recently i wrote up a post about having troubles getting my MPLE sharp so i just thought i'd state that it is now very sharp and now i love it.

the sharpmaker wouldnt touch it at first.

i went a tried giving it a convex edge but for whatever reason i dont have good luck giving smaller blades convex edges and i screwed up the tip.

a few days latter i ground it back out to a V grind,fixed up the tip and then put it on the sharpmaker for a final touch up and polish.

now it is perfect and ready for EDC.

thanks especially to horndog for all you advice and offer to help me out and to everyone else who gave me advice.

while i understand a lot of the problem was me i am a much bigger fan of the busse kin stainless again.

now if i could only see those MPLE test dan promised...lol

I am having a heck of a time getting my HC as sharp as I want as well. I have done a lot of sharpening so I think I no what it is. The stainless is very hard and has
a serious resistance to grinding. This makes for a wicked sharp edge that retains it's sharpness but makes it a real bugger to get sharp. S7 ,SR101 and INFI are all quite easy to sharpen so a lot of us are not used to the high speed stainless.

If I did an S7 or infi blade like I did my HC it would be perfect but I still can't get it to shave. I will have to resort to a microbelt on the grinder I think.

Now you're thinking. That 154 CM is hard! Watch it, the MPLE heats up fast. I cut the new angle with a 180 grit and then moved down to the finishing belts. All the microbelts will do is make it shiney and still dull if you don't take off some steel first with a course grit. Sometimes stainless can be a bear to work with.

Bill Bagwell in one of his articles stated that "154CM is a perfect &itch to sharpen" and I totally agree. The stuff is very hard and wear resistant but it can be sharpened you just have to be patient.

It reminds me of ATS-34. A Law Enforcement friend of mine used to give me his Buck Odyssey to sharpen. It would take me hours on a fine German stone. I have a Buck Strider Solution in that steel. Tough stuff. 154 CM seems about the same to me.

ATS-34 is the same thing just made in Japan. 154CM in the early days was vacuum melted then for what ever reason they made a change in the process and quality took a nose dive. A big switch was made to ATS-134 because the quality was always there. At some point the process for 154CM was changed again which brought the quality back up. Which is why your seeing it again in high end knives.

i think SR101...{52100} can be tougher to sharpen than most,if not all of the high carbon steels in its class.as we all know thats why they make ball bearings out of it.you dont want your ball bearings wearing down.

it is known for its wear resistance which is why it holds its edge longer.

other HC's like 5160,1095 and the rest of the 10-- family sharpen up like nothing.

52100 is tough.

SR77...{S7} and INFI are easier to sharpen.INFI is actually a delight to sharpen and is a gift from the steel gods.

i would like to see the lateral strength and impact resistance of 52100 though.i am sure it is good but i wonder how good with it being so hard.

personally i like the 52100 over the S7 for a field knife.i think it holds an edge better.

It is hard, but in my experience with 52100, it is easier to sharpen than 154 CM. I, too love its edge holding properties. I like the toughness of S7. I guess if you want it all, the only way to go is INFI. Still, I think 154 CM is a good steel for folders and smaller slicers. But it is more difficult to sharpen than the other Busse steels. I'd like to see sets of 154CM serrated steak knifes with res C handles. Manly steak knives!

52100 is almost 5160, but with just a little extra carbon (1.0 vs .60)which gives it the edge in wear resistance, but it's not quite a flexible as a trade off. Other than that they are pretty much the same steel.

You sure it's not quite as flexible.



70 degress without flexing.

Have Swamp Rat make a 5160 one and find out! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Wish I could get one for that price, lol