For my non readers the tldr is down below!
Now, Before I go any further, no this knife doesn’t exist (I digitally replaced the lettering on my Tactile Bexar to say “maxamet”). And let me just say this is my opinion, no judgment, just ranting.
That said, here’s my take after 10+ years of collecting and trying all kinds of steels!
I’m not even gonna get into the whole “is it worth it” debate because that’s completely subjective (which, don’t worry, this rant definitely isn’t…). Plus it’s hard to tell much of a difference in everyday use anyway. Besides the one place you can tell is edge retention, super steels definitely hold an edge longer than softer steels. And honestly… that’s exactly why I don’t like them.
I hate sharpening. It’s time consuming, it’s not enjoyable and I’d rather avoid it as much as possible. On paper it sounds great that super steels don’t need sharpening as often, but when they do it takes forever. So Ironically, I’d much rather deal with a softer steel that I can quickly touch up on a stone whenever I want. A few passes, done, back in business. With super steels, I’ve gotta break out the whole sharpening setup and commit to it. Now i could go back to belt grinders, sure, but right now I’m really liking stones, especially with adjustable angles.
So yeah, I’d almost rather just keep honing a softer steel regularly than fight with a super steel every once in a while. That’s my take. Might be a bit of a hot one. Curious if anyone else feels the same or if I’m just out here dying alone on this hill.
And as promised the TLDR: Super steels last longer, but sharpening them sucks. I’ll take softer steel + quick touch-ups. Does anyone else feel the same?
by ThumbStuds
22 Comments
You would probably like SPY27 it’s about as easy to sharpen as VG10 and lasts about as long as S30v
I understand the sentiment. What do you consider a super steel though? Basically any particle metallurgy steels? Or just super high edge retention steels? There are some PM steels that are pretty sharpening friendly in my experience.
Super steel doesn’t mean extreme edge retention or sharpening difficulty.
For instance both Magnacut and Vanax are pretty easy to sharpen. They’re considered super steels because they have near perfect corrosion resistance and decent toughness/edge retention. Magnacut in particular only has very average edge retention, worse than many tool steels, and is very easy to sharpen.
Also, diamond stones (which are pretty much as cheap as anything else these days) will sharpen anything quickly if the right coarseness is used.
What stones are you using? Diamond stones make way faster work of super steels.
If magnamax turns out to truly match K390 and remain stainless, I have no use for anything other than it and magnacut but I will still like 1095, M4, Elmax and S45vn so it continues without or without the next new awesome composition. I’m happy to see innovation regardless of preferences.
I really enjoy Elmax, feel like it’s super easy to touch up & holds an edge for a good while. Also am a fan of nitro v!
Skill issue
I’ve honestly found that a lot of the super steels really don’t need to have a full sharpening because they don’t really wear the edge down unless you chipped the edge because you’re doing non-knife tasks with knives. I have pretty much no issue doing quick honing and strapping on maxamet or similar. I carried a maxamet para 3 for a little over two years straight as my edc breaking down 20-30 large double wall, cardboard boxes per day, even occasionally hitting staples, and I think I only had to actually sharpen it once because I dropped it and chipped the tip of it. Using something like the workshop field sharpener with the diamond stones on it can do 95% of all touchup work without ever having to pull out a guided sharpening system in my experience. That’s just one man’s take though.
What knife is that photo from
The high vanadium steels with extreme edge retention are not only difficult to sharpen, but they are brittle. None the less many knife enthusiasts are in love with them. I’m fine with the more balanced PM steels like SV35 and Magnacut.
I love s45vn. I don’t have any knives in magnacut yet at this point.
Solution is simple. Have about 30 knives minimum and rotate them.
Blasphemy!! no but truthfully i prefer my 14c over the high end “super” steels
diamond sharpeners made this a non-issue a long time ago.
I don’t mind sharpening my knives in m390, m4 elmax & magnacut anymore since I got the work sharp precision adjust. It takes out all the guesswork & makes sharpening a lot easier. It’s also a hell of al lot faster. Prior to that yes it sucked sharpening them using a stone & ceramic rods.
Find your self a good sharpening guy that enjoys sharpening: lucky for me my buddy loves a challenge so I send him all my stuff that I don’t wanna sharpen myself and it comes back way better than I could do it. I also don’t like spending time sharpening but I can maintain the edge with some diamond emulsion and basswood and leather strops for a long time before I need to sharpen it again
For the past decade all my work fixed blades have been carbon steel. They take a beating and sharpen right up with minimal effort.
IMO the single greatest reason many knife nerds jerk off to hyped super steels is because they either don’t know how or are too terrified to sharpen their knives. Cheaper stainless steels like CPM 154, 154cm, Aebl, N690, and 14c are about as well balanced as anyone could realistically want in a knife. They will handle just about anything a super steel can with ease and are fairly easy to bring back to shaving sharp.
If you love snapping blades and creating pry bars, they are awesome!
For those kinds of steels, you need to touch your edges up more often, as often as you do with regular steels. You’ll find that they’re just as easy to sharpen and stay sharp longer. That said, my favorite steels are Spyderco’s versions of VG-10 and SPY27. Both sharpen up really quickly and get crazy sticky sharp.
Future prybar. Ask me how i know 🤣
A steel is essentially useless if it takes too long to sharpen or requires advanced technique and sharpening experience. That’s what many who promote a lot of those super hard steels fail to grasp. Pocket knives are about usability and convenience. They’re not supposed to be a burden to own.