Anyone disappointed with LC200N? Is it the LC200N heat treatment?

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brainsxn

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Feb 1, 2023
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I have an LC200N UKpenknife and it is disappointing. Yes, easy to sharpen. But my H1 aqua lasts longer. If this weren´t the case, I´d say Im doing something wrong. Both spyderco, both sharpened numerous times using the same technique, by me. I even tried the dual grit sharpening technique which worked really well on magnacut, but doesn´t on my UKPK Lc200N. Frustrated. Any suggestions? Is it the heat treatment? Anyone know about spyderco´s heat treatment of LC200N?
 
I mainly use LC200N in serrated blades and I think it's good in that config. Yes, the serrations will roll and bend after a week or two of heavy usage, but easy to fix on the corner of a ceramic stone.

Maybe try posting this to the Spyderco sub forum here or on the forum on spyderco.com to get more relevant answers.
 
I have a Pacific Salt 2 with LC200N and it seems similar in edge retention to 14C28N in my use. I've never tried H1 but would expect LC200N to be a fair bit better for holding an edge.

Spyderco generally nails the heat treatment of their knives.

You may have got a bad one, or maybe you are not deburring fully. At least that is what I would be double checking first.
 
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I can't speak to Spyderco's LC200N but I can speak to my experience making knives out of the same chemistry steel (Z-Finit).
H1, particularly in spyderedge, work hardens very hard and I could potentially see that holding an edge longer than LC200N.
In terms of plain edge I have found my knives to hold an edge about as well as VG10 which I have used a lot from Spyderco. I have been very happy with that steel given it's advantages and disadvantages. My experience with H1 in plainedge is that it has less wear resistance than plain edge LC200N.

I realize I'm not speaking apples to apples. Just throwing out my personal experience.
 
TLR said:
I can't speak to Spyderco's LC200N but I can speak to my experience making knives out of the same chemistry steel (Z-Finit).
H1, particularly in spyderedge, work hardens very hard and I could potentially see that holding an edge longer than LC200N.
In terms of plain edge I have found my knives to hold an edge about as well as VG10 which I have used a lot from Spyderco. I have been very happy with that steel given it's advantages and disadvantages. My experience with H1 in plainedge is that it has less wear resistance than plain edge LC200N.

I realize I'm not speaking apples to apples. Just throwing out my personal experience.
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What do you harden yours to? Spyderco's tested at 56-58 per Cedric & Ada (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...yUHhUmDLAP1hJ1dN_0q5G4tug/edit#gid=1841011032), and I've seen 57s elsewhere, so that seems to be the range used.
 
I only have experience with a single plain-edged Caribbean in LC200N, but I wasn't a big fan.

I usually carry tool steels that offer higher hardness and wear resistance than LC200N can achieve, and I found that LC200N broke down at the edge faster than other "enthusiast" steels while doing basic tasks like cutting cardboard and food prep on a wooden cutting board. I didn't experience the magic that many other users claim to; it felt just like a soft, low carbide stainless steel, because that's what it is.
 
My Spidiechef is awesome. If I was only allowed to keep one knife it would be that one. It cuts like a laser beam and keeping the edge with regular sharpmaker stones is no drama.

Oh and I guess it doesn't rust too.
 
brainsxn said:
I have an LC200N UKpenknife and it is disappointing. Yes, easy to sharpen. But my H1 aqua lasts longer. If this weren´t the case, I´d say Im doing something wrong. Both spyderco, both sharpened numerous times using the same technique, by me. I even tried the dual grit sharpening technique which worked really well on magnacut, but doesn´t on my UKPK Lc200N. Frustrated. Any suggestions? Is it the heat treatment? Anyone know about spyderco´s heat treatment of LC200N?
Click to expand...

How many times have you resharpened the UKPK? How many times have you resharpened the H1 Aqua? Often this can make a large difference...

Are the edge angles between the two knives identical? How do you measure this, also?
 
marrenmiller said:
I only have experience with a single plain-edged Caribbean in LC200N, but I wasn't a big fan.

I usually carry tool steels that offer higher hardness and wear resistance than LC200N can achieve, and I found that LC200N broke down at the edge faster than other "enthusiast" steels while doing basic tasks like cutting cardboard and food prep on a wooden cutting board. I didn't experience the magic that many other users claim to; it felt just like a soft, low carbide stainless steel, because that's what it is.
Click to expand...

That is a good observation. If you are running the 'standard' 15-20 DPS edge bevels then you will not find any 'magic' in LC200N compared to high carbide stuff. Where you will find 'magic' in these types of steels is by reducing the edge angles significantly to improve cutting ability and edge retention. This is where LC200N shines, cut the edge angles in half from what they come factory and you'll feel exactly the opposite between those examples compared to how you feel now.
 
My Siren has been excellent, stropped only and carried and used hard for 18 months. I would not hesitate to buy another Spyderco LC200 knife.
2BF4D9DB-F7D2-4B14-8751-60BF539F7417.jpeg
 
Father & Son Traditional Sharpening said:
That is a good observation. If you are running the 'standard' 15-20 DPS edge bevels then you will not find any 'magic' in LC200N compared to high carbide stuff. Where you will find 'magic' in these types of steels is by reducing the edge angles significantly to improve cutting ability and edge retention. This is where LC200N shines, cut the edge angles in half from what they come factory and you'll feel exactly the opposite between those examples compared to how you feel now.
Click to expand...
I don't believe that LC200N would hold up satisfactorily for me under 15 DPS, but I'll keep that in mind if I ever buy any again.
 
marrenmiller said:
I don't believe that LC200N would hold up satisfactorily for me under 15 DPS, but I'll keep that in mind if I ever buy any again.
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What sorts of activities do you expect to use the knife for that you expect 15 DPS to have gross failure? Why would you expect that it would not hold up?

As a comparison :

Screenshot 2023-08-11 at 8.37.08 PM.pngScreenshot 2023-08-11 at 8.38.20 PM.png
Screenshot 2023-08-11 at 8.36.40 PM.png

This is a swedish felling axe with a 4 lb. head. The owner sent it to me in terrible condition as he'd been given the head and rehandled it himself. I told him I'd get it nice and lean with a blended convex for him to maximize cutting ability and this is how it turned out.... I measured this one at 14 DPS just behind the apex and the apex itself was probably between 15-17 DPS.

The owner reported that this geometry held up great for chopping and had zero issues to report. He was very happy with it and I do believe there is nothing special about the steel itself which would suggest 'magic' steel, heat treat, etc. Your knife has neither the mass nor the leverage advantage to even begin to approach the degree of pressures this tool will see in use at the edge.
 
C chalby maybe so, but compared to my previous edc (a shaman Rex 45 which I also really like) the Siren has suffered minimal chipping and other blade damage and is easy to keep sharp.
 
I like my Caribbean, not really expecting a huge amount from the steel, so that might play into it. I mean, what we cut makes all the difference, I live in a place where have the trees are butter and the other half are stone, so cutting a fish or veggie is pretty easy work, I'm more keen for easy care and a good profile. I find it sharpened well on ceramics and compounds as well as diamond, and I like options. But I avoid cutting cardboard and no long really use wood cutting boards for my own reasons, so I get why those might have been too far. A good bait and line knife is what I wanted from mine.
 
I've been very happy with the performance of my Caribbean and my Spidichef! They both hold an edge very well and a quick strop brings it right back.
 
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