Ask Toooj

Hi Tooj,

Can you tell me what kind of 420SS is being used in the new bushcraft woodsman? Is it 420HC, 420J2, or something else? In other words, what is the carbon content?

Thanks, Dave
 
Yonose,

The Stainless in the Bushcraft machete is 420HC which has 0.31% carbon. That % can give is hardnesses up to HRc 55-57. The machete hardness, of course, is lower at 48-52HRc.
Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
V.P. of Engineering
Ontario Knife Company
 
How about the Woodsman then? ;)

That Bushcraft Machete in 420 HC does sound like I need to get one now. In the Land of a Lot of Lakes it should work well. :D
 
There is the Spec Plus Alpha X machete which is to be produced in 420...I haven’t seen the Bushcraft machete in 420 only 5160...their own 2018 catalogue still shows 5160 too...
Are we confusing two different items..
 
Toooj said:
Roguer,

Any Ontario product using 5160 stays 5160. All military spec'ed product in 1095 stays 1095. All other carbon steel Ontario product that was produced in 1095 is now 1075. Some people may not like it but all of our testing says that 1075 offers solid advantages over 1095. Without getting too technical, the type of martensite formed with 1075 and the free carbon levels makes for less chipping and cracking and improved toughness while still keeping edge holding.
Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
VP of Engineering
Ontario Knife Company
Click to expand...
i thought only the products in 1095 would be switched to 1075 and everything in 5160 would stay that way, as mentioned in Tooj’s post above.
 
Meshach said:
i thought only the products in 1095 would be switched to 1075 and everything in 5160 would stay that way, as mentioned in Tooj’s post above.
Click to expand...
Yes, I believe we may have been discussing the SP knives/tools in the Gen1 & Gen2 series when Toooj put up that statement. If so, he meant that the remaining Gen2 series, which are made of 5160 steel, would remain that way.
 
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PocketKnifeJimmy said:
Yes, I believe we may have been discussing the SP knives/tools in the Gen1 & Gen2 series when Toooj put up that statement. If so, he meant that the remaining Gen2 series, which are made of 5160 steel, would remain that way.
Click to expand...
He says “Any Ontario product”...
I think what Boggs Boggs said, that there are 2 seperate items being confused, is more likely
 
Meshach said:
He says “Any Ontario product”...
I think what Boggs Boggs said, that there are 2 seperate items being confused, is more likely
Click to expand...

With the Gen2 line having dwindled down to so few models, I hope that it isn't getting totally phased out, (along with it's 5160 steel). I could see them doing that, (discontinuing them), rather than going stainless with the remaining few in that series :(
I say that because the 5160 steel is so intertwined with OKC's Gen2 series, that it would not seem like they'd even consider changing steel on that line of knives. But, we now see it happening with their bushcrafting line, so I guess it's very possible. It's hard for me to imagine that the Gen2 series could go stainless steel.
I'm sure Toooj will set us straight, one way or the other, but my fingers are crossed for the SP Gen2 series survival in it's original processes and materials.
 
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hi toooj , when talk about toughness only , 1075 and 5160 which one is better ? and better with big margin or similar in toughness ?
 
Toooj said:
Yonose,

The Stainless in the Bushcraft machete is 420HC which has 0.31% carbon. That % can give is hardnesses up to HRc 55-57. The machete hardness, of course, is lower at 48-52HRc.
Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
V.P. of Engineering
Ontario Knife Company
Click to expand...


Tooj;

Am I correct in assuming that the hardness of the machete will be the same as that of the bushcraft Woodsman?

DAve
 
dingy said:
hi toooj , when talk about toughness only , 1075 and 5160 which one is better ? and better with big margin or similar in toughness ?
Click to expand...

I know from prior posts that 5160 is tougher, given its lower carbon content as well as HT protocols.
 
Boggs said:
There is the Spec Plus Alpha X machete which is to be produced in 420...I haven’t seen the Bushcraft machete in 420 only 5160...their own 2018 catalogue still shows 5160 too...
Are we confusing two different items..
Click to expand...

Do you remember what the hardness was of the bushcraft machete?
 
In the past, I have enjoyed watching manufacturer's videos of some of the inner workings and processes of their businesses. I have tried looking for such a video of OKC, but to no avail.
Is such an animal out there of OKC? If not, barring processes that obviously may not want to be shared by your firm, could such a video be shared by you folks?
 
Hi Tooj;

Has Ontario(You and Dan) ever considered using sandvik steels in any of your knives? I know they aren’t an American company, but some of their steels are made here if I’m not mistaken. I was specifically thinking of 12c27, which I have seen on “made in the USA” blades from other companies, but never to my knowledge from Ontario. This steel has a reputation for toughness, but has no US equivalent that I am aware of. It’s also from charts I’ve seen the least expensive stainless steel “above” 420HC in carbon content.

Thanks, Dave
 
PKJ,

I was involved with some of the KA-BAR vids when I was there. OKC hasn't gone that route...yet. Maybe in the future.
It's getting very easy to produce videos with professional results these days with the availability of hi def digital cameras and software. Also there are a lot of small production companies around that can do this for a reasonable cost.

Yonose,

Ontario has used Sandvik in the past. I like Sandvik steel from a performance perspective but there are many issues with Sandvik...costly, long lead times, large order quantities, and lastly, it's real quirky to process;
sometimes it's great other times it's not.
That is just my experience. Other's may be different.
There are a lot of good steel companies out there producing great steel. Twenty years ago getting quality blades steels for production use was tough; not now.

Hope all of this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
V.P. of Engineering
Ontario Knife Company
 
Hi Tooj, got a question about the Old Hickory line. I want to mod some so am I correct is assuming that the steel is not tempered along the edge only. So if I have a cleaver, and cut a shape out (for instance), the edges can all be sharpened as the steel is the same through the entire blade. Hope that makes sense.
 
Mick P,

The entire blade portion of the knife is hardened.
So you should okay with your reshaping of the blade.
Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
V.P. of Engineering
Ontario Knife Company
 
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Hello from Australia Toooj,
I have just bought a Cerberus knife and left a comment about it in Cerberus thread but maybe you didn't see it.
I am liking the knife very much and was wondering if there was a reason why the military group chose those particular features rather than a more military looking knife?

Thanks
Anthony
 
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