Hello. I've been looking around on the interwebs and on this forum for information on longsword blades made from 50CrV4 spring steel, but haven't found much. What I did find was rather old, so I'm hoping someone has more recent experience to guide me.
I'm having a custom blade made for a Danish style longsword (Oakeshott type XVIIIe). These blades are rather long and slender, mine will be around 42". Since I do intend on using it for cutting tatami and possibly clay, I'm somewhat concerned with how flexible it will be, and how that material will hold an edge. I realize that a lot of this comes down to hardening, and the smith tells me it will be hardened to around 58-60 HRC, which seems reasonable.
I found the material composition to be somewhat similar to 5160 springs steel, with a few exceptions of course. From what I've been able to read 50CrV4 should make a decent blade material, but what I'm looking for is someone who has actual experience with such a blade who may be able to tell me a bit about how it behaves.
Made this quick comparison (numbers with no range indicates max value):
Steel 50CrV4 5160 1050
Carbon 0.47-0.55 0.56-0.64 0.48-0.55
Chromium 0.9-1.2 0.7-0.9 -
Vanadium 0.1-0.2 - -
Silicon 0.4 0.15-0.35 -
Manganese 1.1 0.75-1 0.6-0.9
Sulphur - 0.04 0.5
Phosphorus - 0.035 0.04
Thanks in advance!
I'm having a custom blade made for a Danish style longsword (Oakeshott type XVIIIe). These blades are rather long and slender, mine will be around 42". Since I do intend on using it for cutting tatami and possibly clay, I'm somewhat concerned with how flexible it will be, and how that material will hold an edge. I realize that a lot of this comes down to hardening, and the smith tells me it will be hardened to around 58-60 HRC, which seems reasonable.
I found the material composition to be somewhat similar to 5160 springs steel, with a few exceptions of course. From what I've been able to read 50CrV4 should make a decent blade material, but what I'm looking for is someone who has actual experience with such a blade who may be able to tell me a bit about how it behaves.
Made this quick comparison (numbers with no range indicates max value):
Steel 50CrV4 5160 1050
Carbon 0.47-0.55 0.56-0.64 0.48-0.55
Chromium 0.9-1.2 0.7-0.9 -
Vanadium 0.1-0.2 - -
Silicon 0.4 0.15-0.35 -
Manganese 1.1 0.75-1 0.6-0.9
Sulphur - 0.04 0.5
Phosphorus - 0.035 0.04
Thanks in advance!
