Which modern steels are easy to sharpen

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fireballxl5

Joined
May 19, 2006
Messages
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I'm about to buy my first Spyderco knife ever - yes I'm sure this will shock and maybe even outrage some of the faithful, but anyways...

I'm returning to knives after maybe 20 years away and it seems things have moved on from 440c, D2, O1 and ATS-34 ( maybe I've been away for 30 years :-) ), so I'd like some opinions on some of the more modern steels sharpenability.
I'll be sharpening with a Sharpmaker (my favourite for quick and good) or the new "pro" version of the Work Sharp Precision Adjusts guidied systems or straight diamond bench/pocket stones and stropping.
For comparison most of my current knives are Nitro-V, S30V, Carbon V, 440c or the Busse steels - Infi, SR101, SR77.

I'm interested to hear what people's opinons and experiences are about the easiest of the following are to sharpen and maintain.
How easy they find it is to sharpen these steels, comparisions if they have more than one of them, what they sharpen with and any other comments people would care to make
I'm not worried about any initial re-profiling, just sharpening after the profiling has been done and maintaining.

Maxamet
Magnacut
Cru Wear
S110V
S90V
M390
M4
Elmax

Thanks and appreciation for you time.
 
They're all easy to sharpen if you have the right tools, i.e., diamond or CBN. On the other hand, if you intend to lower the edge angle, the ones with the highest Vanadium carbide content will present the biggest challenge (s110v, Maxamet, s90v). None of them will be easy to sharpen on the Sharpmaker, although you could use it to maintain a decent edge.

Out of the group posted, Cru Wear will probably be the easiest to sharpen and maintain. In my experience, s110v will be the most difficult, followed by Maxamet, and s90v. The rest of them are roughly equivalent.
 
One thing to point out is that Spydercos don’t need re-profiling unless you’re trying to make it a razor. They do a REALLY good job at the factory. (Robots, and not too coarse of a stone)

I would encourage you to try Maxamet. I’m on my second Maxamet Native, and all I did was to put the 40* micro bevel on the factory grind with the Sharpmaker. It took maybe 15 minutes. It is AMAZING how the edge holds up under through-slicing of cardboard.

When/if you DO ever manage to dull it up, it will be so long that you won’t care that you need to invest another 15 minutes.

Of you chip it because you hit a staple, that’s a different story, but even then, diamond abrasives on the coarse rods don’t care if the steel is Rc 55 or 70.
 
Why would anyone be outraged? Anyway, if you are using diamond, then it's more a question of how long it will take not how difficult.

Generally the higher the wear resistance, the longer it will take to sharpen. Individual knives will vary because of geometry and heat treatment.

Check out knifesteelnerds.com for info on all things knife steel.

This is a good place to start:

knifesteelnerds.com

Knife Steels Rated by a Metallurgist - Toughness, Edge Retention, and Corrosion Resistance - Knife Steel Nerds

Steel Metallurgist Larrin Thomas uses tests of knife steels to rate the steels and explains the factors that control performance.
knifesteelnerds.com knifesteelnerds.com
 
On a blade ready for a number of sloppy licks on some dirty obtuse angle sharpmaker rods hap-40 will end up sharpest.

Edit: That really is my experiance. Hap40 run "soft" is unique (62 HRC? IIRC).
 
Out of the list, Cruwear will be your best bet. Depending on what your doing, there’s nothing wrong with VG10 or SPY27 for a first Spyderco
 
Thanks every one for your time and thoughts.
I'll keep an eye on the thread for a few more days if any one else want's to contribute.

But for right now I think there's a fairly good chance a Crucarta PM2 might arrive in my mail box in the next week or so.
 
Smaug said:
One thing to point out is that Spydercos don’t need re-profiling unless you’re trying to make it a razor. They do a REALLY good job at the factory. (Robots, and not too coarse of a stone)

I would encourage you to try Maxamet. I’m on my second Maxamet Native, and all I did was to put the 40* micro bevel on the factory grind with the Sharpmaker. It took maybe 15 minutes. It is AMAZING how the edge holds up under through-slicing of cardboard.

When/if you DO ever manage to dull it up, it will be so long that you won’t care that you need to invest another 15 minutes.

