What steels produce the sharpest edges?

[PETER]

I have a WEP with the 1200 & 1600 ceramics and strops from 5 to 0.5 microns. I have only sharpen so far cheap wall mart type kitchen knives. It seems that the knives get sharper as I progress up the plates to 1000 and after that the ceramics and strops just seem not to sharpen any more or even make the knife less sharp. I do get beautiful mirror edges, but not so sharp.

I did sharpen one European knife from Spain for a friend of mine and it did come out razor sharp.

Does the type of steel in the knife limit how sharp you can make it?

What are the types of steels you need to make tree topping hair off your arm possible?

[Leo Barr]

I think that it is possible that with these poor quality knives you may find you need to drop the stropping angle as the steel is probable quite soft and you may well have been taking the edge off with the strops the better knife you refer to has possible slightly tougher steel so the strops are not rounding off the edge . You may well find that if you are a little softer with the strops this may also help to keep it sharp.
I think Clay has recommended that you strop possible as much as 2Ëš less then the angle you sharpened at .
I think the softer steels just do not stay sharp for as long as a harder steel but you should still be able to get them shaving sharp.

[Daniel maloon]

I agree with Leo, just about any steel can take a scary sharp edge. It just takes some time to find your grove of what works as far as pressure/strokes to get the edges that you’re looking for. As far as steel I find that I can typically get spydeco vg-10 consistently passing hht 4’s and 5’s. I also really like the BOS treated s30v. Mostly hht5 across the blade. M390 and cpm3v are excellent. I really like 3v. Those are some of my favorite steels. I want to ramble on but wont. With this system you can get any steel tree topping hair.
*I think it was Curtis that suggested using a marker on the very edge of the knife in the finer stages of sharpening. After each ceramic I mark the very apex of the edge just to make sure the ceramics are reaching that point. I also drop 2* as mentioned and progress through my strops using light pressure until the marker is removed each time. Doing this has produced reliable repeatable results on any steel for me.

[Ziggy]

Agree with leo and dan.
Drop a degree or 2 and relax, nice and light.
If its soft, that thin edge is gonna roll.

Think throw away razor sharp and thin … no beef.

[Lukas Pop]

Sometimes I sharpen cheap kitchen knives for my friends. My experience is that there are some crappy steel that won’t take edge or chip when sharpening. This is usually case of noname knives. But we have 2 cheap local knife factories (Tescoma and KDS). They have bottom lines with chefs knives in the range $5-$10, and I can take them to hair whittling sharpness. ( 20 degrees per side, micro ceramics + 1/0.5 micron paste on balsa finish). So I think people pay too much attention to edge taking ability.

[Eamon Mc Gowan]

I think all the above is excellent advise! Just as a point of reference I buy these 15-20 at a time?

http://www.budk.com/product/Wahoo-Killer-Fillet-Knife-&-ABS-Self-Draining-Sheath/156700.uts?

They for the price are junk knives! Anytime I try something new? equipment, technique, whatever? They are first at bat. My point is I can make them just as sharp as any of my super steels. They just don’t hold an edge? When I’m done with one? I usually give it to someone here at the range and tell them put it in your tackle box, or tool box and when it goes dull throw it away. Funny part is people like the shape and size and bring them back for a touch up? More times then not? I usually have a new one off the line and give them a replacement. Remember just try to have fun it will come to you.

[tcmeyer]

This one’s for Clay…

Clay, you posted in your blog about two years ago of how you sharpened a CPM REX-121 Mule from Farid Mehr. In it, you state that this steel can be hardened to RC 70 but then describe how quickly you were able to change the bevel to 15 dps. This suggests to me that this blade was not particularly hard. Did you ever find out how hard this knife actually was? How did it perform?

Thanx much…

Tom

[wickededge]

Hey Tom,

That’s a good question. I haven’t really used the knife at all, nor have I tested the hardness. Now you’ve got me curious. I’ll look into it. I think I remember Farid saying that the knives were 72 RC but I’m not positive.

-Clay

[Leo Barr]

Is it possible laminated with the CPM-Rex at the core and a softer steel around it . This often makes these knives easier to sharpen whilst a cheap knife with a poor profile may take a lot of work to get a descent profile & edge on it even though the steel may substantially below 60 Rockwell can be tough removing a lot of steel of this toughness . I think most laminated knives have a better profile and therefore the work goes to the edge .

[tcmeyer]

Hi Leo! It’s good to see you popping up again in our forum. I assume that you’re now in the UK. Welcome back. I hope you’re doing well in your new environs.

I’ll be very interested in Clay’s report. I can surely tell that my Delica ZDP-189 at RC 65 is much harder to work than my D2 skinner at RC 59, which is, in turn, tougher than any of the more ordinary stainless blades I have. I imagine sharpening a blade at RC 70 would be like sliding a mill file along a mechanic’s open-end wrench. Zinggg!

Oh, and thank you for showing your Rockstead here. It provided the stimulus for me to buy the Delica and I couldn’t be happier. I’m already thinking about buying a second, just in case they get discontinued.

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