- Joined
- Jan 11, 1999
- Messages
- 669
These kinds of threads are always interesting, even if not always totally conclusive and my thanks to Sal and everyone else for their input. I thought I would make some comments - give a little of my philosophy as to why I use BG42 and resist some of the other materials suggest!
I have a substantial financial investment in the equipment and processes that are used in my workshop. I have chosen to go along a path that involves my designs, my style of machining and certain types of materials. None of these choices have been made by accident or without substantial research. That I choose not to use a blade material suggested is based on a wide variety of reasons, not simply its cutting ability, or cost, or whether the material is easy or difficult to machine or whether it is trendy.
The fact that the Sebenza is a semi-production knife does not mean that if there is a better material we would or could not change to it. The point is that it has to be substantially better to warrant the cost of the R&D and new processes.
Talonite wont work in my production because it would involve a major change in how we make our blades. A change like that would cost a tremendous amount in time and equipment and I do not believe that the performance of Talonite warrants that. I would like to see some Catia cutting test results some day how about it Sal?
Do not misunderstand me by thinking I would never change to some other material, but for now, BG42 is the most appropriate steel for me. That BG42 is ingot steel and not CPM does mean it is inferior. BG42 is used for the manufacture of ball and roller bearings, which are used in the turbines that hold the airplanes of our favorite airlines in the air! The manufacturing requirement is to aircraft mil specs, so the material is extremely clean and consistent. This is achieved by the VIM (vacuum induction melt) / VAR (vacuum arc remelt) process that refines the material and burns out impurities. If needed, the process will be done twice.
Vanadium is a very desirable metal to have in the mix, but too much is not good either. Metallurgy is a rapidly advancing science and who knows what changes are to come. Machining and grinding methods are changing rapidly as well and these may enable us to work more easily with some of the high vanadium alloys. Some of the higher Vanadium content steels are very wear resistant in controlled cutting tests but, under general-purpose use, leave something to be desired.
Remember making one knife is one thing, making 100 of them is a whole different ball game. I have been at both ends of the spectrum - I started this company making one knife at a time in my garage at home 16 years ago. Now we make 200 knives at a time and, believe me, the problems multiply rather than diminish.
We have no secrets in heat treatment process - we just work hard at it and pay close attention to the details. The spirit of a blade lies in the heat treatment process. It does not matter how good the grade of steel is, if it is not heat treated properly then it will not perform. We continually explore ways to improve the processes we use - refining our heat treatment, bringing our tolerances closer and ensuring that our knives are the best we can possibly make.
Chris
I have a substantial financial investment in the equipment and processes that are used in my workshop. I have chosen to go along a path that involves my designs, my style of machining and certain types of materials. None of these choices have been made by accident or without substantial research. That I choose not to use a blade material suggested is based on a wide variety of reasons, not simply its cutting ability, or cost, or whether the material is easy or difficult to machine or whether it is trendy.
The fact that the Sebenza is a semi-production knife does not mean that if there is a better material we would or could not change to it. The point is that it has to be substantially better to warrant the cost of the R&D and new processes.
Talonite wont work in my production because it would involve a major change in how we make our blades. A change like that would cost a tremendous amount in time and equipment and I do not believe that the performance of Talonite warrants that. I would like to see some Catia cutting test results some day how about it Sal?
Do not misunderstand me by thinking I would never change to some other material, but for now, BG42 is the most appropriate steel for me. That BG42 is ingot steel and not CPM does mean it is inferior. BG42 is used for the manufacture of ball and roller bearings, which are used in the turbines that hold the airplanes of our favorite airlines in the air! The manufacturing requirement is to aircraft mil specs, so the material is extremely clean and consistent. This is achieved by the VIM (vacuum induction melt) / VAR (vacuum arc remelt) process that refines the material and burns out impurities. If needed, the process will be done twice.
Vanadium is a very desirable metal to have in the mix, but too much is not good either. Metallurgy is a rapidly advancing science and who knows what changes are to come. Machining and grinding methods are changing rapidly as well and these may enable us to work more easily with some of the high vanadium alloys. Some of the higher Vanadium content steels are very wear resistant in controlled cutting tests but, under general-purpose use, leave something to be desired.
Remember making one knife is one thing, making 100 of them is a whole different ball game. I have been at both ends of the spectrum - I started this company making one knife at a time in my garage at home 16 years ago. Now we make 200 knives at a time and, believe me, the problems multiply rather than diminish.
We have no secrets in heat treatment process - we just work hard at it and pay close attention to the details. The spirit of a blade lies in the heat treatment process. It does not matter how good the grade of steel is, if it is not heat treated properly then it will not perform. We continually explore ways to improve the processes we use - refining our heat treatment, bringing our tolerances closer and ensuring that our knives are the best we can possibly make.
Chris