Of you chip it because you hit a staple, that’s a different story, but even then, diamond abrasives on the coarse rods don’t care if the steel is Rc 55 or 70.
Click to expand...
Tell me more about your experience with Maxamet. Rust? Do you use EDCI? Why are you on your second N5? Im considering maxamet vs 15V.
In general I prefer the rust proof steels... I live on an island. But these two steels have my attention.
 
brainsxn said:
Tell me more about your experience with Maxamet. Rust?
Click to expand...
I got a bit the other day, I carried it clipped to the inside of the waistband of my athletic shorts and then played pickleball for 3 hours. Not smart. Just a couple little spots. When I had it before, I didn't do anything so dumb with it and it was fine. One thing I do now is to occasionally smear the blade with "nose grease", that skin oil that collects at the corners of one's nose. It's inert; you don't have to worry about poisoning food by accident with it.

brainsxn said:
Do you use EDCI?
Click to expand...
Yes. Breaks down boxes FOREVER. It stays screaming sharp for a long time, and then stays at somewhere between that and a "working edge" seemingly forever.

brainsxn said:
Why are you on your second N5? Im considering maxamet vs 15V.
Click to expand...
I sold the first one, thinking I preferred the Manix 2, even with its far softer BD1 blade steel. I wound up selling that one and buying an N5 Max again when a used one came up at a fair price.

brainsxn said:
In general I prefer the rust proof steels... I live on an island. But these two steels have my attention.
Click to expand...
Well, if you don't find you're spending too much time sharpening them (as they tend to be quite soft) then that's OK. I have a Spydiechef in LC200N that is a lot harder than H1 steel but still rust proof that I like quite a bit. I think you should try Maxamet and just give it a smidge more care than you would a rustproof blade. It doesn't take much, just common sense. I'm not going to worry about staining at all; I expect that.
 
fireballxl5 said:
I'm about to buy my first Spyderco knife ever - yes I'm sure this will shock and maybe even outrage some of the faithful, but anyways...

I'm returning to knives after maybe 20 years away and it seems things have moved on from 440c, D2, O1 and ATS-34 ( maybe I've been away for 30 years :) ), so I'd like some opinions on some of the more modern steels sharpenability.
I'll be sharpening with a Sharpmaker (my favourite for quick and good) or the new "pro" version of the Work Sharp Precision Adjusts guidied systems or straight diamond bench/pocket stones and stropping.
For comparison most of my current knives are Nitro-V, S30V, Carbon V, 440c or the Busse steels - Infi, SR101, SR77.

I'm interested to hear what people's opinons and experiences are about the easiest of the following are to sharpen and maintain.
How easy they find it is to sharpen these steels, comparisions if they have more than one of them, what they sharpen with and any other comments people would care to make
I'm not worried about any initial re-profiling, just sharpening after the profiling has been done and maintaining.

Maxamet
Magnacut
Cru Wear
S110V
S90V
M390
M4
Elmax

Thanks and appreciation for you time.
Click to expand...

What do you consider easy to sharpen exactly? There are steels which are very easy to grind and also very difficult to actually get deburred and sharp. There are steels that are very difficult to grind and yet rather easy to get sharp. Where in the steps of sharpening do you consider yourself most challenged? Raising a burr? Removing a burr? Bringing out very high sharpness?

What type of abrasives will you be using on those sharpeners, specifically? If they are ceramics then Elmax or M390 or Cru Wear would be a much better idea than the others, Magnacut may be OK also. The high Vanadium steels will require diamond/CBN abrasives to bring out very high sharpness at the apex. The ceramics would grind the steels of all choices well enough but may glaze over time and need renewing of the surface (sometimes quite difficult).
 
For Smaug,

pretty cool man. Thx. The "EDCI" is a green solution that prevents rusting. Its what Shawn Houston uses (the guy from BBB). Saw it on a post at another blade forum (maybe spyderco, not sure). Im not sure what you thought I meant.

Yeah regarding wearing your knife to a sporting event- even just a walk on the beach for me- shouldnt be a reason to kick yourself.

So regarding the rust proof steels... yeah H1 required daily stropping. LC200N Ive written about a few posts here... the edge doesnt seem to last more than a week. Magnacut actually does rust it was annoying to discover a little spot half under the handle of my fixed blade. Took it apart and spent the better half of an afternoon buffing away. It was disappointing after all the hype. But it keeps a fair edge for a while and it is very tough, although, Im not sure how toughness helps me. Im not going to pry or baton with my knives. Vanax seems to be the winner for me. Keeps paper cutting sharp I think longer than magnacut and certainly is more resistant to rusting.
 
