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I have many knives in 14c28n and they sharpen fairly easy...But then, I got a Civivi Brazen in 14c28n and it felt like I was sharpening a rock. It took a lot of work but I finally got it razor sharp and the edge has held up beautifully. It just amazes me how the same steel can be so different from maker to maker. The difference must come from the heat treatment.

That's why s35vn is my favorite steel. Very balanced overall.

You're the most down to earth person on KZfaq man. I love listening to anything and everything you say, your opinions match up so closely to mine. Love the content, keep it up MC!

In the camping, survival, hunting, bushcraft and outdoor community at large 3V steel are highly valued for its toughness and resisting edge wearing not edge retention necessarily as relevant to cutting highly abrasive materials like sisal rope or cardboard. As an example, DBK duo rated it in their top 3 favourite steels. Horses for courses.

Hey the lansky system is 50$ and it's super easy to use. Those of you who can't drop 300 I highly recommend it. I get mirror edges with it. And they sell a stopping piece for it. Throw some tormek compound on there at the end and voila.

I sharpen all my knives by hand and you are right about what steel is the best what's best is whats best for the user I enjoy sharpening different types of steel and trying to figure out what is best for me but it is always good to have someone else discuss there experience in the sharpening of different steels keep up the good work MC your the greatest!

Great video update!! Good to know! After watching your reviews, I purchased a knifecenter 3v textured titanium Demko. Thank you for sharing updates!!!😎♥️

I'm really appreciating what you have to say, and how you say it, more and more all the time. I use my knives the same way you do and have so many that none of them see much use. I rarely even have to sharpen them and most look brand new. When I do have to sharpen, I use the Work sharp Precision Adjust, at least for the knives that it's capable of sharpening. It does have it's limitations. And I agree about 14C. Probably my overall favorite steel. Keep on telling it like it is my friend! Peace!

CPM s110v reminds me of the steel you are referring to that takes forever to sharpen and will chip. But seems to NEVER DULL. I bought a para 3 in December last year in s110v. I carry it every day at work. Cut burlap, some small branches, various plants, cardboard, plastic, webbing, rubber hose ect. I have never sharpened it. Cutting edge literally looks brand new. It’s scratched, and dirty but still cuts perfectly. Have still never sharpened it.

I love tool steels: M4, K390, 4V, Rex45. They sharpen up so much easier than stainless. I’d take them over stainless every time.

I need a knife sharpening camp I can go to to drink beer and learn to sharpen knives. Seriously.

We all know by now that the ad 20.5 is the best knaf on the planet in my opinion because it's in every other comment I leave .lol. I couldn't agree more with you on this one . I literally had pretty much the same experience. Now I will say I love to strop. it's the way I relax before bed . So I've found that I really like 3v because I can just strop it back to sharp at the end of the day . And I use the shit out of it everyday at work . Great take and vid . Love the new shamen scales the timascus looks amazing makes me want a shammy again .

I enjoy hand sharpening. And my experience is 154 sharpens like a dream, 3v honesty sharpens easier than most of my d2, but it gets abused like crazy. Elmax was too hard for some of my stones, but it takes a strop really well, I was just really surprised to see that 154 wasn't super widely used in the pocket knife world coming from fixed blades. 3v makes sence, as a full bar of it is baisicly a crowbar, I imagine you loose some of the hard use ability from 3v, witch is its main clame, in a pocket knife configuration because of what they are intended for. A pocket knife blade and pivot vs 1/4 inch of 3v probably react differently.

After I learned to give D2 a toothy edge as opposed to polishing it, I really like the steel more than I did before.

I completely enjoyed this point of view and honesty so much so I had to comment. Thank you sir it was breath of fresh air !

I appreciate your continued reality check about M390 and it being actually used and sharpened. I have sharpened Hinderers and while I still love the knives, the M390 just didn’t seem problematic, and this was before the whole heat treat fiasco. Then I tried sharpening ZT and Reate M390 (or 20cv) and hit “the wall”. It laughed at my KME beast even. So I’m back with my CRK’s for carry and use. I can play with my other knives

That's why still like 154cm whether ingot or CPM in pocket knives or short fixed blade, it's easy to sharpen. There's others I like, but that one has stood out in my mind as being easy. Gave the wife a Benchmade, with a 154 blade years ago, and she definitely uses it till the edge is almost rounded every time before she gives it back to me for sharpening. Like 5 strokes each side with a extra course DMT reprofiles it.

