Decide on the type of steel. That’ll make things easier. That being said, my first quality knife was the delica which I soon reshaped to flat grind and now shave with it occasionally. My next quality knife is the kershaw junkyard dog II. Nice heft, no blade play, good corrosion resistance. Given the money, I’d love to try the junk yard dog composite. The center D2 steel is real nice but not very corrosion resistant and difficult to sharpen so a whole knife made from D2 would be a PITA (given my temperment lol.) I once had a 154CM folder from leatherman. No they are not the masters of 154CM and the price of the knife was <$40 US so no one would expect greatness. I DID NOT LIKE THAT KNIFE. The blade would always have rust spots on it (high humidity here) and worse, no mattter how much I tried, the edge would always have micro chips that prevents the knife from slicing cleanly through paper. Obviously, I was thining the edge too much or expecting something from the knife that the steel wasn’t designed for. Gave it away…
Currently, I’m into fixed blade knives but haven bought only cheap chinese knives up to now. I can’t afford top quality but given the fact that I sharpen more than use, cheap knives are good for now.
For what it’s worth, a good knife doesn’t mean the best steel. If it’s ugly and you don’t use it or, it’s too hard to sharpen, or, it’s the wrong weight or shape for what you want it for then, it’s no good.
@eebowler: out of curiosity, which stones/sharpening systems are you using?
Also, if your knife rusts, try applying a patina; degrease it with rubbing alcohol, then wrap it in some cloth soaked with vinegar for 2-3 hours. Some people use mustard, coffee etc to apply patterns; I prefer vinegar as it contains no oils which can lead to irregularities. The edge needs to be resharpened after that.
If that isn’t possible wipe the blade with a moisture-displacing oil like WD40 or ballistol (neo-ballistol if you use the blade to cut food, it is non-toxic and flavourless, regular ballistol has a strong lavender smell).
One of the first nice knives I purchased was a BM Mini-grip and it is nice, then I picked up a Spyderco Resilience and really really liked that then came the Zero Tolerance 0566… been my EDC ever since, hands down. Watch closely and save a few more pennies and I think you can get it for like $110’ish. A budget fave that I would carry over the BM and sometimes the Spyderco… the Ontario RAT, right around $30, you should definitely have one of those.
bikedude. I believe at the time of owning the leatherman, I used a sharpening stone. Fine grit I’d guess was 600. It worked well for other knives but not that 154CM. Currently I have a well used DMT fine stone and sandpaper as well as some brown polishing paste I only use on the Delica. Nothing else needs to be that sharp.
The Process of choosing the right steel is part of the reward of owning good and great blades. consider the samurai sword, the bulk of the difference between $100, $500 and $10,000 Sword is the steel (yes I know the other stuff changes but you can’t change the steel and keep the same sword.)
Here is a good place to start in learning about “steels”.
And down the road one acquires good stones to do ones own hand sharpening (which at some point needs to be budgeted in).
With that said here is a video from the first (if not only) Caucasian “Japanese Master sword smith”. An honest expert when it comes to all things Forging, Sharpening, Japanese Blades. And I think we can agree that Japanese Blade+ experts+ really do know their business.
“Sharpening a Knife on a Cinder Block… Stropping on Cardboard! ”
He has a large amount of extremely good videos about everything blades, how he forges the steel, he has one about types of coal, four on types of sharpening stones (and I mean the walking around Japan digging up stone from old feudal quarries, and a whole slew of them on sharpening.
Carter Cutlery - Push Cutting Toilet Paper
Some have had fun watching his video of him shaving with a “spoon”
Warning - I end up watching some of his other videos also because there is so much to learn.
For about $100 and over 3 inches in Spyderco, the Endura with VG10 is a great choice. You could also get a Native in S35VN, S30V or ZDP189 (?) ; listed in order of sharpening ease.
The difference between Spyderco and anything that just looks like a Spyderco will be in the heat treat and opening effort. I would suggest getting a Spyderco Persistence and a Spyderco Sharpmaker along with your VG 10 knife. They will all likely get sharper and stay that way longer simply because of the money that is spent on the heat treat of the blade.
My all around favorite steel is S30V/S35VN for a folder. I’m right on the ocean so rust can be an issue. S30V can be tough to get a nice edge on with S35VN a little easier for me.
My favorite Spyderco in VG10 (that I actually own) is an ATR.
Thanks everyone I appreciate all the help. I’ve decided to go a different route and focus on a nice fixed blade. Actually, I hope to make my own. I’ve been doing a little research and it looks like a fun project that I might actually be able to pull off. I’m gonna try a couple simple knives made from saw blades and files before I take on a good piece of high carbon steel. I’ll post my results as my project moves along. Thanks again for the help.
what a great idea to repurpose a piece of scrap metal. When you cut it out and grind it do you make sure to keep the temperature down so as not to lose the temper or do you re-temper at the end?
I did my best to not let the steel get hot when I cut the rough shape out. I also removed quite a bit of material from the cutting edge with a file. Not sure if that would help but I figured I’d give it a shot.
Here’s what I got done today.
Working on handles
Making myself bleed
!!
A little epoxy
It’s looking like a knife now
Tomorrow I’m gonna try to get a good edge on it using sand paper and a mouse pad.
