I have a uncle who is starting to make knives, he said that s35vn is really hard to sharpen, is this true? How often would I need to sharpen it? I love the look of this but don't want a high maintenance knife, already have a girl friend that is high maintenance.
VortakuIf your uncle is used to D2, 1095 or AUS8 then the S35VN might seem harder to work with. A lot depends on the heat treat of the steel. Frequency of sharpening is hard to predict as it's directly related to type and level of use. I have a lot of S35VN knives that get light casual use and I'll go for weeks at a time without working on the edge. I wouldn't worry too much about this knife being hard to maintain. I've never owned a Ferrum Forge but my WE knives in S35VN seem to hold an edge just fine.
If you learn to use a Spyderco Sharpmaker and a stropping belt/compound you can easily maintain the edge on any knife with any steel. When a knife needs more than that, my sharpening skills are way to poor to start grinding. I'll send them off to an expert for bevels and profiling.
I hereby predict you'll have FAARRR more trouble maintaining that girlfriend than this knife ;-)
VortakuS35vn isn't considered a hard maintenance steel, it is soft enough to sharpen by yourself easily yet hard enough to get a good edge and hold it for a good while, the hardness depends on the heat treatment.
If you don't want a knife that is hard to sharpen then stay away from premium steels like m390, cts 204p, cpm 20cv, ELMAX, especially M4.
You might want to make a little research of knife steels if you are planning future knife shopping. Hope I answered your question, have a good time.
megical_bananaI will say that all of the "super steels" get to be a little bit of a PITA to sharpen if you let them go for too long. They are definately harder to reprofile, but actual sharpening is no problem if you keep up with it.
HackenslashDon't let him lie to you, he's way more high maintenance than I. You'll notice this is on a discussion about a knife for him that we've discussed rather than the Dooney I've been eyeing for the last couple years..he spoiled <3 😘
StoeVVIt is very hard to sharpen if you dont have any system such as kme, wicked edge or edge pro since in those systems you can use low grit stones to get the initial bevel set perfectly in a relatively to any other sharpening type.
Other than that M4 is a very good steel if you keep it oiled and take care of it since it rusts quickly.
I personaly don't have right now any M4 but my pm2 in s110v is a great example of a steel that is very hard to sharpen on a systam as spyderco's sharpmaker.
megical_bananaYou mean sharpen it with a diamond whetstone basically.Well from what i have seen the only companies like spyderco and benchmade have blades with that steel. I have a cheapo lansky sharpening system but with the diamond whetstones.
StoeVVThere are many companies that make knives in this steel, and by system I didn't mean only diamond stones I ment fixed angle that you can work on consistently.
Lansky sharpener is a good start but you might consider using something more abrasive for M4.
megical_bananaWell there is so much difference between the diamond and the aluminium oxide ones.Actually lansky has a coarser diamond stone than wicked edge but yes i get your point about the wicked edge being 10 times more consistant.
StoeVVWell, considering diamonds of any kind are so much harder than any aluminum oxide or any other materials...there is a difference.
About the consistency, systems like wicked edge deliver you fixed axis movement by that I mean there is much less movement of the stones apart from what you need compared to lansky where you are kinda holding it all in your hands and it all seems wobbling and what not.
If you learn to use a Spyderco Sharpmaker and a stropping belt/compound you can easily maintain the edge on any knife with any steel. When a knife needs more than that, my sharpening skills are way to poor to start grinding. I'll send them off to an expert for bevels and profiling.
I hereby predict you'll have FAARRR more trouble maintaining that girlfriend than this knife ;-)
If you don't want a knife that is hard to sharpen then stay away from premium steels like m390, cts 204p, cpm 20cv, ELMAX, especially M4.
You might want to make a little research of knife steels if you are planning future knife shopping. Hope I answered your question, have a good time.
I personaly don't have right now any M4 but my pm2 in s110v is a great example of a steel that is very hard to sharpen on a systam as spyderco's sharpmaker.