Email from Leatherman. RE: Blade Hardness.

afishhunter

afishhunter

Gold Member
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Oct 21, 2014
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Hello,

Thank you for your question about the hardness of our blades.

Here’s the Rockwell Hardness (RHC) range for the blade steels we use:

  • S30V Stainless Steel: Typically hardened to 58–60 HRC. This provides excellent edge retention and corrosion resistance.
  • 420HC Stainless Steel: Typically hardened to 55–59 HRC, offering a good balance of hardness, toughness, and ease of sharpening.
These ranges ensure our blades perform reliably for everyday tasks while maintaining durability.

Let me know if you have any other questions!




Kind Regards,



Anhel

Consumer Support Specialist II

Leatherman Tool Group, Inc.



*&*&*&*

I know I was not the only one wanting to know if LM ran their S30V "soft".
Sorry, I forgot to ask about their CPM154.
It is probably on the "soft" side as well, based on the RHC of their 420HC and S30V.

My guess[\i] is "soft" for ease of sharpening and possibly added "toughness" to resist chipping or/and worse.
 
Their 420hc is run at 55-59 hrc ? That seems to be a bigger spread than what I usually see. My Wave must be at the high end of 59 because it has chipped a few times small chips but it’s my backup blade for nasty stuff anyway so it’s not a bad problem. I would rather have it a bit softer around 56 but it is what it is.
 
Most knife abusers need the blades run at lower end of the range. Knife abusers make up the overwhelming majority of users. It seems to me that this would be especially true on multi tools.
 
SharpBits said:
Most knife abusers need the blades run at lower end of the range. Knife abusers make up the overwhelming majority of users. It seems to me that this would be especially true on multi tools.
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Yeah I admit that I use my multi tool blade for stuff I don’t use my primary knife for. Stuff like scraping rust, paint or a gasket off. Cutting trashy materials that have dirt and metal grindings, things I wouldn’t want my good blade exposed to. My multi tool isn’t my primary tool but it’s job is to get me out of a pinch and save me some time and trouble. It’s expendable lol

I don’t abuse any of my primary or edc knives. I take really good care of them. I have some edc pocket knives that are 36 + years old and still look really good. I’ve had some cheap gas station knives that I kept for loaners and dirty work that suffered some abuse but that’s what I got them for.
 
Murphy Slaw said:
Funny how people buy the finest blades and the finest steels and are afraid to use them for fear of damage.

I use all of my blades whenever I want to.

My tools are worked, but I'm no collector. My stuff looks like it works for a living.
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Funny how you'd use the term "afraid", thus misinterpreting why most people might not want to damage their nice (usually expensive) things. Most of us use our blades whenever we want to as well. Why would you abuse something nice, when a cheap inexpensive tool bought for the purpose could be used instead? Odd, that.
 
Quiet said:
Funny how you'd use the term "afraid", thus misinterpreting why most people might not want to damage their nice (usually expensive) things. Most of us use our blades whenever we want to as well. Why would you abuse something nice, when a cheap inexpensive tool bought for the purpose could be used instead? Odd, that.
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I kind of get what you mean but then the "nice things" kind of just become jewelry.
 
I'm not surprised they run their blades a little lower. I can't say that it's ever been a hinderance though. Leatherman tends to grind most of their blade rather thin, so even when the edge might not be at peak sharpness, it still works.
 
I used a swiss army knife to clean the "ring" around the toilet. It had a very fall-autumn rusty color 🤫🤔🤐
Did the job and cleaned up fine. It got back to back soap baths before returning to food duty, a risk? Mildly so I'll admit. If I had an expensive knife I'd have done the same but I don't remember the last time I bought one of those. Saks and leathermans are made to work and man do they.
 
A.L. said:
I kind of get what you mean but then the "nice things" kind of just become jewelry.
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No actually I want my nice knife for cutting stuff. Abuse to me means dulling the blade. There is a difference. If I am cutting stuff I use the heck out of my good blade but if I’m scraping or doing something that will definitely dull or chip the blade I use a cheaper backup .
 
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