I would take 20 minutes writing up a paper congratulating you on your skills in stretching out a single concept into a 20 minute video but I don't have the time or patience LOL. I loved your daily review/unbox videos while I was refreshing myself on the state of knife collecting today but TKG is becoming my favorite of your content and the Livestreams

Cpm s35vn is my favourite steel to sharpen. Best steel I've enjoyed so far.

Those 3 blue knives looks beyond beautiful 😍, I got qsp penguin cf its my first knife ever I'm entitled, then I got qsp hawk Cooper foil cf and damascus I adore it, waiting for micarta grazioso and kanspet fenrir micarta as well, I can't stop myself, never been into knives before but your videos got me, thanks a lot for sharing your knives, experience and genuine thoughts

I use my bark river in 3v for yard work, it's the one you gave away, when used on wood, it lasts me for 2-3 hours chopping on trees outside and like 20 minutes to get shaving again, that said I'd never want a pocket knife in that steel because its not stainless, great steel in certain applications 👍

I think you touched on it a bit but one of the problems we have in the knife industry is that we get these generic thicker blades and the makers just swap around steels. A knife steel that has great edge stability will never shine when the blade is a thick saber grind that's thick behind the edge too. Of course m390 performs better then. Get a thin behind the edge flat ground blade in 4v and watch it out cut a thick chunky M390 blade.

I like coffee

I agree with you whole heartedly. I’m about to obtain a 3v knife and I’m perfectly content with sharpening more often and less time during sharpening. I’m a real world guy so I only break down boxes 3 times a week if that and breakdown multiple boxes only about once a month to 3 months.

That Jack is insanely cool

So, time is/ should not be an issue when caring for your tools. I am patient in cleaning my guns and knives. Take time and care and they will serve you well.

Let’s go Sunday TKG!!! Yay 5000!!

It doesn't matter how long it takes to get a knife sharp.If your happy with the edge that's what matters.

KME ROCKS!!!

I got 2 ZT this week and i noticed that the 0452 in S35VN is not a slicer it's kind of thick behind the edge now the 0357 in 20CV is pretty thin behind the edge and it slices a lot better love the channel bro thank you😁

Def waiting on patterned scales and stainless. Even for a daily user, extra grip and stainless would be appreciated.

Love your insight in the 20.5. I picked up a gribory 3V from knife center and am in the process of finding Ti scales. Can’t decide on straight Ti or Timascus

This was your experience with 3V at this specific HRC and this blade geometry. A different maker could do a better heat treat and grind and give you a better experience. And vice versa. 👊🤘

I typically find my self going to D2, VG10 and 440C probably because of the price those steels show up in. I do have a few S30V and S35VN knives but they are few compared to the sea of D2 and 440C knives I have. The edge retention of the 3 seem to be more then sufficient to last a month for me before being stropped. I definitely learned that diamond sharpeners are a must once I step above my big 3 and that is probably why my collection doesn't have as many of the new super steel knives because I only recently purchased a worksharp field sharpener and the bench version shortly after because I figured out my Benchmade and S35VN spyderco sharpen much quicker on them vs sharpening them with my basic lansky sharpener.

if you haven't done one already, a video on which knives and steels you've liked for breaking down cardboard (a big deal for many of us) would be very well received.

