What’s the best steel for a utility blade, and the best way to sharpen it?
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February 5th, 2010
| Tags: folding knife, High Quality, Stuff
somerandomdude asked:
I am looking for a small folding knife, keychain size, for daily work/utility stuff. The blade only needs to be about 2 inches long, but I’d like to get one made of high-quality steel, that will keep an edge.
I’d also like to know the best way to sharpen one, in order to keep it sharp and durable.
Any help would be appreciated.
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I’m not a knife expert but I don’t believe there’s a lot of decent utility knives that are key chain sized. If your not using them in a demanding way that requires a lot of force and pressure you should be fine, but otherwise i would recommend getting a folding knife that has a clip. That way you can get a blade that’s 2-4 inches, maybe serrated as well. It will also still be convenient because it still does not take much room and it won’t add bulk to your keys. In fact, it would be easier if your knife clips into/onto your pockets, belts, waistband, etc because it’s easy to just pull out and flick open with one hand. There’s a lot of good knives like kershaw that will do. (and yes, they also make keychain ones.)
Check out AG Russell, if you have not seen them already. They have a lot of info on qualities of steel and sharpening knives. They also have forums there where you could hook up with an expert, if you can’t find what you need on their site.
I have a handful of knives, but I finally gave in to a whim and bought their Funny Folder. I worked the edge over quite a bit and now sharpen it on a razor hone and strop. It holds the edge VERY well and I rarely have to sharpen it. They say the metal is ATS-34 steel with a Rockwell hardness of 60-61.—aluminum-and-aus-8-/p/RUS-FF3AL/
I recently bought a Victorinox Sentinal on a whim. Notice a trend??? I wanted to see how that one-hand opening deal worked. So-so… I can’t comment on the hardness of the steel, because I have barely used it, but it does have a loop for a keychain.
I don’t really care for the modern way of sharpening knives with that fairly blunt edge (if you know what I mean), but I prefer to just do them by hand on an Arkansas stone with oil. Sometimes, as mentioned, I keep it touched up with the fine wet stone – a razor hone.