Easiest knives and steels to sharpen without specialized equipment....
- Thread starter lonestar1979
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I'm of the belief that most any steel can be easy to sharpen if:
(1) the steel is manufactured with high purity,
(2) the heat treat is good (affects grain size and fineness, edge strength, toughness, tendency to burr, roll, chip, etc.),
(3) the grind geometry is nice and thin,
(4) the abrasives used to sharpen it are aptly suited to the wear resistance of the particular steel, i.e., hard enough to efficiently cut any component of the alloy.
Any of the above can make or break the sharpening ease of any steel type.
(1) the steel is manufactured with high purity,
(2) the heat treat is good (affects grain size and fineness, edge strength, toughness, tendency to burr, roll, chip, etc.),
(3) the grind geometry is nice and thin,
(4) the abrasives used to sharpen it are aptly suited to the wear resistance of the particular steel, i.e., hard enough to efficiently cut any component of the alloy.
Any of the above can make or break the sharpening ease of any steel type.
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well said....it is just that some take little more or less time to get the job done,depends on all of the factors above,it takes me only few swipes to sharpen simple steels like 12c27,victorinox steel,douk douk etc,when theyre already thin behind edge,and also have easy to sharpen softer steels.Love and keep using my Opinelz,douk douk,victorinoxes and mam knives more often than others,because of above stated qualities...blade geometry and simple proven steels.
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Yes,wharncliffe is easy to sharpen,its just straight edge,but for me,its thickness behind the edge that makes most difference,then the steel,heat treat etc...
I must say I never fully understood this ''easy to sharpen steel'' concept. Could be wrong but I think people are usually talking about those soft ''I can sharpen my knife on a creek rock'' steels which should never be used on knives. A very good example of such steel would be famous 420 steel with about 0.2% or 0.3% of carbon which would make him just a little bit better as pot&pans steel.
Sometimes I also have a feeling some people mix what is 'easy to grind' and what is 'easy to sharpen'. For example; I have an EDC made of K110 steel at 61HRc (measured in our lab) but have absolutely no problem to sharpen it and to de-burr it. I also don't need any special equipment – just my $5 folding sharpener and a small home made leather strop.
On the other hand, I had a big problem to sharpen a pocket knife made of ''Inox Germany'' steel. To grind it and remove the metal – yes, no problem; to sharpen it and make the edge usable (clean burr free edge) – almost impossible. Like sharpening rubber or chewing gum.
As I can also see we all have somehow different opinion about ''sharp edge'' meaning. I can refresh my knife and get a nice clean burr free edge in let's say 1 or 2 minutes. This kind of edge won't collapse with the first cut in soft wood. But to get a sharp edge with only four strokes which will hold some wood carving and will stay sharp and still cut news paper after that …. nope, I'm not that good.
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Youll get that edge in 4 strokes easily if knife is not completely dull and still sharp but not shaving,with steels like 1095 ,420 ,or Sandvik steels...if they have proper grinds and heat treat,and using only folding dmt.If its completely dull,it takes maybe a minute.Yes,sometimes some of these softer steels can be gummy to take burr off...I still like these simple steels but with right heat treat and geometry.
That's me exactly. As I get older, I gravitate more toward stainless. I want a knife I just drop in my pocket and have. Sandvik is the "carbon steel of stainless". It even responds to steeling well.