80CrV2 Gaining In Popularity?

[redsquid2]

I see it showing up in the Knifemakers For Sale Forum more and more. I have not looked much at the new offerings in production knives. How is it doing? Is it showing up in production knives?

It is not expensive steel, but supposedly very high quality. Anybody have a knife in this steel. Like it? Love it? Hate it?

 

[LukeTheSpook]

Curious about this also. I have a Pukkoo in 80CrV2 but I haven't had time to put it through its paces.

 

[LG&M]

I have one small knife in 80CrV2. IMO it is more of a large blade steel. Some call it 1084+. It is tough steel good for choppers.

 

[Ratman79]

great steel--- it is said to be as tough as 5160 and can keep its edge a little better. Here is what I can tell you from my experience so far (I have only owned the knife a few weeks).

I have a Winkler belt knife in 80CrV2 and so far have broken down cardboard boxes, cut plastic straps and processed/chopped and carved wood. Edge shows no dings, rolls or shiny spots. After cleaning w/ isopropyl alcohol to remove the gunk and tree sap, no damage was visible. It can still shave arm hair cleanly and cut phonebook paper. This use was staggered over about 2 to 3 weeks.

At work, I cut a lot of the plastic strapping (used to hold boxes of copper fittings together) and broke down the cardboard. The wood cutting was me just fooling around carving spoons and utensils just to see how it did. I chopped on a lot of pine and maple being that they are very common trees where I live. I even am trying to make a walking stick out of a nice piece of sycamore from my property.

That is the extent of my 80CrV2 experience so far--not much I'll admit but enough to see if I like the steel (for what I'll use it for at work and in general) and I do. It can take a beating at least through wood, plastic and cardboard! The only work done to the edge was at the very beginning when I received it. I re profiled the edge angle to 19dps and sharpened it up.

 

[inkynate]

I have a Skrama in 80CrV2 that has been used for clearing, delimbing, chopping, and batoning. I've been impressed with how well the relatively thin edge has held up under pretty hard use. I gifted one to my brother and his has held up as well (similar use).

Afaik, the maker, Terävä, is the only production company using it? They use it in some of their smaller knives too, but I only have the big one so far. You can only order them from one store in Finland, but even after shipping they're pretty reasonably priced. Looks like they have a new batch of the Skramas set to drop next week.

 

[353]

I believe Ahti knives from Finland use it. I have theire "Korpi" model but like the previous poster I have not put it through it's paces.

I also know that some well reputated finnish knife smiths(forging blades) use it and to me that is a quality mark of it's own.

 

[redsquid2]

It can take a beating at least through wood, plastic and cardboard! The only work done to the edge was at the very beginning when I received it. I re profiled the edge angle to 19dps and sharpened it up.

If it can break down cardboard boxes, and still cleanly shave, I am impressed.

Alpha Knife Supply sells it in bar stock, and says it has a very high manufacturing standard.

 

[GREENJACKET]

I've been using a Skrama for a while now. For the amount of blade it wasn't expensive, bit of a bargain at $60 for the chopper. I keep it paper slicing sharp.
One day I processed an Ash tree and did as much chopping with the Skrama as I could. End of the day I got my sharpening kit out to do some expected maintenance on the blade. It didn't need doing, which had me gobsmacked.

Since then I'm amazed how well a fine edge on the large chopper has held up.

I hit an iron bar with it the other week. Really whacked it hard with a full swing as I didn't see it. Here is the picture of the damage:

For the forces involved and what it hit, then not surprising. Its not a negative, far from it, and if anything I have even more confidence in the steel.

 

[running bird]

I heard about this steel last year and I've been practicing with it since then. I have made several diffrent blades from it as test knives and all have stood up to abuse and regular use. Before I used 80crv2 I used a lot of 1075 and 1080. 80crv2 is now my favorite steel to work with, although I still love 1075. I have noticed it becoming more and more popular, most likely due to its amazing qualities.

 

[knoefz]

Terävä Jääkäri puukko 's are production knives made with 80CrV2 @ 59 HRC.
Read good reviews on these knives. No personal experience though.

 

[Frederick89]

80CrV2 has been around for years and has been used extensively by Lauri Metallin Oy, the factory that actually produces the Skrama and Jääkäri puukkos for Verusteleke and has also taken over the production of the Peltonen Sissipuukko.
Also, all the carbon steel Lauri, Anssi, Polar and Kankaanpää blades (all done by Lauri) sold by Brisa or Thompson knife supplies are in 80CrV2. These blades are the ones used in the various mass produced puukko brands as Ahti, Kauhavan Puukkopaja, Eräpuu, WoodsKnife, Paaso etc.

