sharp knife steel

[ronbow]

So I am wondering if I can put as sharp of an edge on, say 1095 or 420 steel as on one of the more exotic steels. Sharp is sharp, right? Isn't it just a matter of how long a blade holds an "edge" ? And how much of an effort it is to resharpen ?
I have used a Buck Vanguard in 420 to skin several deer and it still shaves. So why would I want a more expensive knife in say SV30 or D2 ?

[Empty Quiver]

Let me put it this way, have you dressed an elk?
 
How long you need that edge can depend on the size of task at hand. Another thing is whether or not you hit a good hard spot instead of soft around the joints.
 
Bringing a whet stone is certainly an option. I run A2 and carry a whetstone. I like a belt and suspenders too.

[charles p]

People who use knives for their living do not pick those with the very hardest steels, but those that are easy to frequently resharpen during the workday.  All my deer cleaning is done in camp and I often use two different knives and resharpen them as necessary with an F.Dick hypersteel.  When I cut fish with the professionals, we use Dexter Russel knives and the same steel.  Again, we use different knives for different species of fish.

[Empty Quiver]

People who use knives for their living do not pick those with the very hardest steels, but those that are easy to frequently resharpen during the workday.  All my deer cleaning is done in camp and I often use two different knives and resharpen them as necessary with an F.Dick hypersteel.  When I cut fish with the professionals, we use Dexter Russel knives and the same steel.  Again, we use different knives for different species of fish.

Those using knives for a living are rarely more than three steps from a steel for touching up that softer steel.
 
Now I'm going to say something that might offend some. It is pretty rare to find a man who can sharpen a knife. They end up buying a new knife when the old one gets dull. They get the most use from a very good steel with a wicked sharp factory edge.
 
A good friend of mine is an example. He gave away a nice Spiderco folder. As it happens he gave it to another friend of mine, a former meat cutter, third generation meat cutter by the way.  He could not sharpen that knife, and he tried. Well, I had sorta bragged on my ability to get a good shaving edge on every knife I had ever owned. He sorta chuckled and asked if I could take this Spiderco home and tune it up. I spent a good ten minutes working on that thing to no avail at all.  
 
It was a nice VG10 steel and it had been rounded over so bad I had to start from scratch. Starting from a coarse stone through very fine, working methodically for about an hour I put a shaving edge on that thing. When I returned it the new owner asked how I did. I told him I worked my tail off and it was Okay.    He tested it a bit, then went to the arm hair which while not popping were coming right off. He was incredulous    he just knew I had been blowing smoke about sharpening knives all this time. The truth is I was beginning to consider sending it back to the factory to save face.    That steel is danged tough, and unless you are willing to put in the work softer steels are in fact better.

[muznut 54]

A man that cant sharpen a knife shouldn't own one with that said I had some that were a real pain in the butt to sharpen,usually someone Else's that was abused.

[AtlLaw]

I will be the first to admit that my knife sharpening skills are lacking...    Not for lack of trying however!  I remember as a kid spending hours working on knives.  We had a number of stones in the workshop and I remember one, long gone when the homeplace was sold,  That worked the best for me in putting on an edge.
 
I guess it is because I never could keep the angle exactly constant.     I remedied that just a year or so ago by buying a Lanskey set.  Now all my knives stay sharp!   

[Empty Quiver]

I will be the first to admit that my knife sharpening skills are lacking...    Not for lack of trying however!  I remember as a kid spending hours working on knives.  We had a number of stones in the workshop and I remember one, long gone when the homeplace was sold,  That worked the best for me in putting on an edge.
 
I guess it is because I never could keep the angle exactly constant.     I remedied that just a year or so ago by buying a Lanskey set.  Now all my knives stay sharp!   

HA, Ha that is in fact my little secret. The Lansky sharpener system. I only wish I could use it with the angle grinder for the mower. 

[Victor3]

 I've never found any knife difficult to sharpen, but I guess being a toolmaker has helped some. Diamond stones and a little skill make quick work of sharpening pretty much any kind of steel no matter how tough it may be.
 
 I've heard the "it doesn't hold an edge for long but it's easy to sharpen" argument for years. To me, that's like saying "it may not get good gas mileage for long but the spark plugs are easy to change."

[Joel]

One word Victor3....Thanks .

[gcrank1]

I remember talking knife sharpening stones with one guy......he said his stone would sharpen them all. I had to ask what it was, he said a B&D 6" bench grinder and proudly showed me his latest Stockman pattern. Another fellow took his Buck belt knife down to the local butcher to 'tune up', he used some kind of power grinder too.
Oh My.......
It's a shame what some people do to a good knife.

[inthebeech]

Back to your original question though; yes different steels, different hardnesses different manufacturing methods (forging, grinding a rolled piece of stamped out or laser cut flat stock) and different heat treatments can all affect the degree to which you can get a shaving edge. But as folks like Empty quiver and Charles P have pointed out, we bladesmiths are still searching for the majic combination of hardness, flexibility, and toughness (The Excalliber), and you are just going to have to give one of the three up.  For example, D2 was mentioned but the ability to achieve a shaving edge is very difficult due to the large grain size that chromium leaves you with, unless you use heat treating techniques that none but the most advanced knife maker will offer you.  It is heralded as the steel that will take a decent edge but hold it forever and for punches and cold dies it is perfect.  And those true sportsmen who know what sharp is and how to get it will likely agree that they have no use for D2.  Sorry for the rant but the topic is interesting to me, and engineering is my profession.
Your answer, which reinforces what other have already said, is that 1095, W1, W2 (files), 1084 are all that anyone needs as long as he knows how to sharpen it and doesn't mind the patina.  He takes care of his tools and can get his blades honed well enough to shave with.  Go get yourself an original USA made Old Timer or the newest kid on the block using 1095 Great Eastern Cutlery. 
The world is full of armchair sportsmen; that's why God invented 440C 
Have fun.

[Karl B. Andersen]

"Geometry cuts. Heat treatment determines how long." Roman Landes
And, "Jesus Christ can send a bar of steel down from Heaven. It will only be as good as the heat treatment it gets on Earth." Jerry Rados

[Reverend Recoil]

I refuse to sharpen other people's knives. 

[HL]

To answer your question, you can put just as sharp an edge on 1095 steel as you can any of the other steels. And I would never put a knife blade to a grinder. I use diamond stone and arkansas stones, finishing up on porcelin sticks and final stropping on a muslin wheel with white rouge.