4V steel experiences?

[Charr]

I've been thinking about getting a knife in 4V lately, and wanted to know more about the steel if I could, specifically the corrosion resistance and how best to manage it,because I do not like patina on knifes personally and this is going to be a folder in my pocket pretty much EDC.

Any help is appreciated. I'm honestly going to get the knife either way in all likelyhood, I just really want to know more about what I'm walking into than only what the manufacturer provided (although theirinfirmation was very helpful).

Experience with shaprening and edge retention would also be good, although I do have notably more information on that. Someone really needs to find a standardized method of testing corrosion resistance like some have done with edge retention. I know that would be very difficult to do though.

Also, since I know some people will probably refernacne other tool and carbon steels, fair warning, the only non-stainless steel I have extensive experience with is D2. I have handled lots of stainless steels, just not that many that aren't.

 

[Ajack60]

I've got a knife in 4v, from what I've read, it's not very corrosion resistant. Will take a lot of love to keep it in pristine condition. Should not be difficult to sharpen, depending on the HT and geometry of the blade. It can reach up to 67HRC. It is almost identical to Vanadis 4E steel. I haven't used mine enough to sharpen it yet. It is also similar to 3v. There is plenty of reading material on 3v. You may want to consider getting the knife steel app. for your phone.

 

[mete]

D2 is sometimes called Semi-stainless .In knives it's for the most part stainless . I can give you lessons in corroding stainless steels if you like !
3V is non-stainless but has enough alloying elements to make it very rust resistant. 4V would be more wear resistant but less corrosion resistant .

There are industry standardized corrosion tests. ASTM standards have moisture tests and salt tests for sure .
Though perhaps not pertinant to knives there are stress-corrosion-cracking tests .On an oil rig the worst corrosion is at the interface of air and water .They use an epoxy putty in that area to correct that problem. These two are eamples of multiple factors damaging the steel.

 

[Charr]

I've got a knife in 4v, from what I've read, it's not very corrosion resistant. Will take a lot of love to keep it in pristine condition. Should not be difficult to sharpen, depending on the HT and geometry of the blade. It can reach up to 67HRC. It is almost identical to Vanadis 4E steel. I haven't used mine enough to sharpen it yet. It is also similar to 3v. There is plenty of reading material on 3v. You may want to consider getting the knife steel app. for your phone.

Thanks, I'll have to look into that app. Never knew there was one for knife steels specifically, but I guess that doesn't surprise me too much. If you have any major developements with your knife or notice anything as you go let me know, it would help out a lot. Tha blade in question I think is treated to 62-63 rockwell to keep the toughness high enough, and still have good edge retention.

D2 is sometimes called Semi-stainless .In knives it's for the most part stainless . I can give you lessons in corroding stainless steels if you like !
3V is non-stainless but has enough alloying elements to make it very rust resistant. 4V would be more wear resistant but less corrosion resistant .

There are industry standardized corrosion tests. ASTM standards have moisture tests and salt tests for sure .
Though perhaps not pertinant to knives there are stress-corrosion-cracking tests .On an oil rig the worst corrosion is at the interface of air and water .They use an epoxy putty in that area to correct that problem. These two are eamples of multiple factors damaging the steel.

My grandfather worked on oil rigs for 30+ years, and he's told me about a lot of the steps they had to take to prevent corrosion. Thanfully knives are a bit more simple to manage

I'm going to get some of the EDCi solution with the knife, and I've had good experience with that and D2, but since D2 isn't as corrosion-prone, I'm not sure if the EDCi will be enough, or how often I'll need to apply it to keep the knife from corroding.
The main concern I have is around the pivot. Even if I cover the blade in EDCi, I can't directly coat the interface surface for the bearings, or under the scales, and that's where moisture would be most likely to get trapped in the knife and cause issues. I'd heard very good things about 3V corrosion resistance, and that 4V was a little less resistant, but its very hard to quantify that, and that's my main issue

 

[Riz!]

The Bark River Gameskeeper was made in 4V and everyone raved about it. If you search you can find some info on the other forum.

 

[Charr]

The Bark River Gameskeeper was made in 4V and everyone raved about it. If you search you can find some info on the other forum.

Thanks I'll look into it.

EDIT: I read most of what there was, but it mainly covered the improved edge retention and the comparison of toughness, which, whiel very useful, isn't my biggest concern, since corossion is something that I'm more worried about at this second.
And yes, I am an extremely fast reader

 

[Riz!]

If you didnt post a question on that subforum, you should have. It is quite active and the Barkie fans use the S out of their blades. Not for dumb shit like hacking cardboard, but legit hunting and quartering of game, outdoors/bushcraft uses. They will quickly speak up and give you an honest assessment of their experiences. I think there is a dude on there from New Zealand that used a 4V knife to process a bunch of stag. He always puts up great pics and honest reviews. I wanna say his username is SikaNZ. I went over there and asked the question for you.

Riz