My KC 3v 20.5 is on the softer side of where 3v typically is in the production HT world. I went ahead and put my edge on it the day I got it and did a cut test and it was OK but I can feel the steels is soft on the stones. I went ahead and put another edge on and took about 2 edges worth of steel off. During that edge I deff could feel the steel getting harder so I just removed steel until I couldn't feel and hear the steel getting harder. 3v is a lovely steel, this 3v is deff on the soft side of optimal 3v. It cleanly deburred at will, apex came out crispy crispy crispy, super sticky with plenty of bite straight off the Poltava F400 plate as where on the second edge that crisp apex just wasn't there so the edge deff had some burnt material there, edge retention wise it is right where well done VG10 tests BUT is so incredibly easy and quick to sharpen that it kinda is amazing. The great thing about 3v in a knife like this is throw an edge on it, a piece of leather no compound needed will keep that edge hair popping for a very long time. There was no micro chipping except on the first sharpening but as soon as I removed some steel that was gone. Edge retention wise it's not that great, ease of sharpening is insane, how long the edge will come back with a piece of hard leather is also insane, a simple ceramic rod will sharpen 3v for people that aren't in to sharpening and have 1000s of dollars in high performance stones nor the skills to use them. You can literally sharpen 3v efficiently with a med ceramic rod, you can remove material with that rod to clean up small nicks, rolls, chips and put a more then usable edge with just tat rod and that is a beautiful thing and makes 3v a very viable edc folder steel and also a damn good steel for newbie sharpeners to work with. You can reprofile the stuff quickly on a 10 dollar smith's Alox stone lol. If you really want to get the most out of 3v for edc type cutting, F240/JIS400ish grit finish and a couple passes on nap leather to make sure you have fully removed the burr and your in business, there is zero need to take it any higher then that because as soon as you cut anything that sticky upfront sharpness is gone and if you took it up to a high grit your gonna have a slicked off edge quickly, leave it course to start and enjoy a good course working edge that you can bring back over.. and over... and over... and over... and guess what? Over and over lol with a piece of nap leather and a couple very light passes per side. 3v acts very much like cpm154 in that if you the it up past 600 it starts to go slick on the stones like an over stropped edge feels. For a lot of customers i do their 3v at F100 or F150 if they cut mostly fibrous stuff and plastics with it or F240 if they are just cutting card board and other typical around the house uses.

I don't have experience with 3v or Cru-wear, but Larrin Thomas rates them pretty similarly. 3v is 9 for toughness, 4.5 for edge retention and 5.5 for corrosion resistance. CPM Cru-Wear is 8.5, 5 and 5.5 respectively. Those ratings are from quantitative testing, not arbitrary opinion. People love Cru-Wear on their folding knives, so 3v might not be that different.

Regarding the AD 20.5 TI 3V. Knifecenter just had the exclusive launch. This is directly from Demko after asking if it was Exclusive: "Knife center has an exclusive launch, then to other dealers".

I’m liking 3v it does strop back very well but have not sharpened it yet.

Believe it or not the best cut time vs sharpening time ration of any steel I own was from a CRKT 1.4116. It outcut all of the powder steel on wood. Of course this was not on factory edge, but on a ~ 13dps edge off of the worksharp precision adjust. I skipped 600grit diamond, finished at 1000grit ceramic and stropped. The reason it outcut other higher carbide steels is because wood carving dulls by apex deformation and fracture rather than wear. Lower carbide tougher steels with polished smooth apex have the advantage here. You are simply not going to get good numbers with high carbide powder stainless unless your microbevel is on point.

I for one agree with starlord here.😆

I need to do some research to learn more about the steels on my knives, but my 2 “nicer” knives have S30V and S35VN.

Left the best shaman out:( you'll hurt it's feelings;) lol

Sharpened my thumbstuds....oh well....glad I am not alone haha

Personally, I have felt that 3V performs a lot better with a toothy edge, around 600 grit or below. Cuts better and holds its apex a little better for me.

I watched this while sharpening knives 😂 I'm the knife guy in my family and friend group so I sharpen everyone's knives. I really enjoy sharpening and hate it when my knife looses that biting razor edge. I'm also a sweaty guy in the south. So for me edge retention and corrosion resistance is absolutely king. But that's just me.

