Could Carpenter MicroMelt CD#1 Alloy be some INFI competition?

hookahhabib

hookahhabib

Gold Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Messages
1,340
I know I know, another one of these threads, but this CD#1 steel has really piqued my interest and I thought at least some of you here might like to hear about it.

First off, I'll say it probably can't beat INFI in terms of stainless-ness and ease of maintenance, but then again it does contain a little chromium, as well as some Nitrogen, so that may be something.

Anyway, here's the alloy composition:
0.70 C, 0.40 Mn, 1.00 Si, 8.25 Cr, 1.50 Ni, 1.40 Mo, 1.00 V, 0.09 N, Bal. Fe

And here's Carpenter's description:
CarTech Micro-Melt® CD#1 alloy is a shock resistant cold work die steel possessing an excellent combination of toughness and wear resistance.

The alloy has a fine, uniform carbide distribution resulting from the CarTech Micro-Melt powder metal alloy process. This fine carbide distribution, combined with a low sulfur content, results in excellent polishability of dies or tools manufactured from the alloy.

I first heard about this steel when I met Duane Dwyer at G7 in Las Vegas, 2015. He was very enthusiastic about having stumbled upon this alloy and what he had to say was pretty interesting to say the least. In a nutshell he says testing indicates S7 toughness, but with hardenability up to 62-63RC?!

So far the only knives I've seen using it have been Duane Dwyer customs. One of the challenges he said was that it only comes in big, thick round-stock, needing to use Wire EDM to slice it down to knife-friendly sizes. I imagine with a big enough order, Carpenter could be swayed to do this alloy in bar stock, but as far as I can tell nobody really knows much about this alloy's existence, nevermind performance potential.

INFI and its amazing all around performance is such that it will always have a place in my heart and in my pack, but CD#1 sounds pretty potentially great and worth exploring, especially if it has any degree of corrosion resistance with its composition.

Have any of you seen this alloy before? Have any of you been fortunate enough to use it?

I'm currently in the process of working towards my first DDC and it will surely be in CD#1, so sometime down the line I hope to have enough real world experience and use to be able to really judge it...you know I'll be sure to let you guys know what I think when that time comes way down the line.

So what do you guys think?

Have you done any secret HOG testing on this alloy Jerry?

Anyway, have a great day guys!
 
Probably should double clarify, I love INFI and for as long as I enjoy knives, I'll always have at least a couple INFI blades within reach.

BUT, I am kind of a geek for steels and steel performance...figured at least a couple people here might find this interesting :)
 
Thanks for the information on this Steel. I haven't read anything on CD1 before. Z Wear is also seriously tough too. That being said, Infi is tops for me. For hard use blades, I don't see how anything could be significantly better to make me want another steel. Between Jerry's designs and their warranty, I'm a Busse guy for life.
 
Last edited:
The more i read my post above, The worse i think it sounds. I do like to do little comparison tests VS INFI, like 3V, S35VN, 01, And maybe some day CD#1
 
DJC72 said:
Between Jerry's designs and their warranty, I'm a Busse guy for life.
Click to expand...

You and me both! I have yet to find a tough, hard use steel that is so unbelievably user friendly...

TheMtnMan said:
The more i read my post above, The worse i think it sounds. I do like to do little comparison tests VS INFI, like 3V, S35VN, 01, And maybe some day CD#1
Click to expand...

Didn't sound bad at all to me, since you know...INFI really is that great. I can't wait to back in the Jungle next week and have an excuse to be beating on INFI again. All I can do while here in Mexico City is fondle my INFI and as fun as that is, well, you know...it doesn't come close to actually using it and then bringing back to new :D

And yes, it is lots of fun testing INFI against other steels - until you find yourself damaging or breaking all your other nice knives ;)

PA Trout said:
That 62-63 RC potential has me VERY curious!

That would be fun knife steel to test.
Click to expand...

I'll be sure to let you know how it all pans out. If I don't have my CD#1 knife by August when I'm back in LA to wrap up my last loose ends, then I'll definitely have it by the time G9 rolls around...this has been 2 years in the making for me.
 
Habib!!

Thanks for the post and the info. It definitely deserves some testing and exploration. As long as someone out there (manufacturer) puts it to the test and accepts Jerry's long standing challenge --- we'll have to just dream of its potential. Sooner or later -- a steel that is just as tough as INFI will come out with a RC hardness over 60.

Will this be the one?? Not so sure. Will I still continue to own about 40 Busse/Bussekin blades?? Hell yes!!
 
