10V versus K390...I must be crazy!

[capid1]

Howdy BF! I figured I would give myself a workout and test 2 of the most wear resistant steels in my arsenal. I gathered up 10 boxes and cut each in half to make sure each knife cut the same boxes. I also added whittling of some aspen I had laying around to test toughness and observe for any edge chipping.
Each knife was sharpened to 9micron using diamond PSA on my EP at 25deg inclusive. Both push cut phone book paper with ease before starting the test.

Just to be clear, this is a steel comparison. I'm not comparing makers

Both are nearly identical in respects to alloy makeup and design but there are some subtle differences…

K390 at 63rc FFG (Loveless style blade by David Williamson (OTK)
Carbon: 2.45%
Chromium: 4.15%
Cobalt: 2.00%
Molybdenum: 3.75%
Tungsten: 1.00%
Vanadium: 9.00%

Knife Specs:
Blade length: 3.5in
Spine thickness: .114in
Width: 1.2in
Behind the edge: .014

10V at 64rc FFG (EDC by Big Chris)
Carbon: 2.45%
Molybdenum: 1.3%
Chromium: 5.25%
Vanadium: 9.75%

Knife Specs:
Blade length: 3.55in
Spine thickness: .130in
Width: 1.1in
Behind the edge: .014

And now on to the pics…

Some of the cardboard I used. This stuff is TOUGH!

And the aftermath…

Both performed exceptionally well which I expected At the end of the test both would slice notebook (not phone book) paper no problem but when examining the edge you can notice very minor rolling of the edge on the 10V but not on the K390. A few swipes on my strop with boron carbide brought the edge back in line.
If I learned anything from this test is that if anyone uses these steels to a point where the really need a good sharpening I salute you…I’m friggin beat!

If you have any questions feel free to ask

 

[KevinOubre]

Dear god those have a ton of vanadium. no wonder they held the edge so well. I wonder when someone is just gonna make a pure vanadium blade

 

[Big Chris]

Very interesting results. I applaud you for the effort it took to do this.

 

[capid1]

Thanks Chris! I applaud you and David for being a few of the knife makers that work with these steels.

 

[Bigfattyt]

Good stuff. Also nice that you were able to test similar knife specs as well (and not just the steels).

Size, thickness, blade length and even thickness sounds like they were reasonably close.

Too often you see a comparison of knives with specs so far apart, thatg it is not very meaningful.

 

[capid1]

Good stuff. Also nice that you were able to test similar knife specs as well (and not just the steels).

Size, thickness, blade length and even thickness sounds like they were reasonably close.

Too often you see a comparison of knives with specs so far apart, thatg it is not very meaningful.

Thanks! I tried to keep the differences to a minimum.

 

[PB Wilson]

Ooh! I've got to try this with the S90V knife Big Chris made me recently. It needs a handle which I'm working on, but I'm looking forward to so much edge longevity.

Nice test! Now rest that arm.

 

[Ankerson]

Howdy BF! I figured I would give myself a workout and test 2 of the most wear resistant steels in my arsenal. I gathered up 10 boxes and cut each in half to make sure each knife cut the same boxes. I also added whittling of some aspen I had laying around to test toughness and observe for any edge chipping.
Each knife was sharpened to 9micron using diamond PSA on my EP at 25deg inclusive. Both push cut phone book paper with ease before starting the test.

Just to be clear, this is a steel comparison. I'm not comparing makers

Both are nearly identical in respects to alloy makeup and design but there are some subtle differences…

K390 at 63rc FFG (Loveless style blade by David Williamson (OTK)
Carbon: 2.45%
Chromium: 4.15%
Cobalt: 2.00%
Molybdenum: 3.75%
Tungsten: 1.00%
Vanadium: 9.00%

Knife Specs:
Blade length: 3.5in
Spine thickness: .114in
Width: 1.2in
Behind the edge: .014

10V at 64rc FFG (EDC by Big Chris)
Carbon: 2.45%
Molybdenum: 1.3%
Chromium: 5.25%
Vanadium: 9.75%

Knife Specs:
Blade length: 3.55in
Spine thickness: .130in
Width: 1.1in
Behind the edge: .014

And now on to the pics…

Some of the cardboard I used. This stuff is TOUGH!

And the aftermath…

Both performed exceptionally well which I expected At the end of the test both would slice notebook (not phone book) paper no problem but when examining the edge you can notice very minor rolling of the edge on the 10V but not on the K390. A few swipes on my strop with boron carbide brought the edge back in line.
If I learned anything from this test is that if anyone uses these steels to a point where the really need a good sharpening I salute you…I’m friggin beat!

If you have any questions feel free to ask

Nice.

I feel your pain though. LOL

 

[capid1]

Jim,

I've seen your tests on 10V so I was amped to test the edge retention on the K390 and 10V. I could have cut a lot longer but I ran out of cardboard. These steels are simply amazing.

 

[Ankerson]

Jim,

I've seen your tests on 10V so I was amped to test the edge retention on the K390 and 10V. I could have cut a lot longer but I ran out of cardboard. These steels are simply amazing.

Same thing happened to me when I tested K294, could have cut a lot more cardboard, haven't ran K390 yet, but one day I will.

These steels are crazy edge retention wise, they just keep cutting forever.

This one is .010" behind the edge and 64 HRC, .120" thick, and 10 degrees per side.

 

[capid1]

Beautiful blade Jim! Someday I'll get one

 

[Ankerson]

Beautiful blade Jim! Someday I'll get one

Thanks.

You already have 2 awesome blades.

Well one can always use another one.