I think it has been ignored so far due to its very humble original destination, circular saws and generally wood working tools, and It had also to face the strong reputations that O1 and O2 have in Europe in the first place.

In my experience if taken to 58-59 it shines on big blades, while small blades at the same hardness doesn't impress that much, having a good resilience but lower edge holding than O1. When taken to 62-63 HRC, on the other hand, it transfors and menages to keep its resilience but holding an edge like 52100 at the same hardness. All this given the same edge angle.

 

[Mitchell Knives]

I have made many knives in 80CRV2.

It's a fantastic all around steel that has become one of my favorites.

 

[GREENJACKET]

Frederick89, that all makes perfect sense to me and mirrors what I found from my limited research. Sums it all up nicely, thank you.

I am sure there are better, more sexy steels, but for what its for it has some class. Circular Saws and wood working tools put huge demands on steel. Good enough for them then its not surprising it can make a good knife.
Price point for knives using this steel isn't the eye wateringly high that others steels demand. It seems a pretty forgiving steel too, so difficult to make a bad blade from it. Rare to hear anything failing.
Anyhow, good dependable steel, for making good blades. I like the examples I have. Maybe not exceptional in a critical knife snob scenario, but all pretty impressive enough. In truth I would prefer a well tested dependable tough steel than a high tech untested one when out in the woods. Think that what you get with this steel.

 

[jdm61]

Some folks called it 1084+ so as to not to confuse folks who thought it might be some Chinese steel. 80CrV2 is actually a European designation of some sort and the steel falls into the general chemical composition range of L2 tool steel designation, kind of like L6 without the nickel and a pinch of vanadium added. .

 

[cash71]

For those that have 80cr how is it at resisting corrosion?

 

[GREENJACKET]

Corrosion resistance is not that great. Its not fast but in the right environment it certainly shows up fast enough if left to take. Certainly requires oiling or a coating to keep the rust away. I'm not sure how deep a rust would go, surface deep or take a real pitting.
If you are going to have a fancy knife then corrosion resistance to keep a bright finish is important. Regular work knives not so important. Salt environment then its stainless to be on the safe side.
So my completely unscientific thought is: fine for a regular work knife, or if you are good at keeping your kit well serviced, but for those where no regular inspection is likely then maybe there is something else better suited. I don't have one in a fine polished finish, so not sure how delicate or not it is. The work knives I do have have pretty rough finish so hold dirt a bit more than a polish blade would.

Work knives its fine to have a bit of patina, some people actually like it.

 

[cash71]

Corrosion resistance is not that great. Its not fast but in the right environment it certainly shows up fast enough if left to take. Certainly requires oiling or a coating to keep the rust away. I'm not sure how deep a rust would go, surface deep or take a real pitting.
If you are going to have a fancy knife then corrosion resistance to keep a bright finish is important. Regular work knives not so important. Salt environment then its stainless to be on the safe side.
So my completely unscientific thought is: fine for a regular work knife, or if you are good at keeping your kit well serviced, but for those where no regular inspection is likely then maybe there is something else better suited. I don't have one in a fine polished finish, so not sure how delicate or not it is. The work knives I do have have pretty rough finish so hold dirt a bit more than a polish blade would.

Work knives its fine to have a bit of patina, some people actually like it.

Thanks for the reply. I'm a guy that collects things, so corrosion is key to keeping things good. Plus I'm in a humid area. Of coarse keeping up knives is a lot easier than all the guns I have. A knife I have had for many decades is a Buck and it just keeps on going but I really don't care how it looks just how it works and it does that well.

 

[GREENJACKET]

Having said what I did, there are many collections of puukkos and I'm sure many are made of this steel and a few other carbon ones too, and they do just fine. Bit of furniture wax and they will do fine. polish finish is a polish finish and easy enough to polish up again.

 

[jdm61]

Greenjacket, I would not be surprised to find out that most of the carbon puukkos are made of a simpler steel like a Uddeholm or Saandvik 1075/C75 equivalent.

 

[LG&M]

sometimes the simple steels are more then enough or even better then the flavor of the month. Nothing wrong with well earned pantina and being able to bring the edge back when needed with out high tech modern stones is a plus.