Blade Steel.

My 25 and other maker's knives with s35vn it just great! So I would keep that into consideration :)
 
Yeah, I know :)

Maybe the benchmade is best for my use anyhow. I don't care about it like my sebenza's so its much easier to use it for anything. And its really light with the plastic handle. Its probably for the best. :)

Kevin
 
Just to throw a few pictures in:

Here are a couple of the Benchmade:





Here is a recent group pic of some of my favorites:



The opinel I was happy with until the work got too abrasive:



The sebenza I REALLY want the cpm-m4 blade in:



Kevin
 
Haze said:
CRK have a design philosophy that they stick to solidly, I personally agree with it and it has got them this far. :) That said I would also like to see some high wear stainless steels used, as mentioned something like S90V at ~61 HRc would be interesting. :thumbup:
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Well said.:thumbup:
 
richstag said:
Yeah guys, I hear you about not messing with success. It's probably just an unattainable dream of mine.

Kevin
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I have a pair of BG-42 Regulars (large and small). I'm not saying I'm smarter than Chris Reeve either, but I think the BG-42 blades really outperform the others. :thumbup:
 
Just send it to Paul Bos HT to bump it a few points. I do that with all my seb blades, 35vn at 60 is one of the best steels I've used. Most of my Sebs before rehardening tested at around 57-58.
 
TTTis said:
Just send it to Paul Bos HT to bump it a few points. I do that with all my seb blades, 35vn at 60 is one of the best steels I've used. Most of my Sebs before rehardening tested at around 57-58.
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So people should spend $400+ on a knife, then spend more to have the heat treatment fixed and void the warranty in the process.
 
i had an umnumzaan and sold it for this reason, CRK are beautiful works of art, but for me, id rather carry a spyderco gayle bradley over an umnumzaan or large sebenza, and my chaparral over a small sebenza or mnandi
 
I wonder about CRK capacity to set up a high-performance, custom-shop line. They needed the new factory to keep up with demand for the regular production.
 
I've sold/traded most of my CRKs because they're ran softer than what I like. Sure, S35VN is easier to sharpen, but so is AUS-8, 154CM, and VG-10.

If Mr. Reeve would crank up his hardness of S35VN to 60+ I would be interested in his knives with S35VN. If he uses a steel that's more optimal for 58-59 that he likes to run his steel then I would be interested in that as well.
 
I always laugh at such threads, but in no way making fun of the poster, I just shake my head at the responses. CRK helps to develop the steels they use and they put them under the most stringent testing and the RC they come up with is that the particular steel performs Best at. From edge holding, to toughness, to sharpening. They test it ALL. Trust me, there is no noticeable difference between RC 59 and RC 60. For those that buy into this and say they will not Buy a CRK because it is RC 58-59 and will Only buy RC 60-61......Get over it. You have been reading way too many magazines and reading way too many posts from non experts...... A Sharp blade is a sharp blade. I do not shave with my knives, there are other tools for that. But I do CUT with my knives and ANY CRK I have ever used and I have had MANY, have ALL CUT. I do not sharpen mine everyday either like many, or OCD-it by taking it apart and cleaning it. There is no such need, but if that makes you happy, so be it. But by saying CRK blades need to be sharpened is more of the owners OCD, rather than a blades RC Hardness.
CRK has made a pretty darn good company with such success that they have forever changed the industry's standards. Their blade steels are the premium. There RC is the Best For that particular blade steel...............Odds are pretty good that without CRK, there would not be an S30V, or an S35VN. Use It, Enjoy It, Use It.....!!!
 
nyefmaker said:
I always laugh at such threads, but in no way making fun of the poster, I just shake my head at the responses. CRK helps to develop the steels they use and they put them under the most stringent testing and the RC they come up with is that the particular steel performs Best at. From edge holding, to toughness, to sharpening. They test it ALL. Trust me, there is no noticeable difference between RC 59 and RC 60. For those that buy into this and say they will not Buy a CRK because it is RC 58-59 and will Only buy RC 60-61......Get over it. You have been reading way too many magazines and reading way too many posts from non experts...... A Sharp blade is a sharp blade. I do not shave with my knives, there are other tools for that. But I do CUT with my knives and ANY CRK I have ever used and I have had MANY, have ALL CUT. I do not sharpen mine everyday either like many, or OCD-it by taking it apart and cleaning it. There is no such need, but if that makes you happy, so be it. But by saying CRK blades need to be sharpened is more of the owners OCD, rather than a blades RC Hardness.
CRK has made a pretty darn good company with such success that they have forever changed the industry's standards. Their blade steels are the premium. There RC is the Best For that particular blade steel...............Odds are pretty good that without CRK, there would not be an S30V, or an S35VN. Use It, Enjoy It, Use It.....!!!
Click to expand...

What makes me laugh is how some members here will trash CRK for 58-59 HRC, and then turn around and praise ZT for their S30V. Somebody did an independent hardness testing of some ZT knives and found their S30V to be in the 56-57 range.
 