I love the INFI...also SR77 and SR101 and I have been playing with 3V lately that I think is a very capable blade steel. Worth checking out if you want to do a comparison.
 

album upload

No idea how it would compare with INFI, because you have to take Jerry's heat treat into account, but the composition looks interesting. Thanks for posting, hadn't heard of CD1 before. Thought the visual above would be nice to have as a reference.
 
tinfoil hat timmy said:
You and your strange new steels. I'll finish reading his a bit later. Glad yo see you still active here brother.
Click to expand...

Hey Bro! Hehehe, after our many endless text sessions, you know how much of a nerd I am for this stuff...actually pretty sure I gushed to you about CD#1 when I first learned about it back in late 2015. I hope you're well man, I miss those endless texts. Actually may have to send you a message very soon :-D Sending good vibes to you and the family.

And yea, it's been nice to have this little down time and get back into the forums...will do all I can to post more regularly once I'm back in the jungle....on Mexican village Wi-Fi. lol.

Rob_Mob said:
Habib!!

Thanks for the post and the info. It definitely deserves some testing and exploration. As long as someone out there (manufacturer) puts it to the test and accepts Jerry's long standing challenge --- we'll have to just dream of its potential. Sooner or later -- a steel that is just as tough as INFI will come out with a RC hardness over 60.

Will this be the one?? Not so sure. Will I still continue to own about 40 Busse/Bussekin blades?? Hell yes!!
Click to expand...

Hey Rob! I think you've nailed it, progress being what it is, sooner or later something will have to surpass, or at least match INFI....or maybe not, who knows?! Of course, that probably won't change anything as far as having an INFI stash :D It's too good not to have and use and enjoy!

Ultimately posted this because I thought the INFI heads would at least find this steel potentially interesting. The search for the ultimate trust-my-life-with-it blade steel is what led me here to the Trough in the first place, figured that kind of thinking must apply to at least some of the other people around here...

zombieassassin said:
I love INFI
Click to expand...

I love INFI too. And in regards to your pre-edited comment, I wasn't talking about anything about production knives rhyming with Rider, but a full on Duane Dwyer Custom in one of his new models. If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Duane, I encourage you to go shake his hand at a knife show and get chatting...I imagine you'll see he's as passionate, knowledgeable, and friendly of a knife maker as I've ever met. He deserves to be held separate from the shadows contained within that 82 page thread from 2007...

Busto said:
I love the INFI...also SR77 and SR101 and I have been playing with 3V lately that I think is a very capable blade steel. Worth checking out if you want to do a comparison.
Click to expand...

I completely agree, 3V (and also PD#1) are the closest contenders I have found to INFI in my own use and backyard testing. 3v has had the smallest micro chips (guessing non-optimized heat treat), and PD-1 has practically matched INFI's toughness in my very limited testing of it, with no chipping whatsoever but it is not nearly as stainless and did roll a bit more than INFI and ultimately, took a lot longer to bring back to new condition after turning a couple cinder blocks to dust...so, winner still is INFI ;)

inkynate said:
No idea how it would compare with INFI, because you have to take Jerry's heat treat into account, but the composition looks interesting. Thanks for posting, hadn't heard of CD1 before. Thought the visual above would be nice to have as a reference.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting that chart! Really nice to see the composition all laid out like that :cool: :thumbup:
 
Would like to see the D3V heat Treatment also-In my use it is Superior to regular 3V:thumbsup:;)
 
CD1 sounds interesting.
Dwyer is one of the best. Met him at a show years ago when he was still associated with that other outfit. Good guy, though. Should not be disparaged because of earlier associations.
After seeing how INFI stood up to my John Deere (I'm beginning to think the BB13 may have dealt a death blow to the mower decl), I'm gonna be HARD pressed to accept there is a better hard use metal. Factor in Busse's warranty, and why bother looking, until Busse stops producing.
 
inkynate said:

album upload

No idea how it would compare with INFI, because you have to take Jerry's heat treat into account, but the composition looks interesting. Thanks for posting, hadn't heard of CD1 before. Thought the visual above would be nice to have as a reference.
Click to expand...

Is it just me, or is CD1's Nitrogen level crazy high?

Also, where's INFI's Nitrogen in this chart? Or was that for older INFI only?

Love this thread.
 
PA Trout said:
Is it just me, or is CD1's Nitrogen level crazy high?

Also, where's INFI's Nitrogen in this chart? Or was that for older INFI only?

Love this thread.
Click to expand...

That's Nickel, probably to add toughness. 15n20 and L6 are a couple of other steels with high Nickel.

You're right on the Nitrogen in INFI, Zknives has two listings for INFI. The current one (maybe?) and one labeled pre-2002 that does show some N.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top