S35VN seems better for marketing, many people seem to view it more favorably than CPM-154 or 154CM.
Never had a problem with either one, but sometimes the 154 CM or CPM is looked at as "old" or "outdated"
Betcha a lot of folks that would potentially buy 'em, won't even really use them enough to notice much difference, but with all the
info on steel performance out there, the performance increases from one alloy to the next are known.
The letters CPM sell better than CM. s35vn is a known "CPM" steel as well.
For sure...I think you are right about S35VN being more marketable even though both steels have excellent all-around properties. S35VN is arguably now also much more marketable over S30V, and S45VN will likely become more marketable over S35VN once it begins to see widespread adoption (and marketing). That said, I can't tell you a huge difference between the inherent performance of S30V, S35VN, and RWL-34/CPM-154 in terms of edge holding because my experience which each steel has varied so much. The individual heat treatments of the steels by the specific maker and the edge geometry of the blades they are on also seem to play such a big role.
When Chris Reeve changed their heat treatments to harden higher from the former 58-59 HRC to what is now right around 60 HRC, you could have told me that they adopted a new exotic super steel and I would have believed it as it was such a big difference to my point of reference on that specific knife...even though it was the same damned steel with the same damned composition on the same damned blade. Then I got a Chris Reeve with an Insingo blade. Again you could have told me they adopted a new high performance steel with excellent edge strength characteristics and I would have believed it. Here we had the same damned steel with the same damned heat treatment with a different edge geometry, and it was completely different from their standard blade, and my subjective interpretation of its performance was completely different.
Any steel which you can sharpen quickly and easily. Some of the steels people are recommending here simply aren't possible to sharpen in anything approaching a reasonable amount of time.
What are you using to sharpen that you have issues sharpening these steels?
I've been largely using regular silicon carbide paper from Canadian Tire or Home Depot on the back of an old university textbook I use as a flat surface, and haven't had any issues.
I don't think my silicon carbide paper on the back of an old book constitutes a fancy, high tech sharpening system out of reach of the common folk...
M4, D2, M390 and Elmax for example.
I find that if I have to get crazy with different stones, it's too much trouble. Full stop.
Plus the harder steels chip and you might as well throw it out, because there's no chance of reprofiling it without setting hours aside to do it. If you can't get it razor sharp with a minute of ceramic rod and a strop, it's simply not worth my time. They're impractical and often prohibitively expensive to the point where you baby the knife to keep it from real use and wind up using a box cutter or something while your $300 knife sits in your pocket.
That's adorable. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, but I'm going to guess he had to work on it for a lot longer than I could be bothered with to get the edge back once he was done.
That's adorable. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, but I'm going to guess he had to work on it for a lot longer than I could be bothered with to get the edge back once he was done.
I think my advice to the OP is to make knives for the blue collar, that is where the money is, and that is who uses tools.
And we buy them almost weekly. If someone were to make solid knives designed for working at a price point and quality that can compete with Kershaw and so on, it's a money machine.Really?
Most of my blue collar colleagues in jobs I've had would never spend more than $20 to $30 on a knife. You ain't gonna make it as a knifemaker selling knives at that price point.
You need people who like spending cash.
Hunters, collectors, and people like that.
I applaud you being one of the few who actually use your knife, it's funny you made a thread showing that off, you knew it was a rare and daring thing.
I lose and break knives at an alarming rate, so that isn't a price point I can handle replacing often. I lost 2 knives recently by dropping them in the desert where I was working on location, and broke a third that was s35vn.
And a point about D2, I personally think it's too brittle and unstable. I've snapped huge portions off blades made from it, someone here convinced me it was just bad luck, but I was watching a someone on youtube gently battoning a stick and had the exact same issue, but with a different manufacturer, Gerber I think.
And we buy them almost weekly. If someone were to make solid knives designed for working at a price point and quality that can compete with Kershaw and so on, it's a money machine.