I read in some places that the blades in ganzo knives are strong but does not hold the edge well, even less than sanrenmu or enlan. Do you think that? Do you think the are improved that in the new models or it is the same from the old models? In practical task you feel they lose its edge quickly?
Do you think really that the steel or heat treatment used by Ganzo knives do not hold well the edge?
They’re usually made from the equivalent of 440B or 440C with an OK heat treatment. For the money they are fine. In my experience the initial edge may be slightly overheated when they do the initial sharpening, because after a couple of times being resharpened the edge retention improves a bit.
Avoid anything less than 8CR13MoV and you should be fine.
Ive pretty much stopped buying Ganzo for the reasons you mentioned. The Ganzo factory edge typically comes relatively dull and they dont hold an edge after being sharpened. I dont know if its the steel or temper, or perhaps both. I have a friend who does professional blade sharpening for me. I gave him a new Ganzo G704 in exchange to sharpen/mod a few knives and he thought it was rubbish. The Enlan EL-01 still remains my EDC. Maybe others will chime in.
I don’t know… The beating I gave my 722 in my recent review made me a believer. Still very sharp after chopping up a bush. My 722 and 724 were razor sharp right out of the box.
My ganzos came with normal sharpness, the same like enlan. Sanrenmu sometimes has come dull (604) and others incredible sharp (710 and 9063).
But about the quality of the steel/heat treatment i do not know.
Really i like much more brands that put 8cr13mov or 9cr18mov o 9cr13mov (harnds, enlan, sanrenmu for example, more honest) than brands that put 440c (basically ganzo an pd navy), and for some reasons that brands with 440c have a bad reputation about edge retention.
But it is true that ganzo have probably the best designs (yes, copied, but still the best).
I like my Ganzos, they seem to take a decent edge… More importantly, they resharpen easily… As long as they take an edge, I give one to them…. Holding an edge is for those that don’t like to resharpen in my opinion… For the price, you could get a steel that doesn’t take an edge, the Ganzos I have do take an edge.
In total agreement- hold it as well as my VG-10 blade- at least in the month or two I’ve had them.
OK, I might seem as a wet blanket or a snob about blade steel and chinese knives.
For those of you talking up how great 9cr18mov and 9cr13mov is, do you have and hard use knives with the current generation of high end blade steels? S30V, S35V, S90V, M390, ELMAX, or D2 are the steels I am referring to.
Is it from one of the known 1st world makers or from China and a knock off?
How many Do you own?
What is the make and what blade steel?
Do you really hard use it?
How much use do you consider normal between sharpenings?
Here are a few bits of reading and testing.
Its about the blade geometry and Ganzo have blades that are often too thick. Sharp and edge holding is relative unless there is a scientific way to measure it. Some use microscope to check it.
Resharpen your knife often with fine grit is important and remove less material than doing it only when its dull. That why many knife enthusiasts prefer carbon blade.
But… the angle of the edge is what is important to hold the edge more than the thickness of the blade i think.
For no remove material the best is to use a ceramic “chaira” and you can get sharp the edge without removing material.
I don’t think anyone was suggesting that they are “great”, but merely very good value for the money, and capable of doing most of the same work a more expensive knife would be asked to perform.
Take a look at my screen name. I’ve never made a knife in anything but CPM-S90V, CPM-3V, and CPM-S35VN, however I own knives in all types of steel from a wide variety of brands because I don’t always want to carry a very expensive knife with me, and just like lights, no one knife serves all purposes. I am a steel snob, but my practical side says use the right tool for the job, and sometimes the job requires a beater, not my CPM-S110V Spyderco Manix 2 or a handmade CPM-S90V wharncliff.
The geometry issue is a valid one, however you need to remember that they can only harden the steel they’re using up to a certain point, so the thicker cross section (although worse for cutting) prevents the untrained from bending the blade as they try to impress their friends by inexpertly opening a can of soup with it. If they chose a steel with higher carbon content they could push the Rc up and thickness down, but then they have people complain of difficulty in sharpening and chipping/cracking damage to the blade and edge when used hard. It’s not till you get into the ridiculous materials like CPM steels that you can have high hardness and high toughness simultaneously, and you’ll spend more on just the blade material to make the blade of a knife like a Ganzo folder than you currently are for a completely finished knife. Add labor and watch the price swell.
It’s a complex thing making a knife that works for some people, extremely hard to make one that works for most people, and impossible to make one that works for everyone. Just the way it is.
I am a knifeaholic as well as a flashaholic so i own a lot of knives and use them every day. I also have a bit of a issue where i need to keep every one of my knifes shaving sharp at all times. I have a couple of wave modified Ganzo 704’s (best value left handed knife around) and probably 2 dozen Enlan EL01’s (my goto inexpensive gift) and find them great ( probably one the best) value knives available. They hold an edge as well as the lower end kershaws and benchmades (witch are also made in china with the same steels) have a wave, and last a long time compared to the crap that’s available out there for similar prices. Having said that, if you want to maintain a shaving sharp edge you do need to sharpen it every few days of use. Compared to my knifes with high end stainless steel like VG10 or s35V like the falikniven or spyderco i would say they hold the razor sharpness about 4 times longer.
As for sharpening I put a convex edge on all my knives which i have found keeps them sharp the longest.
So basically buy with confidence from a good dealer (there are cheap clones of these knives around) and your going to be very happy.
What do i carry most ?, depends what I’m doing: Kizer KI401 in s35v, Sebenza Clone in D2, Spidercos sage 4 in s30v most of the time and an Enlan EL-01 in 8cr13mov at work if im making test cuts in roofing and walls or if i forget a knife cause i have these laying around everywhere.
Well said!
I also feel it is important to me to have a knife cheap enough to use, up to destruction, should the need arise. I have a Spyderco Blue Bob Lum Chinese knife for instance. Feels wonderful in the hand and would carry well, but since it is a moderately rare knife, why would I carry it and take the chance of losing it? My Ganzo G724M on the other hand could be used as a door stop, barrel venter or any other use and if it dies on me, I lost $13, or 1/20th the price of the Spyderco…. I have one knife, an old Victorinox SAK that I have sharpened the blade enough to change the profile on. The rest seem to get lost/destroyed/given away prior to actually sharpening the blade away….
I currently like the Ganzos, but any of the good Chinese knives fit my needs for cost vs abilities… I still buy nice knives on occasion, but my users are all “disposable” priced. I honestly think the cost has to go to 3 or 4 times what these budget blades go for currently before you get any significant performance increase.
Very interesting all these posts, thanks for all the information.
My dude is if the steel/heat treatment used in ganzo is worst, equal or better than enlan, sanrenmu, harnds, inron or navy. More specific if the performance about keep the edge is like sanrenmu or enlan with 8cr13mov or enlans with 9cr13mov etc. I read too much times about the blades of the ganzos are for pierce metal and wow effect but they do not jold an edge too much. In the reality, if somebody have enlans and srms and use it really.
i don’t notice any appreciable difference between my Ganzo and elan knives.
Spend 20 dollars on a Ganzo and be your own judge
I have ganzos, enlans, sanrenmus, harnds, inron and tekut. But i do not use like i could compare them.
After use it neatly folds up into itself for easy storage and portability
I’m no metallurgist, but I’d say it dulls quicker than SRM’s 8cr13mov but sharpens as well. It seems like it would be well-suited for hard-use knives and beaters.