Looking for a "chore\work" folding knife.

[ronbow]

I have 2 knives that I carry - one for chores/hunting and the other for self defense(when I can't legallly carry the 9mm). Of course I don't tote both at the same time. The self defense is a SOG folder and has never been used(thank god and knock on wood). The work knife is a COLD STEEL Voyager 4" blade. The work leaves something to be desired as far as edge holding. I can put a "shaving" edge on it with my Lansky at a 30 degree or 25 degree angle but after a few uses (cutting garden vegetables, wood twigs etc.) the "shaving" edge is gone. I love the knife otherwise because it is light, slim and open with a thumb stud and has a belt clip. If the knife had a ATS-34 steel blade...... So anybody know of a knife like the COLD STEEL Voyager with a "better" steel ? Thanks.

[Joel]

Seems Cold Steel's biggest problem is their blade thicknesses and Geometry, not so much the steel they use.  A lot of people carry/like them....I can't stand them, but then I haven't tried but a couple(neither of which were voyagers).  Be careful when looking for "better" steel in factory knives.  There are any number of companies out there producing Hi-Tech folders with hi-tech stainless listed, but unless they mention the quality of their heat treat I'd avoid certain ones.  Wouldn't buy a blade out of Ats-34/154CM/30V unless it had been Cryogenically heat treated.  I made a  Ats-34 knife one time with no Cryo treatmeant, and the steel was about the same as 440C(which isn't all that bad), but nothing special.  No sense paying good money for a "name" steel unless it's been brought up to the optimum performance level that made it a  "name" steel.  Them factory boys can be trickey that way.   Also, in my own experience, a thin flat ground blade made out of properly heat treated steel cuts a lot better(easier), with less effort then other grinds.  By this I mean where the whole blade passes through whatever is being cut, not just the edge is used.  The less force you use to cut with, the longer the edge seems to last.  The blade geometry/blade construction can be just as important as the steel used.

[Will52100]

I'm with Joel on this, with the exception that I like a slight convex grind with a convex edge.

I generaly don't sharpen my knives to a scary sharp edge, they'll cut hair, but they have enouth grab to produce a long lasting edge.  You also might be getting a wire edge, will cut soft stuf great, but hit some thing like wood and it's dull because the wire folds over.  I used to use a sharpening jig, but found that they limit the edge on a knife, kinda like training wheels on a bike.

[Joel]

And I'm with Will on that.  I probably should have mentioned that all my knives/axes/machetes have convex edges, since I sharpen them all on my little 1 X 30 Delta belt grinder with the platen removed so I can slack grind.  Also, even though I  list my knives as flat ground, about 98 percent of them are actually slightly convex(we're talking thousandths of an inch here) ground.  Just happens to be the way I grind a blade.  No one's complained yet.