I just wanted to comment on Jims work. The amount of cutting he did to glean this information is substantial. We have been comparing notes back and forth and even though I cut ¾ inch rope and he cuts 5/8 we are comparing very closely on the two knives of mine he tested. ¾ rope dulls a blade faster of course but we are seeing the same percentage difference on the comparisons. His experiments on sharpening were enlightening for me. I dont have the equipment to do polished edges; my sharpening is with silicon carbide and diamond stones by hand. The edge off a green DMT for example is very aggressive. We both cut with the polished and with the diamond edge on my knives that he tested. I could see a very different feel between the two. The polished edge seems to slide while the diamond finish bites. Even though the polished edge is less aggressive it still cuts with about the same down force. I did see the same trend for the polished edge to start out with less force and cut longer. I dont think I am converted yet; I still like my edge for field work, hunting and fishing but do have to say I was impressed on how sharp his edges are.
On the other knives Jim tested I like the ranking idea. it is a much better way to compare rather than to list the finite number of cuts. I think the ranking represents the potential for the different steels to perform. Things can move around based on heat treating and each different knife geometry, but I think this is a very good picture of how the blades can work compared to each other. It is an exact comparison of how the specific knives he tested work. Thanks Jim for the exceptional effort. Phil
I have had good results with AUS 8 from Cold Steel, seems they have the heat treat down pretty good.
Jim, was the blade you used in AUS 8 by Cold Steel per chance?
I see that S90V has shown up in category 1, which means you work fast! From my own experience that is where I expected S90V to be, but I still like CPM M4 better from it's ease of getting extremely sharp quicker. It will be interesting to see what production blades would be able to unseat S90V, M4, and M390, as I know that CPM M4 and S90V (I haven't tried M390 yet) stay sharp for quite a while in EDC use. Both also break down cardboard until you get tired with a still useable edge.
Mike
It's about where regular D2 would also be right?