Fox Cutlery (Italy) N690Co-Colbalt Enhanced Stainless Steel

Joined
Jun 24, 2006
Messages
115
Anyone use there knives? Is the steel good, better, best?

I know Ontario Knife Company imports their six XM Automatic Folders and the two large Jerry Hossom folding knives from Fox Cutlery.
http://www.ontarioknife.com/asek.html

I know Spyderco imports their four large Jerry Hossom fixed blade knives from Fox Cutlery.
http://www.spyderco.com/search/index.php

Any good sellers in the USA? What is Fox Cutlery blade’s reputation? N690Co-Colbalt Enhanced Stainless Steel reputation?
 
The steel is good. I had a Benchmade Rant made of it, and it appeared to be good stuff. It took a very sharp polished edge on a Spyderco white ceramic. The edge held well enough for me even though I reduced the angle that it shipped with. No problems with rust, chipping, or difficulty in sharpening. The only thing I can say about strength is that I didn't break the knife. I know Extrema Ratio uses it exclusively in their hard-use knives. I'd rank it between 440C and 154CM for edge retention and sharpenability.
 
Last edited:
Here is a comparison chart for a few steels. N690co is close to 440C with a couple of goodies thrown in. Don't get caught up on the "Colbalt Enhanced Stainless Steel" that is kind of like saying Erythorbic acid enhanced Mountain Dew, when everybody knows that Erythorbic acid is just one of the many ingredients that work together in Mountain Dew to create the nectar of our teenage years. Don't get me wrong, colbolt does increase strength, especially at the edge, but it's just one of the ingredients. Now if they start putting tungsten in there, you have more than your average can of Mountain Dew.
 
I have read good reviews of Fox knives. I do not have any.

I have had a good experience with a knife (Benchmade Monochrome) that had an N690 blade.

In side by side manila rope cutting, N690 hardened to 59HRC had better edge retention than 440C hardened to 58HRC. I was unable to differentiate between the performance of N690, 154CM hardened to 59 (Mini-griptilian), and VG10 hardened to 59 (Native III).

I found that the N690 Monochrome took a keener edge than 154CM Griptilian. I found it took an edge more easily the VG10 Native III.
 
Back
Top