Work folder; easy to sharpen or great steel?

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The title is pretty much it, I'm an electromecanic and I'm looking to modify a multitool, removing the blade to have a seperated folder. The task are mainly for electricity, but I sometime need to cut tougher stuff, like air hose and thick rubber.

I'm just wondering what's your personnal experience with both.
 
You can find already made multi tools with no knife blade.

For cutting heavy rubber hose just hit the blade with some WD-40 first.

And why not both easy to sharpen and great steel?
 
I prefer an easier to sharpen knife when it comes to work. Here's the thing (my opinion of course):

If I am in the kitchen, I generally want a knife that will cut well for a long time. Likewise, if I am doing fine crafting that requires meticulous cuts, I'll want a good steel.

For a work knife, I'm probably no going to dull it from use. I'm probably going to dull it dinging it against a piece of pipe or something that will mar the edge.

My dad has used a basic 110 for all manner of cuts for about 45 years. Used VERY hard out on the jobsite. He usually sharpens his knife ever other weekend on a medium stone.
 
Based on what you're doing with it, I think the blade thickness will have a bigger impact. Getting through the tough stuff will be easier with a thin grind on a thin blade. I would choose ease of sharpening in this case, you'll need the keen edge to cut the rubber effectively, and easy to sharpen steels are often tougher than high wear resistance steels. Easier to repair a roll than to repair a chip on a high hardness blade.

Also wanted to add, if you nick a live wire nothing will hold up to that. I've done it, it blew a chunk out of my blade. That would ruin a very good knife.
 
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Great steel, something like K390, so that your knife will keep a keen edge for a long time. Easy to sharpen usually (not always) means easy/quick to dull and you don't want you knife to become dull in the middle of cutting tough stuff.
 
Wire strippers or diagonals for wire, 24 TPI hacksaw for rubber and high-durometer plastic.

I've cut rubber hose and air line with a knife and it su-hucks! I will go back to my truck and get my hacksaw, and if you know a method for cutting it clean and fast with a knife, share it around, yeah?

I've seen a lot of electricians who take great pride in their ability to strip 16 gauge with side-cutters. Good for you, but I don't have the patience to learn. My strippers weigh practically nothing, and they save me a lot of frustration.

The knife is mostly for opening the boxes and bags that the hardware comes in. I'll use it if I have to, but I find it pays off in decreased frustration, to just go get the purpose-made tool.

The only exception is if I'm working with something too big for my strippers, in which case, out comes the utility knife, and things slow down a bit. If you're working with 8 and bigger on a regular basis, you can justify specialized tools just by saving time not having to clean up a thousand little slivers of jacketing.
 
Always had a greater “usability return” on easy to sharpen steel for Navy work. I’d dull about any steel with the quickness on deck, so it was going to get touched up almost daily anyway.
 
I am a mechanic and have found that i frequently hit metal with my work knife. It dulls my M4 Contego about as bad as my cheap HK/benchmade but the HK sharpens a lot faster. And forget about S90v/S110v/etc. they chip.
 
Easy to sharpen. In a work environment, your edge IS going to contact things that don't cut well, or don't cut at all. I'd rather straighten a flat spot on a mid-grade alloy than have to grind out a chip on some super-steel blade.
Right now, for EDC, my fixed blade is S35VN, my folder is 14C28N. Two good mid-grade steels that hold a decent working edge, are reasonably tough, and not too difficult to re-sharpen. Frequent touch-ups on a ceramic rod
significantly lengthen the time between real sharpenings, at least for me.
 
For cutting rubber hose, I would use a Stanley razor utility knife with a good bi-metal blade.
 
I’m in the “easy to sharpen” camp, if the “easy to replace” camp is full up. Stanley 499, little silicon carbide stone and I’m cutting drywall all day.

I carry a decoy one in case some sparky asks to borrow it. Or plumber, in which case he might as well keep it, cause it’ll come back covered with unmentionable sputum.

Something easy to sharpen and cheap, and carry a spare.

Parker
 
I say that great steel is easy to sharpen. When I was a kid, we were always taught that there were two kinds of steels (I know, I know): carbon, which takes a great edge and requires maintenance - and stainless, which holds an edge better and is for pretend men. Obviously that division is not entirely accurate: lots of newer silly steels hold an edge and are difficult to sharpen.

Working say on a homebuilding site, I find that on drywall days or demo days I have to sharpen my knife once or twice and then after work. I consider this to be a normal part of owning a knife. What makes the steel great is that it takes that edge easily and also the tip won't break off when you use it hard. And if you're near water it helps if it won't rust *too* easily but that's part of maintenance.

For your use case I'd recommend a sheepsfoot plain edge. I think victorinox makes a SAK for electricians, not sure if it's got a plain or cerrated edge.
 
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DMG said:
I am a mechanic and have found that i frequently hit metal with my work knife. It dulls my M4 Contego about as bad as my cheap HK/benchmade but the HK sharpens a lot faster. And forget about S90v/S110v/etc. they chip.
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I decided to try a GB2 in M4 as my dedicated work knife. I bought a used one so as not to beat up the one i carry. I like it.
 
The OP has not been online since Nov 2022. So this is just a general comment, not an answer to him.

Work folder; easy to sharpen or great steel?​

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Depends on the work, how often you are willing to sharpen, and how much money you are willing to put at risk.

In the 1970's I held jobs as a truck driver, manufacturing tech, and electrician doing household remodels, In the 1980's I worked in an engineering lab.
I carried the same knife for all those jobs, a 3 1/4" Camillus-made Buck stockman with 440A blade steel. I never came across a task it could not perform. That includes cutting rubber hoses in the lab, cutting heavy rope, and slicing insulation off romex.

My daughter works building stage sets. She carries a razor knife for cutting nasty stuff, and a Delica in VG10 for cutting other things.
My son works in construction. He carries a razor knife and an inexpensive Chinese folder.
They are both satisfied with their choices.
And none of the three of us has ever felt underknifed or overknifed.
 
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Bob Denman said:
I've got EDC knives; with steels ranging
From 154CM, to S110V.
I think the ones in the S30V, to S45VN are my favorites.
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Same.
Like D Danke42 said, why not both?
If I had to pick a favorite steel right now it would probably be S35VN. It’s plenty tough, it’s stainless, holds a great edge, and it’s not too difficult to sharpen.
….but, I haven’t tried Magnacut yet. It has similar performance to S35VN, except it has even more toughness supposedly.
 
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