Short of purposeful abuse, its all but impossible to chip an edge on an INFI blade. Cool! Anyway, buff up the O1v and it cuts leather easily. Phone Hours (MST) 12C27 steel is extremely popular in the US knife market for its high hardness, high wear resistance, and great corrosion resistance. in the correct place for the stainless-toughness-edge-retention graphic? Lately Ive been edcing one of those instead of a nice folder. Stainless steels are another subset of high alloy tool steels that have enough chromium in them to have stainless levels of corrosion resistance. . whats even more disturbing is that cvn and fracture toughness sometimes (often?) These two knives are a little bit more than a pretty face. Many custom makers enjoy AEB-L, as its easy to machine but still has a high hardness, around 62 HRc. Id think that line would be significantly to the left, more in the data swarm. When describing the characteristics of a steel, a few common attributes are commonly talked about. In that case the difficulty in sharpening would be the inverse of the edge retention rating. You can read about my CATRA edge retention testing in this article. EDGE RETENTION . The hardenable grade of titanium (Beta C Titanium) reaches up to 45 or so rc. It is a premium steel that is known for its excellent balance of hardness, corrosion resistance, and edge retention. Coarse-carbide tool steel grades. More expensive powder metallurgy steels in this category include M390, CPM-S35VN, Elmax, CTS-XHP, CPM-S30V, and CPM-154. Below shows the results of MagnaCut testing vs other steels where it is labeled as New Steel.. 20? Poor heat treatment can make a knife too hard, too soft, hard to sharpen, easy to deform, or cause other issues. I tested its edge wear resistance but not its toughness yet. 14C28N Vs D2 . However, it can be somewhat complicated because an edge can dull from many causes wear, micro-chipping, deformation, or corrosion. Not every element is shown in the charts. AEB-L is a non-powder steel produced by Swedish steelmaker Uddeholm. Any thoughts how Sleipner might fare in the ratings? Or, is this perhaps a historically useful practice that made sense on softer/less tough steels, but would make less sense on some newer steels that can be used at higher hardness and thus higher edge stability? However, Kershaw asked Sandvik to make their 13C26 steel more resistant to corrosion, and the result was 14C28N. its like with cars, most of them are not a corvette or a porsche. D2 holds it for longer. What is pulling that line high and to the right? When it comes to handle material, both knives have options available in either plastic or metal. It has high levels of chromium and carbon, making it extremely resistant to corrosion. Heat treatment and edge geometry can mean more for knife performance than the specific steel used in the knife. These steels have sufficient toughness to handle thinner edge geometry. Steels 7Cr and below arent worth your time or money. Recommendations are welcome, If you are cutting against metal I would maybe try K390 in a Spyderco or an S110V knife if you need stainless. The table shows combinations of knife steel properties for different classes of steel. Below, weve listed some of the attributes you might want out of your steel and given some examples in both the more expensive powder metallurgy steels and more affordable conventionally produced steels. CN Vs VG-10 The Japanese steel, VG10 offers slightly higher edge retention but has the same level of hardness as 14C28N. Crucible intends SPY27 to be good all-around knife steel. Almost all consumer-grade pocket knives, EDC knives, fixed blade knives, etc will be in the range of a Rockwell Hardness rating of 54 to 65 HRC. But in my experience, it has been nothing but great. Most edge retention tests isolate wear resistance or how long it takes abrasives to dull your edge in whatever youre cutting. The knife does dull faster. document.getElementById( "ak_js" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Toughness and edge retention are generally opposing properties and it is difficult to improve both of them at the same time. It would be great if you wrote a basic rundown of cryo treatment of knife steels, whats involved, the effects, interactions with other treatments like tempers, alloys that benefit the most, etc. Thank you for the accurate data. Each steel was tested with a knife that was produced just for the test, and then sharpened the same way for each test (15 dps 400 grit CBN sharpening). So setting edge geometry for the type of knife and intended use is very important. Its OK to be a steel snob, but keep in mind that you dont have to if you want a good knife. Its called memory metal because heat can get it to revert back to a previous shape. Due to its higher Chromium content, S30v is a lot less likely to corrode/rust than the D2 Steel. Also D2 is not stainless as at least 5% of its chromium is tied up in carbides where it doesnt help prevent corrosion. D2 steel, on the other hand, is tool steel, and its knives shine on edge retention and wear resistance. Sharpening the knives might be challenging, but the D2 knife is high quality and affordable. There has been some internet controversy over the grinding and heat treat of this steel. If you are looking for a high-end knife on a budget, the varieties of both steel will serve you. These are Chinese-produced steels that recently started showing up in Chinese-made knives. Or is this an argument that tends to be rooted more in the presumption that Japanese steel > Chinese steel than any practical difference in reality? Vanadium carbides are among the hardest that form in steel, and chromium carbides are in between iron carbide and vanadium carbide. This refers to the angle of your edge and the thickness of the knife behind the edge. Spyderco announced Native 5 Salt with magnacut, but I saw test of magnacut with salt water and it grows corrosionso Salt with magnacut