Aldo's Nitro V

T

tim37a

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May 18, 2010
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I am using Nitro V for kitchen knives and I am just about ready to send out 30 blades for heat treat. My question is: what Rc should I request? Aldo said they "beat the shit outa some with no damage, but he didn't know how hard the pieces were. The knives are chef's, utility, and steak - all with about .004 edge, sharpened at 10-15 dps. I am thinking Rc 63, but I don't have enough experience with Nitro V to know for sure. What do you guys think?
Tim
 
I've only done one small batch of Nitro V chefs that Peter's heat treated to RC62. So I don't have a lot of experience with it but grinding and finishing it was just about like AEB-L. I haven't done any performance tests on it myself so I don't how Nitro V at 62 compares Nitro V at 63 but it'd be an interesting trial.
 
I have been pondering this as well. I'm going to shoot for 62 on mine, I may do some coupons at 63 and 64 to see how it comes out.
 
It still a fairly new steel. You could try asking for it at 63, then test it when it gets back to you. If it's a little chippy you could always temper it back yourself in your oven.

Ask your heat treat guy what temps he used to temper, then adjust from there.
 
If you compare the data sheets you'll find that nitro-v & 14c28 are basically the same. They're using a fancy name to try and turn it into something it really isn't IMO. Not that its a bad steel, it just isn't anything special like a lot of people think. Lots of people fall for hype and fancy advertising every day. That's why they do that stuff. LOL
To answer the original question though, 62-63 should be fine for the steel and application described.
 
Thanks JT and Darrin. Wish I had seen these posts before I bought 2 sheets of Nitro V and had them water jet cut. Guess I'll just have to keep a close eye out for cracks and go with Elmax from now on.
Tim
 
I recall reading that the idea behind nitroV was to get an aebl like steel that was able to be just as tough at RC64 as AEBL was at RC62 with the proper treatment. I had some nitroV hardened at two different heat treaters. One heat treater did them individually in a knifemakers type furnace tested at rc 63. Steel came out noticably harder than aebl at rc 62...It was also noticeably more chippy. Ill be getting some heavy use pro feedback soon. The other blades were done commercially in a vacuum furnace , I have not tested them yet but they RC at 63-64.

edit to add: I am trying to find where I read that little bit of info
 
Last edited:
timos- said:
I recall reading that the idea behind nitroV was to get an aebl like steel that was able to be just as tough at RC64 as AEBL was at RC62 with the proper treatment. I had some nitroV hardened at two different heat treaters. One heat treater did them individually in a knifemakers type furnace tested at rc 63. Steel came out noticably harder than aebl at rc 62...It was also noticeably more chippy. Ill be getting some heavy use pro feedback soon. The other blades were done commercially in a vacuum furnace , I have not tested them yet but they RC at 63-64.

edit to add: I am trying to find where I read that little bit of info
Click to expand...
It's unlikely that Nitro-V would have significantly different toughness than AEB-L. Just like 14C28N doesn't have significantly different toughness than AEB-L.
 
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