3v can get very sharp and take amazing edge I love my 3v ad20.5

I generally agree with these sentiments 1. All knives dull, no matter what the steel - it’s just a fact of having and using knives . . . assuming you USE them. High edge retention steel CAN be nice, but only delays the inevitable. 2. I agree that pocket knives are for plastics and cardboard and small things like that, and really aren’t to be used for heavy abuse. Average daily tasks. 3. I agree the Demko is too thick for good cardboard slicing. Other knives are way better. 4. Ease sharpening is super important. BUT …. I have never taken as long to sharpen a knife as you describe. You can get a pretty decent arm hair shaving edge on the Work Sharp Field Sharpener in about 3 minutes, on any steel. I’m not sure what you’re doing that takes an hour or more. Maybe you are going for way too high of a standard of sharpness? Lol

all have to do is strop it when you gets dull. When you have the knife at the profile you like. This wont take very long at all. :)

Though it isnt the same steel. But my Aus10 AD20.5 from factory. Its edge was horrible, didnt last long at all. But after sharpening it and stropping the Aus10. I was very surprised at how much sharper the edge was, and how much longer its holding that current edge. It seems that often these factory edges are trash.

Ive found i can use the worksharp field sharpner fairly well though ive got the ken onion thingy an a trned diamond an few wetstones the feild sharpner is an all in one an after the ceramic an then strop i get a piloshed hair shaving edge as ling as i take my time to stay at correct angle, all without pluging something in or using water

I do feel like sharpening is therapeutic, but I freehand sharpen. I learned on a couple different systems, but never felt like that was therapeutic. I think it’s specifically because I’m doing it myself. Also, freehand sharpening is anyway faster and simpler than using a system. I recommend checking out murray carters sharpening videos.

Ahh 300, 600, 1500. I was worried about jumping from 600 to 2000. Thanks for making vids

i love sharpening on whet stones. its funner

The first sharpening of my 20.5 was bloody harrowing. I got the 3v version when they dropped, tossed some micarta on it and naturally, according to the rules of eBay, it’s somehow a $400 knife now. But the thumb studs were were absolutely CAKED shut with thread locker…I had to steam it for almost an hour to get them to budge without stripping the screw. That’s my one gripe about thumb studs…I don’t care if they’re in the cutting path, that doesn’t normally affect my use…but they’re somehow always just below the sharpening angle I’m aiming for. In the case of the 20.5, it’s more than reasonable. I don’t wanna take that any lower that 20dps or the bevel is gonna be horrid. Even with that, the thumb studs are still there…

What was the m390 knife you picked up?

Please do a video on using the KME for dummies! I can't figure it out and it's sitting here, taunting me! I got my edges shiny but they couldn't cut a 💩

The unspoken of time to sharpen a large collection. I do consider maintaining a knife when purchasing. Maybe the next knife will change my mind, let's see...

45 MINUTES!?!?!??? I CAN COMPLETELY DESTROY MY KNIFE WITH A GRINDER IN 10 SECONDS!

I can’t find the HRC of the AD20.5 online, so its probably quite low. Because its so so so so so tough, you can take 3v to its upper hrc limit at about 64-65 (iirc) and it will perform so much better. If you’re saying soft m390 is quick to sharpen, how does its edge retention compare to soft 3v? Ya never know, you might get hold of some “proper hardness” 3v or some high hardness CPM 154 and hate it…

14C28N sharpen very well, but its edge retention is so mediocre. I don't know if it is my bad 14C28N steel in Ruike P801.

I think MAGNACUT would be nice for the 20.5

This all rings true to me from my experience. I first learned this info from the Dutch Bushcraft Boys (DBK). Them and this channel are in my top favorites.

I use my 3v knives for breaking down tree limbs for my fire pit and they love it. I'd have liked to see elmax, cru wear, or m4 on the ad20.5. 3v is more for fixed blade abusive type tasks. M4 or elmax or even cpm 154 would have been a better choice.

I absolutely love CPM-3V. That being said, 3V’s main strength (insane toughness) is kinda lost on a folding knife. In a fixed blade however, a well done 3V is an absolute beast. I’ve been camping, hiking and taken survival courses and used (abused) my 3V knives in ways that would destroy S90V and I loved it. However, my general use EDC knives are S30 or S35VN because they beat a 3V hands down for repetitive cutting of thing like rope or tape or cardboard. And BTW, I have the KME also and it’s freakin awesome because I can’t freehand sharpen worth a crap lol. TDLR: Different steels for different uses.