The funny thing is even if CRK do start using better steels and higher hardness people will find things to say or to improve it more.I was using my small sebenza for all kind of chores and I could not be happier.Are there better steels out there,yes but as a complete package(fit and finish,tolerances,cutting ability,looks,clip,ease of maintenance.....)sebenza is the leader for a reason.Cant find a better knife out there.Thanks CRK for a great knife.
 
nyefmaker said:
I always laugh at such threads, but in no way making fun of the poster, I just shake my head at the responses. CRK helps to develop the steels they use and they put them under the most stringent testing and the RC they come up with is that the particular steel performs Best at. From edge holding, to toughness, to sharpening. They test it ALL. Trust me, there is no noticeable difference between RC 59 and RC 60. For those that buy into this and say they will not Buy a CRK because it is RC 58-59 and will Only buy RC 60-61......Get over it. You have been reading way too many magazines and reading way too many posts from non experts...... A Sharp blade is a sharp blade. I do not shave with my knives, there are other tools for that. But I do CUT with my knives and ANY CRK I have ever used and I have had MANY, have ALL CUT. I do not sharpen mine everyday either like many, or OCD-it by taking it apart and cleaning it. There is no such need, but if that makes you happy, so be it. But by saying CRK blades need to be sharpened is more of the owners OCD, rather than a blades RC Hardness.
CRK has made a pretty darn good company with such success that they have forever changed the industry's standards. Their blade steels are the premium. There RC is the Best For that particular blade steel...............Odds are pretty good that without CRK, there would not be an S30V, or an S35VN. Use It, Enjoy It, Use It.....!!!
Click to expand...

How do you know what other users' experiences are instead of just assuming what they're saying is from "magazines" and "non experts"? I've personally found the S35VN at 58-59 to be lacking. From daily use to some cutting tests, S35VN under performs. I can never get the performance that I want out of it. For the prices of those knives, I'm rather disappointed. I've received much much better performance from some of my sub-200 knives. It's through those disappointments that led me to eventually looking to see if I had lemons, and apparently others are experiencing the same.

If you're happy with CRKs and find them to be adequate for your needs then great to hear. For some of us, they are not.
 
Hairlesstwinkie said:
How do you know what other users' experiences are instead of just assuming what they're saying is from "magazines" and "non experts"? I've personally found the S35VN at 58-59 to be lacking. From daily use to some cutting tests, S35VN under performs. I can never get the performance that I want out of it. For the prices of those knives, I'm rather disappointed. I've received much much better performance from some of my sub-200 knives. It's through those disappointments that led me to eventually looking to see if I had lemons, and apparently others are experiencing the same.

If you're happy with CRKs and find them to be adequate for your needs then great to hear. For some of us, they are not.
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I am enjoying this discussion.

HT--would you mind elaborating on what your "performance needs" are? What sort of cutting have you done with a CRK that didn't perform to your satisfaction? Also, what blades in the $200 range have met/exceeded your expectations and what cutting tasks did they perform better than the CRK's you have had?
 
CRKs and Hinderers are constantly being attacked for one thing or another. It boils down to the fact that people are irritated that they are expensive, thus they must tear them down. "My ZT is better than any Hinderer" "My Sage 2 is far superior to a Sebenza" and so on.

High quality objects can be expensive. You can buy them or not. But why the hatred? Chris Reeve is an expert in his field and will chose the best steel for his purposes and treat it appropriately. No one is forcing anyone to buy his knives.
 
MostMenAreRuthless said:
I am enjoying this discussion.

HT--would you mind elaborating on what your "performance needs" are? What sort of cutting have you done with a CRK that didn't perform to your satisfaction? Also, what blades in the $200 range have met/exceeded your expectations and what cutting tasks did they perform better than the CRK's you have had?
Click to expand...

I'm obviously not going to speak for HT or anyone else, but my performance needs were well taken care of 20 years ago with ATS-34. My performance desires, on the other hand... ;) :D
 
I don't have a dog in this fight but will paraphrase some thoughts from custom knife maker Jerry Halfrich, a very close friend of mine whom I have had this very discussion with many times over the years.

Jerry was one of the very few makers to experiment early on with making blades with CPM M4 steel and his blades won a variety of cutting competitions. Few makers know "sharp" like Jerry does.

That said, having worked with myriad steels over the years, Jerry prefers CPM-154 for most of his knives (and they are intended for hard use in the field...from hunting to wilderness use).

The reason for his position is "balance". Hardness, toughness, corrosion resistance, ability to sharpen in the field, edge holding etc are all parts of the equation in his search for "balance".

And while Jerry is impressed with what he has been able to achieve with M4 over the years, he always recommends "balance" over all things (even to the point of often dissuading his customers from seeking the "super steel" they originally sought).

It seems to me that Chris Reeve is similarly seeking "balance" with his offerings.

Having said all that, there is no perfect steel and as with most everything else in life, any choice involves compromise.

That's all I got.
 
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