Gerber Tool Steel Blades

J

Jimbo

Joined
Aug 10, 1999
Messages
546
Hi:

Some years ago Gerber made some fixed blade knives with "high speed tool steel" blades and armorhide covered aluminum handles. Does anyone know what steel was used in the blades and what the hardness is?

Thanks,

Jimbo
 
I was told it was M2. I have a Gerber A475 drop point and was told that's what it was. Anyone have an old catalog that can confirm?

BTW, whatever it is, it is some awesome stuff!!
 
If the tool steel blade was stamped with a "V" allegedly it was vascowear. Maddog (should I duck?) claims that the usual tool steel used in the older gerbers was M2. They advertised the hardness at 60-62. I have several catalogues from the early 70's that tells the hardness but not the steel type. Whatever it is it holds an edge forever and is very tough. I have never had one chip despite heavy usage when I was much younger.
 
I've got several of 'em and they are equal to just about any non-production knife I have or have ever seen. Except, they are sooooo dayum butt heavy. Maybe these were what inspired the Rabid Pooch to make his over priced toys. I'd sure like to know what the steel used was as well. I E-Mailed and Snail Mailed Gerber, but got no response back from them. They wern't much for customer relations before Fiskers bought them, and it seems things have only gone down hill since then.
Dan
 
I have and have had several of those things - I've been told that the hardness is about Rockwell -60-62 which makes them miserable to sharpen! They make great trading materials!

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Don't wrestle with the hogs - they enjoy it and you get dirty !
Jonesy
 
Thank you people!

All of the observations agree very closely with mine. I've used a Trout and Bird model happily for many years - probably because it was light enough that the handle weight didn't really apply. With the A425 it certainly does, and seems to feel wrong after some use, despite the good fit of the handle to my hand.
The fact that the small blade of the T&B was small enough to make sharpening less of a chore also helped. I've just spent quite a while sharpening the A475 using a glass plate and abrasives to get the bevels set and I'm still working on polishing them to a good finish. Basically all I'm achieving here is to have a large sharpening stone that makes sharpening most knives a trivial job. Not so with these Gerbers. The time to sharpen the larger knife has been at least five times as long as with a carbon V blade - and I'm still not all the way there.
I must admit that I'm getting curious as to how the edge holds on a properly sharpened blade.
Whatever the steel and hardness is - I must admit that I've never seen any chipping problems either, the stuff seems extremely tough.

Jimbo
 
Try diamond stones, took no time at all for me. I had my A475 hair flinging sharp in less than 10 minutes with a DMT Aligner set. I'd have to say it's my sharpest knife. It has a very fine edge, so there really isn't too much of a bevel to grind on it. I just got it back from Allen Blade who made a really sweet sheath for it. You can see it at http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=526918&a=3865646&p=19880286 and http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=526918&a=3865646&p=19880292 Holds it and looks better than the leather factory sheath IMO.

Haven't used it alot, but edge holding seems to be real good. Don't ask to buy mine, it's definitely a keeper!!
 
Years ago I read that it was M-2 @ Rc60-62.
L-6 is a new one on me.


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The individualist without strategy who takes opponents lightly will inevitably become the captive of others.
Sun Tzu

[This message has been edited by misque (edited 04-26-2000).]
 
I heard it was M2 also.

If I remember correctly, Tactical Knives wrote about it, and they mentioned that Gerber had hard chromed for stain resistance, and that such was similar to the black coating on the M2 AFCK's.

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Thank you,
Marion David Poff aka Eye, Cd'A ID, USA mdpoff@hotmail.com

Talonite Fire

"Many are blinded by name and reputation, few see the truth" Lao Tzu
 
I finally got an email back from a major collector and website operator who goes as "Gerberguy". He says that "tool steel" blades were L6 except for some folders and special presentation models made of "vanadium steel" which was vascowear.
 
Thanks!

I'll go with whatever it is since a LOT of work on sharpening produced a pretty awesome edge. I was all set to put in a bid on an A400 today on ebay - but shipping was only to US. It went for $28.00 sob sob...

Jimbo
 
OK, so maybe it was M2.
On ebay someone is selling a tremendous gift set of Gerber chrome plated High Speed Tool Steel cutlery. He has many pictures in his listing. This includes a couple pictures of the label or flyer that describes the knives. It clearly gives the major constituents of the blade alloy:
6% tungsten
5% molybdenum
4% chromium
2% vanadium
nearly 1% carbon.
This fits M2 very nicely.
 
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