I Tested the Edge Retention of 48 Steels

The "loses initial sharpness" thing is one that comes up frequently over the years in reference to all sorts of steels. Ironically in this case I've also seen many people say it about ZDP-189. Until there is some clear pattern or a standardized test I can't take it any more seriously than anecdote. Perhaps if people only said it about coarse carbide steels and not fine carbide steels, or only when comparing steels of different hardness. But the only trends I have seen are bias and placebo.
 
I noticed that too. AEB-L sure seems like a dang versatile steel. I find it interesting that out of all the steels I've tried in the kitchen (which is several), I tend to like 52100 and Super Blue the most even though the look to perform pretty poorly overall on the chart. Then again, I tend to value ease of sharpening and a very keen edge most in the kitchen, so maybe that has something to do with it.
would be true but aeb-l you can sharpen with a brick of butter and it takes one of the finest edges in the business. there is no advantage 52100 over aeb-l.
 
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would be true but aeb-l you can sharpen with a brick of butter and it takes one of the finest edges in the business. there is no advantage 52100 over aeb-l.

Yea, I've sharpened AEB-L and it sharpens real nice. It's really easy to tell it's related to the Sandvik 12c, 13c, 14c steels. The only real reason I could see someone choosing 52100 over AEB-L is because of the aesthetics carbon steel brings to the table, which I'll admit is important to me.
 
Larrin, amazing article. I have probably read it four times. How low in the Catra scale do you think titanium would be? I think it would be interesting to see quantatively how much worse the edge retention of titanium is vs these other steels. Or does everyone think titanium is pointless in a knife now that LC200N is available to makers? One thing I really like about titanium is the ability to make a knife quickly since no heat treat is required. Thanks again for putting those results together.
 
Nice Larrin, thank you for this! I'll take my sacred cow medium rare with ketchup.... :D

You realize, of course, that we will be debating/arguing/discussing the results for years to come. That's what I love about Bladeforums!
 
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Have read this and I have to say that if you want real performance then chose an outer edge steel and have it run hard and ground thin. with a low angle sharpening. All mass produced knives shy away from this, and many makers do too.
 
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*update

Just got done surface grinding.


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These are the next steels to be tested by Larrin Larrin
 
Larrin, you mentione in the article that there is a hole when it comes to stainless steels between the tougher steels and steels with good edge retention. It seems from your charts that Nitro-V starts to kind of fill that gap. What are your thoughts on Nitro-V?
 
Larrin, you mentione in the article that there is a hole when it comes to stainless steels between the tougher steels and steels with good edge retention. It seems from your charts that Nitro-V starts to kind of fill that gap. What are your thoughts on Nitro-V?

Doesn’t AEB-L or 14c28n bridge that gap even better? Seems like you can run AEB-L or 14c28n a bit harder than Nitro-V to squeak out a bit more edge retention, while keeping the same toughness.
 
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Larrin, you mentione in the article that there is a hole when it comes to stainless steels between the tougher steels and steels with good edge retention. It seems from your charts that Nitro-V starts to kind of fill that gap. What are your thoughts on Nitro-V?
Nitro-V did not show an edge retention improvement over AEB-L and the toughness was somewhat lower. I prefer 14C28N for the corrosion resistance improvement.
 
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