Boker X15 and INFI

bandaidman

bandaidman

Basic Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2001
Messages
1,149
I have read both are nitrogenated steels. How close are they in compostion and manufacture? Are they in fact the same steel or close cousins? I have read that X15 is the same steel used in some gun Barrels (HK). It would suprise me that a small (or even large) cutlery company could utilize enough metal to justify a proprietary production run at even a small mill (with camillus 0176 being one known exception).

This is not to infer that these steels are equivalent in terms of blade performance as the heat treat has a huge impact on performance, with a clear edge going to Busse.
 
INFI and X15 are completely different steel as INFI is not stainless steel because of low chromium content (or this is what I remember). X15 does have 15,5% Cr.
 
I also think they are pretty different, for the simple reason that busse has figured out how to get the nitrogen in the mix right. X15 is indeed a nitrated steel, I doubt Infi is. With infi, the Nitrogen is a inherent part of the composition, with nitrated steels, it's added afterwards, and then the nitrogen is not all the way trough the steel.
Their design is also very different. HK found that hi chrome steels were too fragile for gun barrels, so the experimented with other ways of keeping chrome levels low and stain resistance up. They came up by nitrating their steel, as the Germans did in WO2 because they lacked of nickel to produce stainless steel.
Infi 's story begins the same, but is pretty different. It also begins with nitrating, but evolved into something else, producing one of the best high-end steels in the industry. You could say the busse has discovered how to use nitrogen right for knives.
Infi is in league with CPM 420V, while X15 is along the lines of 440A.

greetz and take care, Bart
 
I'm no metallurgist, but the blade on my Boker Angler w/X-15 seems much closer to 440C quality in actual use.

GronK
 
I believe that Boker is hyping that X-15 is being close to ATS-34. That's a big diffeence from 440A.
 
X15TN (often referred to as X-15 for knife making) is a steel made by the French company Aubert & Duval. I have long wanted to try the X15TN and had gone to the extent of speaking with the U.S. representative of the steel company. He was helpful, but I had not seen a local maker--that I had in mind for the experiment--for a while, etc., and let the matter fade. I had felt this steel would make an excellent fillet knife, especially here in the salt water around Miami, FL. The use of nitrogen in its processing,its reasonable cost, and its high rust resistance made me think it would be a good choice. I was not sure whether it would take and hold an edge like VG-10, BG42, etc., but I wanted to find out! :-)



This French steel maker's web site is at http://www.aubertduval.fr/us-Qui.html

I did see some impressive pictures of a test of X-15 versus 440C in a salt water bath. I think they were referenced in a BladeForum post. The X-15 is significantly more rust resistant.
According to the steel chart at http://www.tool-shop.com/knives/steel.html X-15 has some vanadium, if I read the chart right it is three tenths of a percent. I pasted it in below, although it is not quite aligned. I have become convinced that the best steels always seem to have vanadium in them for the hard carbides. The nitrogen is interesting in that the only other steel I know that uses it is Infi steel used by Busse Combat Knives. I did post a question similar to this thread in the Busse Combat Knives Forum, but do not believe I ever got any significant comment.


The chart probably does not align properly, but it may be comprehensible.
Steel Carbon
in % Chromium
in % Molybdenum
in % Vanadium
in % Manganese
in % Silicium
in % Cobalt
in % Copper
in % Phosphor
in % Nitrogen
in % Tungsten
in % Rockwell
(HRC)

X-15 0,4 15,5 2,0 0,3 - - - - - 0,2 - 58

P.S. I came back to add that I believe I saw that this steel was also used in some high end surgical instruments.
 
Infi is in league with CPM 420V, while X15 is along the lines of 440A.
Click to expand...

I think it would be a much more appropriate comparison to say that INFI is close to say Vascowear or CPM 3V in performance... a high alloy carbon steel, not stainless, high impact toughness (high charpy toughness), high abrasion resistance from hard carbide content.

INFI is a bit different since it contains nitrogen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top