Am I the only one who thinks 1095 steel is overrated for bushcraft knives

I used to swear by 1095 for all my camp knives, but a maker in Oregon told me straight up that my edge retention was trash because I was overheating the steel during sharpening. He showed me how a cool wet stone and slower passes kept the hardness stable, and now my Mora in 12C27 outcuts my old 1095 blades by a mile. I changed my whole sharpening setup after that, no more belt grinders on high speed. Has anyone else had a smith call out their technique like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyl186d ago

WOAH wait a belt grinder on high speed for sharpening?! That's INSANE.

sethr115d ago

A while back I read that some knife makers actually use a variable speed belt grinder at high RPM for final edge work, but most of the guys I talked to said it's a recipe for burning the temper, so your mileage may vary for sure, @caseyl18