Blade test?

K

Kildeer1

Joined
Mar 3, 2026
Messages
5
Hello Folks,

I have the itch for a new slipjoint pocket knife, and have been looking at reviews. Some leave me incredulous. Today I watched a Youtube review of a $70 pocket knife with a blade of high-grade budget steel. The reviewer made hundreds of cuts, in cardboard, various boses, rope, etc, and the knife was shaving sharp at the end. Do you feel this could be real?

Tom
 
I haven't seen the video, but geometry goes a long way toward helping any blade steel do a good job.
 
Kildeer1 said:
Hello Folks,

I have the itch for a new slipjoint pocket knife, and have been looking at reviews. Some leave me incredulous. Today I watched a Youtube review of a $70 pocket knife with a blade of high-grade budget steel. The reviewer made hundreds of cuts, in cardboard, various boses, rope, etc, and the knife was shaving sharp at the end. Do you feel this could be real?

Tom
Click to expand...
Which "high-grade budget steel"?
Depending on who you talk to, that could be anything from 420HC to D2.
 
Okay... I gotta...

Any steel will take an edge. Any steel with a decent carbon content will take an edge and be at least somewhat durable. Simple steels usually require a careful, and often complicated, heat treating process to reach their full potential. A blade with excellent edge retention will usually be brittle and hard to sharpen. These properties are baked into the basic properties of the steel.

Heat treating is an expensive process. The blades of Inexpensive knives are usually heat treated in large batches, and rarely result in uniform results from one blade to another.

The overall edge geometry can influence edge holding.

Lastly, a lot depends on the knife. A $70 Sodbuster is likely to have better blade material than a $70 Congress. It's simple economics.

So... Maybe.
 
dsutton24 said:
Okay... I gotta...

Any steel will take an edge. Any steel with a decent carbon content will take an edge and be at least somewhat durable. Simple steels usually require a careful, and often complicated, heat treating process to reach their full potential. (1)A blade with excellent edge retention will usually be brittle and hard to sharpen. These properties are baked into the basic properties of the steel.

(2) Heat treating is an expensive process. The blades of Inexpensive knives are usually heat treated in large batches, and rarely result in uniform results from one blade to another.

(3)The overall edge geometry can influence edge holding.

(4)Lastly, a lot depends on the knife. A $70 Sodbuster is likely to have better blade material than a $70 Congress. It's simple economics.

So... Maybe.
Click to expand...
3) Edge geometry matters more than blade steel.
The keener the starting edge angle, the longer the "working edge" lasts.

(2) True. Heat Treat is expensive. ALL production knife blades are heat treated in large batches, regardless of if the heat treat is contracted or done in-house.
Large batches reduce costs and time. The process is automated. blades are heated to the correct temp in large ovens, they then move to quenching before the blades cool, then back into a oven for tempering.

(1) Depends on the steel composition. Some carbides are harder than others. A modern "super steel" that requires a SiC stone or a diamond plate to sharpen when hardened to 63+ RHC still needs the same SiC or diamonds to sharpen if run "soft" at 57-58 RHC.

(4) Nope. A $70 (and higher) Case Sodbuster with ss blades will have the same ss blades as a Case Congress with ss blades, that costs considerably more than the $70 sodbuster.
Blade steel alone does not determine the price of the knife. Other factors, such as (but not limited to) time to assemble, bolster, liner and cover materials, the amount of blade polishing, etc. affect costvmore than the blade steel does.
A Case stockman or trapper with their standard 420HC blade, does not cost much less than their stockman or trapper with S-35V blades.
 
I think it’s safe to post the brand name as long as you don’t link to it. Then the good folks here can tell you what they know about the brand.
 
afishhunter said:
3) Edge geometry matters more than blade steel.
The keener the starting edge angle, the longer the "working edge" lasts.

(2) True. Heat Treat is expensive. ALL production knife blades are heat treated in large batches, regardless of if the heat treat is contracted or done in-house.
Large batches reduce costs and time. The process is automated. blades are heated to the correct temp in large ovens, they then move to quenching before the blades cool, then back into a oven for tempering.

(1) Depends on the steel composition. Some carbides are harder than others. A modern "super steel" that requires a SiC stone or a diamond plate to sharpen when hardened to 63+ RHC still needs the same SiC or diamonds to sharpen if run "soft" at 57-58 RHC.

(4) Nope. A $70 (and higher) Case Sodbuster with ss blades will have the same ss blades as a Case Congress with ss blades, that costs considerably more than the $70 sodbuster.
Blade steel alone does not determine the price of the knife. Other factors, such as (but not limited to) time to assemble, bolster, liner and cover materials, the amount of blade polishing, etc. affect costvmore than the blade steel does.
A Case stockman or trapper with their standard 420HC blade, does not cost much less than their stockman or trapper with S-35V blades.
Click to expand...

You have your delusions, I have mine. :cool:
 
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