What's more important? Take an edge or hold an edge?

That old 425M was well known for being more difficult to sharpen while not holding an edge any better than the current 420HC. It is probably the carbide size, as a guess. It can be chippy and that is what makes me think that. Still, it is not too difficult to sharpen. Buck used to put an odd convex edge on their knives. It would get thin and then thicken out behind the edge. This made the knives a bit more durable in use. However, when people tried to sharpen them, they would inevitably hit the blade stock where it thickens out and not the edge. Then they would think it was hard to sharpen.

I'll take your word for it. All I know is that my Hall's stones would not even scratch the steel. I have a 180X twin boom AmScope. Even looking at it under my microscope I couldn't see a scratch on the edges after sharpening 30 or 40 passes. But it's nothing that my DMT or Wicked Edge stones can't handle.
 
Your mileage may vary, which means that everyone has different needs and experiences, but there has to be a good balance between the two, I would think. Finding that balance that meets your needs is the journey.
 
A little bit of both, but I'm not all that picky actually. I'm not cutting through car hoods, air plane fuselages, or prying open tank hatches. Basic stuff .... string, rope, cardboard, wood, fruit, etc. So my demands are not all that great.

So, for me .... I like a well done 1095, 420HC (Buck), 440c, Victorinox knives, Mora stainless or carbon steel and older, U.S made slipjoints in either carbon or stainless. They all seem to sharpen up well and hold their edges just fine for the work I ask of them. When they get a little dull, I touch them up and go back to doing whatever it was I was doing.



Basically how I feel as well.
 
  • 58 Rc (?) on a Buck with 420HC. This seems to dull as fast as the SAK steel; doesn't feel harder to me, and doesn't sharpen as easily either. One whittling session and it's done. 5 minutes on a Sharpmaker to bring it back.
What are you whittling?

I've field dressed 3 and peeled 2.5 whitetail deer with Buck's 420HC (using a 110) before it needed stropped to bring the edge back.
Schrade USA Old Timers with "Schrade +" 440A ("Sharp Finger" and 7OT) would gut 2 and peel about 1.75 whitetail before they needed stropped.
Very rarely do I need to hit them with a stone.
I did re-profile to a 10DPS (20 degree inclusive) edge when I got them.
60 years ago when I was taught to sharpen I was taught 20 degrees inclusive for a knife, 30 to 40 degrees inclusive for a chopping tool - axe/hatchet etc.
The only thing I've batoned is a wedge and froe. A knife is for cutting, slicing, and whittling; not felling/limbing a tree or splitting firewood. :)
 
Last edited:
A little bit of both, but I'm not all that picky actually. I'm not cutting through car hoods, air plane fuselages, or prying open tank hatches. Basic stuff .... string, rope, cardboard, wood, fruit, etc. So my demands are not all that great.

So, for me .... I like a well done 1095, 420HC (Buck), 440c, Victorinox knives, Mora stainless or carbon steel and older, U.S made slipjoints in either carbon or stainless. They all seem to sharpen up well and hold their edges just fine for the work I ask of them. When they get a little dull, I touch them up and go back to doing whatever it was I was doing.
This.
 
I adore the CPM-3V.

Really good edge retention
Takes an edge fairly easily
Good corrosion resisrance
Excellent toughness

Literally everything I can ask for in a knife.
 
Back
Top