could be a flop. It had better than expected corrosion resistance due to the lack of chromium carbides, a behavior also seen in MagnaCut. On the other hand small but mighty, the pocket knife provides both in professional performance and in arresting good looks. Vanax gives up some toughness and hardness vs MagnaCut for saltwater levels of corrosion resistance. If youre looking for all all-around best knife steel, youd be hard-pressed to find one better than Bohler Uddeholm M390. Goes to show that science not marketing or conjecture is what determines a good steel, 51shitty? what does a cvn of 40 v.s 20 mean? In nitrogen steels, nitrogen is used as the iron-hardener instead of carbon, thus limiting the possibility of rusting. However, it is not really known how many different companies are making 8Cr13MoV (or at least I dont know), it could be that it is one manufacturer that is dominating the market. Hi Larrin Youve occasionally mentioned cryo treatment in your posts, including here with LC200N. These steels offer a great balance of characteristics that work well, from big choppers to thin slicers. What it is: D2 is a carbon tool steel with a relatively high chromium content, prompting some to call it a "semi-stainless" steel. Note:There is a powder-metal version called CPM154 thats purer than the non-powder version, making it easier for knifemakers to grind. Liquid steel is sprayed through a tiny nozzle, solidifying into a powder. 1. So you can estimate how much a change in hardness would affect edge retention by following the slope of those lines. This is a virtually stain-proof steel suitable for all sorts of aquatic environments. Different companies can vary some between each other making the same product, while a single company is going to be more consistent. M390 MagnaCut I measured corrosion resistance of a slightly lower carbon 420 here: https://knifesteelnerds.com/2020/03/02/cpm-spy27-experiments-toughness-corrosion-resistance-and-more/. Here, we will discuss edge retention, toughness, ease of sharpening, and corrosion resistance. Below shows charts summarizing tests of different steels for the major categories discussed so far, low alloy steels, high alloy non-stainless steels, and stainless steels. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. The only thing putting me off immediately buying the p135 is the 14c28n steel. AEB-L and 14C28N also have moderate edge retention though of course much lower than vanadium-alloyed powder metallurgy steels like S30V or M390. as you mentioned catra indicates the edge angle as being by far the most important variable. It mainly made for knife and it high in Chromium for excellent corrosion resistance. This is to keep the focus on the elements that are making the biggest difference. Available in Kershaw knives (as of 2012) and in other . you can easily buy a $500 knive made out of 14c28n, which has nothing in it besides cr and a trace of ni. Other factors include how thick your edge is, how dull your knife was at the start, the nature of the heat treatment, and what youre using to sharpen your knife. However, Kershaw asked Sandvik to make their 13C26 steel more resistant to corrosion, and the result was 14C28N. 14C28N steel is known to offer the highest toughness levels out there. [Steel Knife Review], What is 14c28n steel? ApexUltra is a steel that we are working on that had excellent properties in small batch production (50 lbs). So, it is quite harder than most other steel variants and retains its edge sharp for a long period. Read about my tests in this article. Knife steel nerds have a great write up on 14c28n nik_was 2 yr. ago CPM 154 Cookie Notice As of November 2020, this is Spyderco-exclusive steel. Yes its very easy to sharpen but it doesnt hold an edge at all. But it would be my recommendation for applications requiring extreme corrosion resistance. Stainless steels usually top out around 64 Rc and may require careful heat treating to get there. 14C28N steel is not very hard steel which makes it easier to sharpen. Below shows pictures of a 61 Rc knife that was impacted with a 3/16 rod at different energy levels. And only Vanax and LC200N have been free from corrosion with a 3.5% saltwater solution, though MagnaCut was close. 14C28N is stainless steel, and its knives offer excellent rust resistance and toughness than D2 steel. 1% saltwater will separate between other stainless steels. https://knifesteelnerds.com/2018/12/17/cryogenic-processing-of-steel-part-3/. The difference in properties between 14C28N and D2 steel is very clear. CPM154 is a truly superior steel. The 14C28N stainless steel from Swedish manufacturer Sandvik is considered an upgrade to their 13C26 steel (described below). Continue with Recommended Cookies. Edge retention is the ability of a knife to maintain cutting ability during cutting. I made most of my leather knives from O1v (O1 with .20V) that I hold at 1475 for 15 mins and quench in 120-130 F AAA oil and Kevin Cashen is where those parameters came from btw. Vancron has a very fine microstructure so it would be tough to beat. The choice between the two depends on your knife needs. Steels with only vanadium carbides have the best balance of properties because the hardness of carbide matters for edge retention but doesnt for toughness. So for most steels they are given a rating at around 59-62 Rc, apart from a few steels that are never used at that hardness. Extra kudos for your mathmatical steel composition to edge holding model thats really impressive work. Many steels are very similar to one another but go by different names from different manufacturers. thanks thats interesting. But unlike most high-end steels, SPY27 is an easily user-serviceable powder steel. On the other hand, Speed safe assisted opening allows for easy blade deployment with the use of a simple pull back on the ambidextrous flipper. 14C28N steel is as a result of a more corrosion resistant version of the 13C26 steel.