bohler n690

I thought there were N690Co and N690BO variants. I know Boker uses the "BO" in some of their knives. Is there a difference? Are they two completely different steels. Just wondering, since I've been interested in this steel but don't have any knives made of it.
 
Planetcat said:
I thought there were N690Co and N690BO variants. I know Boker uses the "BO" in some of their knives. Is there a difference? Are they two completely different steels. Just wondering, since I've been interested in this steel but don't have any knives made of it.
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If I recall, the BO simply designated that that steel was done for Boker... There was a thread on it somewhere I know that much is true!!
 
When I first researched N690Co I was confused as there were a number of variations in the steel making process, not the composition. . I won't go int those technical differences. Anyway it's a nice steel and takes a fine edge without being a powder steel. Very popular in Europe.
 
SpartanSaint said:
I have a burger lexk in bound, and I'm curious about how the steel behaves. And if anyone knows how hard they run it that'd be great!

Mostly I wanna know what kind of edge it takes, toothy or fine? Does it work well in a thin edge? Prone to rolling or chipping? Good edge holding? How's the stain resistance? Etc etc

And then most importantly, what are your guys' experiences with the like? Any comparable steels that act similar to It?

Thanks much!
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I have a Benchmade Monochrome in N690 which I measured at 59.5.
Bohler recommends a hardness of 58-60, so the Benchmade hardness is nominal. I doubt that any company is going to do much better.

In both my daily use experience doing chores and in my comparison tests cutting manila rope, N690 had edge retention on a par with both VG10 and 154CM. None of these will hold an edge as well as S30V. I've tried two S30V blades. One, a Spyderco Military at 58.3HRC. The other was a Buck Vantage Pro at 59.7. Both held an edge better than N690/VG10/156CM/ATS34 when cutting abrasive media.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...tainless-alloys-using-a-visual-inspection-tec

As for other observations, it seemed to me that the N690 took a particularly fine edge with little effort.

N690 is one of my favorite alloys. I think you will not be unhappy with it.
 
this steel is used by Fox and Extrema Ratio so that may tell alot right there i have several of these and they perform very well in hard use. I belive most/all this steel also has cryo treatment.
 
I have been working with N690 for a while and it has a personality that is different from other steels. The edge holding is better than one would expect form just looking at the chemistry. Maybe it is the cobalt and also the 1% Molly, Vanadium all working together. Hard to tell but what jumps out to me is the aggressive nature when sharpened on a fine silicon carbide stone. It cuts rope and cardboard like a saw, very, very aggressive. As mentioned before it is easy to sharpen and can be refined with a loaded strop to a very fine edge-- if one wants that. Heat treat is pretty straight forward. It can be pushed to RC63 as quenched with the same general process as 154CM. It is very sensitive to temper and even 20 degrees can make one point hardness difference. The best balance of hardness and toughness seems to be about RC 60. I have a couple of fillet knives at RC 61, with a thin grind that don’t show any chipping on the edge with pretty aggressive whittling on seasoned fir. With fine grinding belt grits like 320 the grain structure is visible. It kind of looks like D2 and 154CM with the large carbide strings. Some may not like this but I think it is pretty. It is very easy on belts, grinds like butter. For long edge holding on abrasive materials(hunting knives) I still like the Vanadium Carbide PM steels but this one I think would shine as an easy maintenance EDC and makes a great fillet blade and also would be great on Chef’s or other kitchen knife. As premium steels go the price per pound is very reasonable. This is a bonus for makers. Phil
 
Bill1170 said:
Phil's comments about N690 remind me a lot of VG-10's properties.
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I liken it to VG-10 with an attitude. It has what seems like a unique ability to take a very fine yet 'toothy' edge. A great steel for an edc.
 
That's a serious review there. If you ever got really bored & expanded that into a series of similar steel reviews I'm pretty sure I could get a collection going for a few cases of beer to be delivered...
 
great to get the insight from Phil Wilson whose work with particle alloys is legendary. my info concurs with Marthinus as to cobalt not forming many carbides. info i have is cobalt acts as a catalyst to allow other elements to achive more performance but crystallization in the matrix leaves the cobalt in a non-carbide structure.--dennis
 
While, in my experience, N690 is not S30V in sharpness retention, it just seems easier to return to that level of sharpness than S30V. I have seen it compared with 440C - but it is easier to re-edge. I, like most, left 440C some time back for more hip modern steels, but, properly done, 440C is still a decent choice, if you don't need the bragging rights. Interestingly, my first new knife with N690 was a Boker Haddock nearly a year ago. Sadly, it came with a wire edge - which I stropped off on my bluejeans pants leg. I quickly had one sharp knife - with a thick spine and ambitious hollow grind. Several more Bokers were bought with that steel - and one was sharpened initially - and effectively/efficiently - with a basic Spyderco Sharpmaker. I will look for it in future Bokers. My Titan Worker purchase was put off for a while because it was 440C instead of N690 - I gave up and bought it anyhow - the 440C needs more attention, as it seems harder to re-edge, and it seems to need it more often than the N690, as well. Nothing will dislodge my favorite - S30V (Benchmade, Buck, CRK, etc).

Stainz
 
I always felt it to be close to 154CM, but maybe that's because I really like a good 154CM steel.
 
Well the 154cm in my bedlam sucks lol. I like Phil's comments about the n690 though, just means I'll have to get my high performance kick out of an acies :D
 
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