CPM 3V Edge Thickness

J

John Frankl

Joined
Oct 16, 2001
Messages
1,917
Hello All,

I am just wondering what all your thoughts are on edge thickness for a chopper (10 inch blade) out of 3V.

I would like to hear recommendations both for pre-heat treat thickness, and for thickness at the end of a full flat grind but before convexing the final edge.

I usually take forged blades of carbon steel down to about 0.040 before convexing, but I hear conflicting things about 3V. FWIW I will have Paul Bos do the heat treating and likely ask for it on the hard side, somewhere between 59 and 61 HRC.

Thanks in advance.
 
For a 10" cutting edge I take it to 0.030 before convex sharpening the final edge and close to that before HT. It should do fine in that hardness range given that much depends on the final edge; thickness behind the edge and edge angle. Good luck and please post pics when done :)
 
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I took this knife to about .015" at the edge. Granted it is designed for kitchen use, but it has been through 2x4s with no edge damage. The combination of high toughness in a thin edge makes for a great cutter.

3626127454_97a71724ed_o.jpg


p.s. Bos treated this to 60-61, it turned out great.
 
It'll be similar to carbon steel, since hardness and toughness will be in the same ballpark. 3V is known as a very tough steel but some of the cheap carbon steels like 5160 and perhaps also 1080 are tougher still. If your carbon steels can handle the thin edge thickness then 3V will be similar.
 
CPM3V is very tough. You can actually have it hardened up to 61/62 HRc and bring the edge down to .015/.018" thick withour experiencing any problems.
 
The crucible H/T data is kind of broad. Could someone give me the best H/T recipe for this steel, for knife use.
 
im a big fan of 2025f plate quench right into cryo over night and then 400f temper cycles

never had any problem with not having a snap temper and the lower temper seems to hold up jsut fine

i too shoot for 60-62 depending on use
 
Thanks Lloyd, I don't have access to cryo. What RC do you think I'll get without it? Also is that a triple temper?
 
with out cryo i would change my heat treat around a bit (quite a bit)
i x2 temper
without cryo im guess about 60 on a tripple temper at 1000f be warned tho if you over shoot the hardness drops off the table fast even 50F over 1k can make the blade like 54rc i think (would have ot look at the charts again)
 
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