You can whale on 3V with a hammer and it will not break. Not that you use your knives for anything more than cutting boxes open, but there it is.

Okay so I have a KME and I have watched tons of videos on how to use it properly but I am still not getting the hang of it. Once I get the bur on the 140 grit obviously I progress to the next stone. But then, when do I actually know when to progress? I’ve seen plenty of content saying That You are not supposed to get a bur after the initial bur you establish in your first stone, that you’re supposed to essentially polish at that point. But, how do I know when to progress to the next town if that is the case?

i dropped a m390 knife on concrete and had several minor chips. took me over 1.5hrs to get most of them out. Cant imagine how long it would take if there was serious chipping

Is that a Spyderco Tenacious bottom right/center? If so what are those scales? Are they affordable? Available?

What’s the red handled knife with the bolsters on the table?

Anyone have experience with the serrated ad20.5?

Still need to get a digital angle finder to normalize my sharpening angles.

👍

Are you reading from a teleprompter? If not you would make a good president of USA. I use a 7x LED Pocket Magnifier to help see edge while sharpening. Hobbey Lobbey, Amazon etc. sells these.

Ive taken 2 hours to sharpen some of my knives

I don't understand the difficulty people have sharpening hard steel. If you use diamond or CBN in the appropriate grits, it shouldn't take more than 30 minutes no matter how hard the steel is. Reprofiling to a lower angle is a different story, but that's generally a one-time thing. And yes, that includes using a KME, which I used for years. Agree, though, that reprofiling a hard steel on 4" stones suuuucks. Most underrated steel, IMO, is Nitro-V. I like Civivi's budget Nitro-V much more than their 14c.

We spend so much on so little. Judge not unless yeee be judged.

Always wondered why super steels like K390, 10V or S90V were never used in ultra thin slicey blades like Spyderco Chaparral or Tactile KnifeCo Bexar slip Joint or even Delica to mention a few. Theoretically, if done these knives could be dream slicers.

I very much enjoy 20cv and m390 on small thin behind the edge knives like the peña apache.. pretty easy to sharpen. But thicker stuff, yuck

Para 2? I want scales like that.... Someday....🌈

I like my 3V AD20.5... But ALL KNIVES SHOULD BE IN MAGNACUT FOR THE REST OF TIME.

I found I like the tougher steels more than stuff like my cpm 20v knife that I have to baby. My favorite so far is either of the 154’s

Steel is irrelevant as far as sharpening is concerned when you have an amk-75 😀. I didnt think 3v was that bad to resharpen compared to s35vn/m390/20cv(by hand)

You have broken fixed blades which can't be fixed. Just saying not trying to be a wise guy. Good video sharpening is one of my favorite things to do with my knives. That's probably crazy but I don't deny it

Kme is too overpriced. I use the Lansky Sharpening system. Works for me. Not expensive and gets my knives hair splitting sharp

I think Cru Wear or M4 would be a bit more in the pocket knife realm for the ad20.5 but I'm loving the 3V. It's been great for catching staples and metal pieces, it just doesn't care.

Well, if your knife gets dull just sharpen it WTF, just ignore the blade steel and take care of the blade. People get too caught up in blade content. IMHO.

if its not Maxamet its tinfoil to me

What's going on KZfaq?

Hellofa gify to have brother. Lol

I just want everything to have s35vn

Having declared my dissatisfaction with this sharpener last night kzfaq.infoUgkxDcr-y2Pf6xdnrFHrSP7dl9kpKaCozcSQ I thought about the problem some more. It occurred to me that I might be undoing each attempt at achieving a sharp edge by the repeated attempts. So, I tried to clean up the unsatisfactory result by honing with only positions 3 and 4.Miracle!! A really nicely sharpened chef's knife, more than enough to handle my needs. Admittedly, it did not reach professionally sharpened razor-fineness, but it is now significantly sharper than it was. A bout of breaking down carrots convinced me. So, major apologies to the manufacturer, Amazon, and all happy and potential owners! Follow the directions: don't buy it if you have ceramic blades; and don't overwork your knife blade.