154CM vs 12C27Mod

[Flatlander1963]

I think the original question is still in need of some discussion.

I'm still interested in the "what's/why's/when's for the decision to go to Sandvik 12C27M for the Alpha series and drop 154cm. It could be that the decision was made while Crucible was tettering on the edge of liquidation. I don't know but I suspect that the Sandvik gives excellent performance in key focus areas for Buck customers. I believe that toughness & high degree of stain resistance are these two areas. I'm also guessing the Sandvik runs better through Bucks process (ie less grind time, faster blanking etc) and ultimately a less expensive steel to convert into a knife.

Anymore thoughts on Sandvik 12C27M and its field performance characteristics?

 

[David Martin]

Flat, Yes I'm thinking that was it as well---ease of processing/fine blanking also a fine grain steel taking a fine edge . So, strength is there and ease of sharpening . I do remember last year when Mr. Jeker Andderson was answering all our questions . During which I pinned him down on his steels edge retention characteristics which is close to 425M and AUS-8 with the added benefit of fine grained ect.. (above) I think Buck really thought this move out a mid range steel offering upper range benefits . DM

 

[BG42EDGE]

Old post, but my opinion late to the game.

12c27 can make a good blade, but the heat treat process to do so is difficult, and even with Mr Bos's expertise, I can see him doing fine on limited run knives, but on large batches the window of getting it right is just too small. Mike Stewart who owns BRKT likes it, says it good, and I trust him, but he also does blades in batches of 50 or 100, not 1000's like buck.

154cm is basically american made ATS 34, which I consider the best compromise of fine grain, toughness, durability, sharpening ease (not very but doable) and strength.

I think S30V is highly overrated. It chips, easily and excessively, on cutting chores that should never bother it, and which never bother ATS 34. I bought my son a couple Spyderco's natives in S30V and both edges will suffer micro chipping just cutting coated cardboard, prefinished oak trim, and MDF moldings. I was thinking it had to be the heat treat on the natives, so I bought a benchmade Griptillian in S30V and found it did the same thing, It was only when I reprofiled the edge to a stout convex did the chipping go away, but then the geometry was wrong for cutting hard wood and trim. Its a great camping knife, where cutting green wood, food prep and the like is the chore, but as a all around knife, it sits.

I have a few 154cm's ranging from a Almar eagle auto to several bucks and benchmades I have never had the issues with chipping or edge retention that I have had with S30V

I haven't tested them all, of course, but from what I read here and on the other internet sources, Buck's S30V is superior to many other manufacturers S30V in resistance to chipping--maybe due to better heat treating.

I read a lot of reports, so maybe there's some validity to that line of thinking.

Myself, I still go for the older steels anyway, to the question is moot to me.

 

[Buck_110]

deleted

 

[Plumberdv]

They are directly related. The numbers, coupled with the heat treatment, dictate performance(edge holding characteristics, corrosion resistance, toughness, etc.).

I can tell from your frequent sarcastic remarks that you are no charm school graduate and are totally impressed with yourself.

My statement meant and still means that I have no interest in reading cryptic metallugical recipes not being a metallugist myself. All the hell I care about is how a particular blade metal performs from personal use perspective.