and as far as I know swedish steels are very pure so that helps too.
 
VG-10 with the least effort. zdp gets sharpest but it takes the longest time.
note: i find s30v and d2 harder to sharpen and polish than zdp. go figure.
 
Sandvik and higher RC (58 and up) carbon steel. While most can be brought up to a high polish, many aren't worth the effort and some are far better off left at a less refined finish in terms of usage vs maintenance time.
 
My best edges were always from O1 and good 'ol 1095. There is nothing like it IMO. Even when I am sharpening lazily so i can get my stuff cutting again for work the next morning, it gets shaving very, very quick and takes it well.
 
My Schrade 1095 takes a really fine edge but a little soft like many steels were several decades ago. Moras high carbon (1095) and their Sandvik stainless are great steels. Given the right heat treatment 52100 will give a great edge but this is from my reading.
 
dkb45 said:
To my knowledge all steels take the same edge, just with different levels of effort involved.
Click to expand...
This has been my experience also. For me, and how I sharpen, O1 and INFI are the easiest to get a killer edge on, but all my steels get there eventually.
 
That's like asking "what is the best gun" or "what is the coolest car"... It is really hard to answer that question without knowing what kind of sharpening kit you have, your level of experience, the geometry of your knife's edge, the hardness/heat treat, the phase of the moon, and the price of tea in China. :cool:

TedP
 
My henckles kitchen knives get to a genuinely scary level of sharpness even at 20 degrees each side on the edge pro. Absolutely no clue what steel they are made from tho.
 
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