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Father & Son Traditional Sharpening said:
What do you consider easy to sharpen exactly? There are steels which are very easy to grind and also very difficult to actually get deburred and sharp. There are steels that are very difficult to grind and yet rather easy to get sharp. Where in the steps of sharpening do you consider yourself most challenged? Raising a burr? Removing a burr? Bringing out very high sharpness?

What type of abrasives will you be using on those sharpeners, specifically? If they are ceramics then Elmax or M390 or Cru Wear would be a much better idea than the others, Magnacut may be OK also. The high Vanadium steels will require diamond/CBN abrasives to bring out very high sharpness at the apex. The ceramics would grind the steels of all choices well enough but may glaze over time and need renewing of the surface (sometimes quite difficult).
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply.

I don't really have any challenges in sharpening the steels I already have with the tools I have to a standard I am content with - but most of the steels I have are relatively old fashioned and from what I read my existing steels are less wear resisitant than the more modern steels I am looking at.

I'm currently just using the standard medium and fine ceramic in the Sharpmaker but am tossing up between diamond and boron nitride sticks for it - currently favouring the boron nitride.
With the worksharp I plan on using the diamond it comes with intitially - mine has not actually arrived yet - they are in short supply down here in Australia.

My pocket and bench stones are inexpensive diamond.
I'm currently stropping with regular (beavercraft or marbles brand I think) compound, but I'll probably get a couple of grades of diamond paste.

From all the replies Cruwear sounds what I will end up with and I have a very impulse buy M390 Lander arriving hopefully today.
 
Get an Endura in ZDP-189, you won't have to sharpen it... ever! 😁

Seriously though, I have a K390 Endura and the ZDP-189 one. They are both crazy good. Haven't had to sharpen either of them. The K390 does stain up easily though.
 
\\
fireballxl5 said:
Thanks for your reply.

I don't really have any challenges in sharpening the steels I already have with the tools I have to a standard I am content with - but most of the steels I have are relatively old fashioned and from what I read my existing steels are less wear resisitant than the more modern steels I am looking at.

I'm currently just using the standard medium and fine ceramic in the Sharpmaker but am tossing up between diamond and boron nitride sticks for it - currently favouring the boron nitride.
With the worksharp I plan on using the diamond it comes with intitially - mine has not actually arrived yet - they are in short supply down here in Australia.

My pocket and bench stones are inexpensive diamond.
I'm currently stropping with regular (beavercraft or marbles brand I think) compound, but I'll probably get a couple of grades of diamond paste.

From all the replies Cruwear sounds what I will end up with and I have a very impulse buy M390 Lander arriving hopefully today.
Click to expand...

I believe Cru-Wear to be the best choice there but I'd also add one option you are not including.... SPY27. Your options with models in that steel are quite few but I'd look at the Manix or Native first, Para 3 if you need a small defensive use tool.

I know high-Vanadium steels are all the rage but I'd actually go the other way and be happier with around 2% V as is found in SPY27. The difference in grindability between this steel and most all of the other grades you list will be VERY significant. Cru-Wear was actually designed (originally as Vasco Wear) to have the best grinding ratio of material removed from blade vs grinding wheel. At 4% V content there was more wheel removed than blade material whereas 2 % V actually was easier to grind than smaller amounts of V content.

knifesteelnerds.com

The History of 3V, Cru-Wear, and Z-Tuff Steel - Knife Steel Nerds

A whole series of knife steels have one ancestor to look to - Vasco Die, a 1960's era steel that inspired metallurgists for decades.
knifesteelnerds.com knifesteelnerds.com

How does this relate considering that was a long time ago and wheel/abrasive technology has advance? I believe it's still relevant because these classes of steel will always be more time consuming to grind because of the wear resistance. If you use SPY27 then there's actually not so much of a need for diamond/CBN and I find this advantage to be critical for myself as it means I can get high sharpness using only ceramic abrasives whereas you really do need super-abrasives to bring out high sharpness with the high Vanadium steels.

Another steel that is quite nice for most people, IMO, would be BD1N or BD1 (budget models). This steel is a great value and again doesn't require super-abrasives yet will perform quite well in general.
 
I agree with everyone else that Cruwear is super Amazing.....
So far, I kinda Love it.
 
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